A private diagnosis. Nobody who reads your application sees it, so use it for what it is: a list of what to work on next.
Glossary term
Skills Profile
The Skills Profile is the private feedback section Pearson introduced when it removed the six enabling skills from the score report in November 2021. It is visible only to the test taker in myPTE, breaks performance down beyond the four communicative skills, and is meant for deciding what to practise before a re-sit. Institutions and visa authorities never see it.
Not on the official score report that institutions receive. It appears in your myPTE account alongside your results, for you only.
What replaced what
Before November 2021 a PTE score report listed six enabling skills as numbers: grammar, oral fluency, pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary and written discourse. They were widely misread by institutions as requirements and by learners as targets. Pearson removed them and moved the diagnostic information into the Skills Profile, which the test taker sees privately.
The underlying traits did not go anywhere. Every speaking and writing response is still scored on its traits, and those trait scores still feed the four communicative skills. What changed is who sees the breakdown.
How to use it
Read it next to the item-to-skill map. If the profile points to fluency, the tasks are Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence and Describe Image, and the fix is phrasing and never restarting. If it points to spelling, the tasks are dictation, listening blanks and the essay, and the fix is a personal spelling list. If it points to written discourse, the task is the essay and the fix is paragraph structure and connectives.
EdKnot practice shows the same kind of breakdown after every AI-scored response, as trait bars with the official descriptor band, so the profile from a real test and the practice feedback describe the same things.
The numbers that matter
| Introduced | November 2021, replacing the six enabling skills on the report |
|---|---|
| Visible to | The test taker only, in myPTE |
| Not visible to | Institutions, visa authorities, anyone you send scores to |
| What institutions see | Overall score and the four communicative skills only |
Worked example
The report shows Speaking 58. The Skills Profile flags oral fluency as the weak area while pronunciation is fine. The learner had been drilling pronunciation. The profile redirects the next month to phrasing and to never self-correcting, which is where the Speaking points are.
What it shows: The profile is the only official signal about traits; it is worth reading before booking a re-sit.
Frequently asked questions
Can universities see my PTE Skills Profile?
No. It is visible only to you in myPTE. Institutions and visa authorities receive the official score report with the overall and four communicative skills.
What were the PTE enabling skills?
Six sub-scores shown on reports until November 2021: grammar, oral fluency, pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary and written discourse. Pearson removed them from the report and replaced them with the private Skills Profile.
Does a weak Skills Profile area lower my score?
The profile reports what the traits already scored; it does not lower anything by itself. It shows which traits pulled a skill score down, which is what to practise before re-sitting.
More PTE terms
AI ScoringAppropriacyCEFRCLB (Canadian Language Benchmarks)Competent, Proficient and Superior EnglishConcordance (PTE to IELTS)ContentDevelopment, Structure and CoherenceEmail ConventionsEnhanced PTE Academic (August 2025)Erasable NoteboardExpress EntryFormGeneral Linguistic RangeGrammarGSE (Global Scale of English)Human ReviewIntegrated TaskMock TestNegative MarkingOne Skill RetakeOverall ScorePartial CreditPersonal IntroductionPTE CorePTE HomeReschedule and Cancellation PolicyRescoreScore BandScore Report CodeScore ValiditySELT (Secure English Language Test)Sending ScoresShared Clock (Reading and Listening)SpellingThree-Second Silence RuleUKVIURN (Unique Reference Number)Vocabulary