There are no PTE Academic past papers to download. Pearson publishes no past papers, and each test is one of several versions, balanced for length and drawn from 22 question types. What Pearson does publish — in more detail than most test owners — is how every question type is scored, and that scoring rule should shape how you answer each one. The items below are drawn from the Myndaq practice bank and are not reproductions of any official item. They cover the Reading types and the text-based Listening types, each with the answer and the scoring rule that applies, alongside the Myndaq PTE Academic course.
Speaking and Writing tasks — Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Write Essay and the rest — are not reproduced here, because a written page cannot show what they are scored on: your recorded voice, or an extended response judged on several traits. For those, practise against a recording and the trait descriptions in Pearson's Score Guide.
The pattern you are practising for
- One sitting of about two hours at a test centre; 65 to 75 questions from 22 question types.
- Part 1, Speaking and Writing (approx. 76–84 minutes, 9 types); Part 2, Reading (approx. 23–30 minutes, 5 types); Part 3, Listening (approx. 31–39 minutes, 8 types).
- Two scoring methods: correct/incorrect (one point or none), or partial credit.
- Negative marking on three types only: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers (Reading and Listening) and Highlight Incorrect Words lose a point for each wrong choice, down to zero for the item.
- Scores: overall 10–90 plus four skills scores; the overall is not the average of the skills. No pass mark.
Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers
Pearson's rule: one point per correct option, minus one per incorrect option, minimum zero.
Passage. The printing press, developed by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, transformed the spread of information in Europe. Before its invention, books were copied by hand, a slow and expensive process that limited literacy to the wealthy and the clergy. Gutenberg's movable-type system allowed identical pages to be printed quickly and affordably. Within decades, printing workshops appeared in major cities across the continent. The increased availability of books fuelled the Renaissance, supported the Protestant Reformation, and contributed to the rise of scientific inquiry by enabling scholars to share findings widely. Newspapers and pamphlets, which became common in the 17th century, also relied on this technology. However, the printing press was not without drawbacks. Authorities sometimes used it to spread propaganda, and the rapid circulation of unverified claims occasionally caused public unrest.
Question 1. Which statements about the printing press are supported by the passage?
- A. It made books cheaper and more widely available.
- B. It was invented by a scholar working in the 17th century.
- C. It contributed to the spread of Renaissance ideas.
- D. It was only used for printing religious texts.
- E. It could be used to spread propaganda.
Answer: A, C and E. A matches "quickly and affordably", C matches "fuelled the Renaissance", and E matches "used it to spread propaganda". B misplaces the date — the 17th century is when newspapers became common, not when the press was invented. D is contradicted by newspapers, pamphlets and scientific findings.
How the scoring changes your answer. Choosing A, C and E scores 3. Choosing all five would score 3 − 2 = 1. Choosing A and C only scores 2. On this type, an option you cannot point to in the text is a likely lost point — leave it out.
Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer
Pearson's rule: correct/incorrect. No penalty for a wrong answer, so always answer.
Passage. Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, supporting roughly a quarter of all marine species despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor. The reefs themselves are built by tiny animals called polyps, which secrete calcium carbonate skeletons that accumulate over thousands of years. Inside the tissues of each polyp live microscopic algae known as zooxanthellae. These algae use sunlight to produce sugars, which they share with the polyp in exchange for shelter and nutrients. This partnership is so essential that when ocean temperatures rise even slightly, the polyps expel the algae in a stress response called bleaching. Without their algal partners, the corals lose their main food source and often starve within weeks. Scientists warn that rising sea temperatures linked to climate change are now triggering bleaching events on a global scale, threatening reef systems that took millennia to form.
Question 2. According to the passage, what is the main cause of coral bleaching?
- A. A shortage of calcium carbonate in seawater
- B. An increase in ocean temperatures
- C. Overfishing near coral reef habitats
- D. A reduction in sunlight reaching the reef
Answer: B. "When ocean temperatures rise even slightly, the polyps expel the algae" — that expulsion is what the passage calls bleaching. A and D reuse words from the passage (calcium carbonate, sunlight) in a claim it never makes; C is not mentioned.
Reading: Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown)
Pearson's rule: one point for each correctly completed blank.
Question 3. Choose the best word for each blank.
Regular physical exercise is widely (1) ___ to be beneficial for both physical and mental health. Studies have shown that even moderate activity, such as walking for thirty minutes a day, can (2) ___ the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Exercise also releases endorphins, chemicals that (3) ___ mood and reduce stress. Despite these advantages, many adults fail to meet the (4) ___ minimum levels of activity. Health experts therefore (5) ___ people to incorporate movement into their daily routines.
- (1) recognised / recognising / recognise
- (2) increase / reduce / raise
- (3) worsen / ignore / improve
- (4) recommend / recommended / recommending
- (5) forbid / encourage / discourage
Answer: recognised, reduce, improve, recommended, encourage. Gaps 1 and 4 are grammar: "is widely ___ to be" needs a past participle, and "the ___ minimum levels" needs an adjective form, so recommended. Gaps 2, 3 and 5 are meaning: exercise lowers risk, lifts mood, and experts urge people towards it. When all the options are forms of one word, the answer is decided by grammar alone.
