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PTE Academic Speaking: How to Score 79+ and Crush the Exam in 2026
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
PTE Academic is one of the fastest-growing English proficiency tests in the world — and for good reason. Results arrive within 48 hours, it's accepted by over 3,500 universities and institutions globally, and the AI-based scoring eliminates examiner bias. If you've applied to universities in Australia, the UK, or Canada, or need an English test for immigration, you've almost certainly encountered it.
The Speaking section of PTE Academic is unlike any other English exam. You're speaking not to a human examiner but into a microphone, and your responses are scored by an AI algorithm trained on hundreds of thousands of candidate responses. Understanding exactly how that algorithm works — and practising accordingly — is what separates candidates who score 79+ from those who plateau at 65.
This guide covers every Speaking task, how the AI scorer evaluates each one, and the preparation methods that produce real score improvements.
PTE Academic Speaking Section Format
The Speaking section is integrated with Writing in Part 1 of the PTE Academic exam. Speaking tasks typically take 30–35 minutes total and include:
Task | Instructions | Scoring Focus |
Read Aloud | Read a text passage aloud (up to 60 words) | Oral fluency, pronunciation, content |
Repeat Sentence | Listen to a sentence and repeat it exactly | Oral fluency, pronunciation, content |
Describe Image | Describe a graph, chart, map, or image in 40 seconds | Oral fluency, pronunciation, content |
Re-tell Lecture | Listen to a 60–90 second lecture; re-tell in 40 seconds | Oral fluency, pronunciation, content |
Answer Short Question | Listen to a question; give a 1–2 word answer | Vocabulary (contributes to overall score) |
How PTE Speaking Is Scored: What the AI Is Measuring
The PTE AI scorer evaluates three dimensions for most speaking tasks:
Content — How much of the required information did you include? For Read Aloud and Repeat Sentence, this means accuracy of the words you produced. For Describe Image and Re-tell Lecture, it means how many key pieces of information you covered.
Oral Fluency — How smooth, natural, and even is your speaking? The algorithm penalises: pauses longer than 3 seconds, false starts, repetitions, filled pauses ("um", "uh"), irregular rhythm, and inconsistent pace.
Pronunciation — How close are your phonemes to native English models? PTE uses Pearson's Versant technology to assess individual sounds, stress patterns, rhythm, and coarticulation. It does not penalise accent — it assesses intelligibility.
The key insight: PTE rewards fluent, uninterrupted, well-paced speech over perfectly accurate but halting speech. A smooth answer with minor errors often outscores an accurate answer full of pauses.
Task-by-Task Preparation Strategy
Read Aloud (Highest Impact Task)
Read Aloud contributes to both Speaking AND Reading scores — making it the single highest-impact task in PTE Academic. A strong Read Aloud performance can lift your overall score significantly.
What the AI penalises:
Pausing in the middle of a sentence
Reading word-by-word rather than in chunks
Mispronouncing frequent words
Ignoring punctuation (commas, full stops affect rhythm)
Preparation strategy: Read English text aloud every day. Start with slower, simple texts and build to academic passages. Practise reading in meaningful chunks — not word by word. Record yourself and listen back for pauses and pronunciation issues.
Your Study Sessions on Nona are ideal for Read Aloud work — have your speaker identify your specific pronunciation patterns and practise targeted corrections.
Describe Image (Most Practice Required)
Describe Image intimidates most candidates because it seems to require perfect spontaneous language. It doesn't — it requires a reliable template and enough vocabulary to describe common chart/graph types accurately.
Structure that works (40 seconds):
Overview sentence — what the image shows (5 seconds)
Key data point 1 + comparison/trend (10 seconds)
Key data point 2 + comparison/trend (10 seconds)
Notable outlier or conclusion (10 seconds)
Brief summary (5 seconds)
Practise this with at least 20 different image types before your exam: line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, tables, maps, process diagrams. Nona Bits micro-lessons can help you build the specific language of data description (rose sharply, remained stable, a significant decline, accounted for the majority of...).
Re-tell Lecture (Note-Taking Is the Skill)
Re-tell Lecture gives you 40 seconds to re-tell the main ideas of a 60–90 second academic lecture. The bottleneck is not English level — it's note-taking speed.
Preparation strategy: Listen to short academic audio clips and practice identifying: the main topic (1 sentence), two key supporting points, and one conclusion or implication. Write these down in real time, then re-tell from your notes. This is also where your Study Sessions on Nona add value — practise the oral summary skill with feedback on organisation and vocabulary.
The Most Effective PTE Speaking Practice Routine
4-Week Sprint Plan
Build your sprint with Nona Study Plans as the backbone:
Week 1: Baseline test (CEFR Skill Test); focus on Read Aloud rhythm and pronunciation Week 2: Describe Image template practice — 5 images per day, minimum Week 3: Re-tell Lecture note-taking drills + 1-on-1 Speaking sessions for oral fluency Week 4: Full mock test conditions; address lowest-scoring task specifically
Daily Nona Bits Practice
Use Nona Bits for daily 10-minute micro-sessions on:
Data description vocabulary (for Describe Image)
Academic vocabulary (for Re-tell Lecture)
Common mispronounced words in English for non-native speakers
Oral fluency drills — speaking in connected speech chunks
Live Speaking Practice for Fluency
The AI scorer heavily rewards oral fluency — smooth, connected, natural-paced speech. This is a skill that only develops through regular live speaking practice. Two Speaking Sessions on Nona per week for 4 weeks will noticeably reduce pausing, hesitation, and fragmented speech patterns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What PTE score do I need for Australian immigration? For most Australian skilled migration visa sub-classes, you need a PTE score of 65+ overall with no communicative skill below 65. For some occupations and the skilled independent visa, 79+ is required across all sections.
Is PTE easier than IELTS? Different, not easier. PTE's AI scoring rewards fluency heavily, and the integrated tasks (reading + speaking; listening + speaking) require a different set of preparation strategies. Many candidates who struggle with IELTS Speaking's human interaction format find PTE more comfortable — and vice versa.
How long does it take to improve PTE Speaking? With daily practice and 2–3 focused speaking sessions per week, most candidates improve by 5–10 points in 4–6 weeks. The Read Aloud and Describe Image tasks respond fastest to structured practice.
Can I take PTE preparation online? Yes. Nona's 1-on-1 sessions are ideal for fluency and pronunciation work that directly improves your PTE Speaking score.
Get Your PTE Score Moving
The difference between 65 and 79 in PTE Speaking comes down to two things: fluency and accuracy on Read Aloud, and reliable templates for Describe Image and Re-tell Lecture. Both are teachable. Both improve with deliberate practice.