EdKnotAI-scored PTE practice and free mock tests for PTE Academic, UKVI and Core.

PTE update

PTE updates: September 2026

The enhanced PTE Academic, the January 2026 Core score guide, Australia’s per-skill thresholds, the UK B2 rule, IRCC’s accepted tests, 2026 fees, and what changed on EdKnot.

At a glance

7 changes this month. Each one below carries the date it took effect, who it affects, what to do and the official source.

  1. PearsonSince Aug 2025The enhanced PTE Academic is the test you will sit
  2. PearsonJan 2026A January 2026 score guide for PTE Core
  3. AustraliaFrom 7 Aug 2025Per-skill PTE thresholds for visas
  4. United KingdomFrom 8 Jan 2026Skilled Worker route requires B2
  5. CanadaCurrentWhat IRCC accepts, and what it does not
  6. Pearson and IELTS2026 feesFees and retakes
  7. EdKnotSep 2026What changed on EdKnot this month

Test format and scoring

Changes to the test itself: task list, timing, scoring scales and what each item feeds.

PearsonSince Aug 2025AcademicUKVI

The enhanced PTE Academic is the test you will sit

Since August 2025 PTE Academic has 22 task types. The two additions are speaking tasks: Respond to a Situation (a scenario on screen and in audio, 10 seconds to prepare, 40 to answer) and Summarize Group Discussion (up to three minutes of several speakers, two minutes to summarise).

The 2025 score guide also restated which skills some items feed. In Academic, Read Aloud now counts towards Speaking only, Answer Short Question towards Listening only, and the dropdown reading blanks and the listening blanks towards Reading and Listening only. PTE Core kept its earlier dual credits for those items.

What to do: Use preparation material dated after mid-2025, and check which skills a task feeds before you decide where to spend time. Every task page here is rewritten to the current score guides.

Source: Pearson, PTE Academic scoring

PearsonJan 2026Core

A January 2026 score guide for PTE Core

PTE Core’s score guide was updated in January 2026. The scales it publishes: Describe Image Content 0–5 with 3–4 items, Respond to a Situation scored on Appropriacy 0–3 with fluency and pronunciation and 20 seconds of preparation, Summarize Written Text at 25–50 words, Summarize Spoken Text at 20–30 words, and Write Email with seven traits including Email conventions.

What to do: The Core task pages on this site carry these scales; use them rather than an Academic guide.

Source: Pearson, PTE Core scoring

Visa and immigration rules

What the visa and immigration authorities now require, with the date each rule took effect.

AustraliaFrom 7 Aug 2025Academic

Per-skill PTE thresholds for visas

The Department of Home Affairs replaced its single-score PTE Academic thresholds with per-skill minimums for tests taken from 7 August 2025. Superior English is now Listening 69, Reading 70, Speaking 88 and Writing 85; Proficient is 58, 59, 76 and 69; Competent is 47, 48, 54 and 51. There is no overall requirement.

Tests taken up to 6 August 2025 are read on the older table (50, 65 and 79 in each skill) until 6 August 2028.

What to do: A balanced 79 is no longer Superior; the new table is a Speaking and Writing test. Plan those two skills first. The Australia PR guide has the full tables and the points each level earns.

Source: Department of Home Affairs, English language

United KingdomFrom 8 Jan 2026UKVI

Skilled Worker route requires B2

The English requirement for the Skilled Worker route rose to CEFR B2 from 8 January 2026, proven through a Secure English Language Test.

What to do: Book PTE Academic UKVI at an approved centre so the result carries a URN; standard PTE Academic does not count. The UKVI B2 guide covers the booking rules.

Source: gov.uk, Secure English Language Tests

CanadaCurrentCore

What IRCC accepts, and what it does not

IRCC accepts PTE Core, IELTS General Training and CELPIP-General for Express Entry and citizenship. PTE Academic is not accepted for immigration, and IRCC states that IELTS One Skill Retake is not accepted for Express Entry. Results must be less than two years old both when the profile is completed and when the application is submitted.

What to do: Sit PTE Core, not Academic, for Express Entry, and time the test so the result is under two years old at both profile and application. The Core score chart has the per-skill CLB conversion.

Source: IRCC, Express Entry

Fees and retakes

What the test costs by country, and the retake rules that go with it.

Pearson and IELTS2026 feesAcademicUKVICore

Fees and retakes

PTE Academic is ₹18,900 including GST in India, A$490 in Australia, C$360 in Canada and £230 in the UK. IELTS is ₹19,000 in India (₹19,250 for UKVI), A$490 in Australia, C$335–361 in Canada and £235–260 at British Council UK centres.

IELTS One Skill Retake, accepted by Australia, New Zealand and the UK but not by IRCC, is A$310 in Australia and about C$253 in Canada. PTE has no single-skill retake; a re-sit is the whole test, results arrive within days, and up to twelve sittings are allowed in a year.

What to do: Confirm the amount in myPTE at checkout; Pearson sets fees per country. The four-country comparison is on the PTE vs IELTS page.

On EdKnot

What changed on this site in the same period.

EdKnotSep 2026AcademicUKVICore

What changed on EdKnot this month

All 26 question-type pages were rewritten as long-form guides: what happens in the exam, how each task is scored with the official descriptor bands, a worked example and a weak answer, an in-exam method, a practice routine, a mistakes table and what a 65 and a 79 response look like. They now carry additional real sample questions from the practice bank, with the answers.

The glossary was rebuilt to 45 terms with the numbers, tasks and FAQs behind each one, the task hubs gained a full index table, and new pages cover PTE results, the Core score chart, universities that accept PTE, PTE Core versus Academic, PTE statistics, the data study and plans for 65 and 50. Every fact on those pages was checked against Pearson, Home Affairs, IRCC, gov.uk or Immigration New Zealand this month.

What to do: Start from the question types hub or the glossary; follow the Atom feed for next month.

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