Reading: Fill in the Blanks (Drag and Drop)
Pearson's rule: one point for each correctly completed blank.
Question 4. Drag the correct word into each blank. Word bank: challenges, raised, agree, cause, prevent, lowered, reasons, allow.
Climate change is one of the most serious (1) ___ facing humanity today. Rising global temperatures have already (2) ___ sea levels and changed weather patterns around the world. Scientists (3) ___ that human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels, is the main (4) ___. Reducing emissions and shifting to renewable energy are essential steps to (5) ___ further damage to the planet.
Answer: challenges, raised, agree, cause, prevent. "One of the most serious ___" needs a plural noun, which leaves challenges or reasons; only challenges fits "facing humanity". Rising temperatures have raised sea levels, not lowered them. "The main ___" is singular, which rules out reasons again. The three unused words — lowered, reasons, allow — are each a near-fit for one gap, which is how the distractors in a word bank are built.
Reading: Reorder Paragraphs
Pearson's rule: one point for each correctly ordered adjacent pair.
Question 5. Put the sentences in the correct order.
- A. This process, known as pollination, allows plants to produce fruits and seeds.
- B. Honeybees play a vital role in the production of many crops we eat.
- C. Without bees, farmers would struggle to grow apples, almonds, and many vegetables.
- D. They transfer pollen from one flower to another as they collect nectar.
Answer: B, D, A, C. B is the only sentence that can open: it names its subject in full. D's They needs B's honeybees; A's This process needs D's description of transferring pollen; C's Without bees draws the conclusion.
How the scoring works in your favour. With four sentences there are three adjacent pairs — B-D, D-A and A-C. An answer of B, A, C, D would still earn the A-C pair and score 1 of 3. Lock in pairs you are sure of — a pronoun and the noun it points back to — and build outwards from them.
Listening: Fill in the Blanks (Type In)
Pearson's rule: one point for each word spelled correctly. As the Myndaq bank models it, the item pairs a recording with a gapped transcript. The recording is shown here in full, after the gapped text, because a web page cannot play it.
Question 6. Type the missing word in each blank.
Regular exercise offers numerous benefits for both physical and mental (1) ___. Doctors recommend at least thirty minutes of moderate activity five days a week. Walking, (2) ___, and cycling are excellent choices for beginners. Exercise strengthens the (3) ___, improves mood, and helps maintain a healthy weight. It also reduces the risk of serious diseases such as (4) ___. Finding an activity you enjoy makes it much easier to stay (5) ___ over time.
What you hear: "Regular exercise offers numerous benefits for both physical and mental health. Doctors recommend at least thirty minutes of moderate activity five days a week. Walking, swimming, and cycling are excellent choices for beginners. Exercise strengthens the heart, improves mood, and helps maintain a healthy weight. It also reduces the risk of serious diseases such as diabetes. Finding an activity you enjoy makes it much easier to stay motivated over time."
Answer: health, swimming, heart, diabetes, motivated. The points are for words spelled correctly, so a word you heard but misspelled — diabetis, motivatted — scores nothing. Type as you listen, then use the seconds after the audio ends to check spelling, not to reconsider what you heard.
Listening: Write from Dictation
Pearson's rule: one point for each word spelled correctly, scored for both Listening and Writing. You hear a sentence and type it.
Question 7. You hear: "The committee unanimously approved the proposal to fund the research project."
What to type: the sentence, every word. The points are per word, so a sentence with one misspelling still earns most of its points — a missing word and a misspelled word both lose one. The word to watch here is unanimously: learn the spelling of common academic adverbs before the test, because this type recurs 3–4 times.
Question 8. You hear: "The economic forecast suggests a moderate growth in the manufacturing sector."
What to type: every word, including the article a before moderate growth, which candidates drop because it is unexpected. Short function words are points like any other; do not tidy the grammar of what you hear.
Why this type repays practice. Write from Dictation feeds two skills scores at once, so each correct word counts twice over in your profile. It is one of the cheapest places in the test to gain marks.
How to use practice like this
Learn the scoring rule of each type before you practise it. That single step changes behaviour on three types — you choose fewer options on Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words, and you never leave a blank anywhere else. Then practise the high-volume and double-scored types hardest: Repeat Sentence (10–12 items, Listening and Speaking), Write from Dictation (Listening and Writing) and the two Fill in the Blanks types in Reading (9–11 items between them). For the full list of types and counts, see the PTE Academic syllabus and question types; for test-day rules, see the PTE Academic guide.
Quick answers
Are there PTE Academic past papers?
No. Pearson publishes no past papers, and every test is one of several versions balanced for length. Practise each question type against Pearson's published scoring rules instead.
Which PTE question types have negative marking?
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers in Reading and in Listening, and Highlight Incorrect Words. Each wrong choice costs a point, down to zero for the item.
Should I guess on PTE?
On every other type, yes — a wrong answer costs nothing. On the three negatively marked types, select only options you can support.
Does spelling matter in Write from Dictation?
Yes. Points are awarded for each word spelled correctly, so a misspelled word scores nothing for that word.
Which question types count for two skills?
Among others, Repeat Sentence and Retell Lecture (Listening and Speaking), Summarize Written Text (Reading and Writing), Write from Dictation (Listening and Writing) and Highlight Incorrect Words (Listening and Reading).
