IELTS v.s Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) | My personal findings

[Lavers]

Try sample questions in both tests and see which you prefer, personally I thought the ielts seemed better to do.

The writing is all down to what questions you get on the day...the 1st test I did I got an 8.5 in writing by writing about different things you can use for speed safety on the roads but the 2nd time I got a 7.5 with being asked why kids should only read educational books and not fictional.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Lavers

[CharleyP]

23 hours ago, Bav said:

Agree....don't bother with IELTS as it's complete waste of time.

Just save your money and time and go with PTE... IELTS is designed to make you fail as writing with pen on paper is ridiculous these days.

PTE is far more practical and real life so I would recommend it anyday over IELTS.

Mt reasons below:

I had a similar issue where my target score needed was 8+, managed to get 9 on all other sections in IELTS but never managed to cross 7.5 in writing (simply because we have all become so used to trying on keyboard rather than writing manually, so no doubt writing will become illegible thereby not highlighting the real reason for the test which is command over English). 

So after 3 wasted IELTS attempts to secure over 7.5 in writing, I turned to PTE. And in one attempt, had 90.

Furthermore, if you want to retake IELTS, the nature of the test means you have to wait for a fortnight to book (not to mention the wait time to receive your IELTS score). So approx a month wasted before you sit another.

With PTE, you usually get your test results in 2-3 days (I got mine next day) so gives/saves you valuable time if you did not achieve your desired score the first time round.

PTE definitely way forward especially if you require a higher ecore. (And want to save money and time).

All the best.

 

Hi Bav - I actually meant to say that I did IELTS on a computer. Not all are computer based but there are some. Agree still better to do PTE if you can. 

[Dean0703]

I did the paper based IELTS last week and didn't find any of it too challenging. We shall see when I get my score next week. If I don't get a band 8 in everything I will be amazed. 

[Dean0703]

On 16/01/2020 at 09:47, CharleyP said:

If you are looking to get an 8 or above at IELTS I would say don't bother with it, and go straight for the PTE. I sat the IELTS General test last week as I couldn't get booked on to a PTE on the days I had available. The writing is pretty much impossible to get an 8. I got a 7.5 and I write and edit copy everyday for my job. Here's an example of a 7.5: https://www.ielts-practice.org/psychological-illnesses-may-not-be-as-obvious-as-physical-disabilities-or-illnesses-band-7-5-ielts-essay-sample/. I'm sorry but I would say this is superior English and worth an 8. Particularly when you compare it to the simple questions on the reading and listening sections (I got 9 on those).  I joined a free webinar on task two before the test and the host told us that we would lose marks if we put information that wasn't relevant (and I disagreed with the examples she gave, I would argue they were relevant). So they are not just testing your English but your knowledge too? Sounds wrong to me. And very subjective. 

Plus, on the speaking I was asked to speak continuously for two minutes but I wasn't allowed to see the timer. That's really hard - and is no reflection of my English. I am sure I dropped half a mark here because I paused before the two minutes was up (I got an 8.5). 

I'm managed to get booked on to the Pearson next week, fingers crossed!!

In respect to that band 7.5 example in the link, whilst it isn't very well written in terms of the word choice and grammar, I think it should only a band 7.5 because their agreement of the point isn't clear enough. They say that they agree in the first paragraph and it's not referred to again. It is more descriptive of the various viewpoints rather than the adopted stance of the argument. That's a secondary school teachers opinion as well as a test taker! 

[CharleyP]

4 hours ago, Dean0703 said:

In respect to that band 7.5 example in the link, whilst it isn't very well written in terms of the word choice and grammar, I think it should only a band 7.5 because their agreement of the point isn't clear enough. They say that they agree in the first paragraph and it's not referred to again. It is more descriptive of the various viewpoints rather than the adopted stance of the argument. That's a secondary school teachers opinion as well as a test taker! 

I don’t disagree that it’s not perfect. I wouldn’t expect it to get an 8.5 or a 9. But it’s hard to see why it didn’t manage an 8, when in my experience the listening and the reading was so unbelievably basic in comparison. 

[Dean0703]

I've typo-d that but my iPad is fond of correcting me, it should have said that I do think it's well written in terms of word choice and grammar. I didn't use as fancy words in mine although I was descriptive enough as far as I see it and I did answer the question. We shall see. There certainly isn't enough guidance as to the expectation of any of these tests. If I want a pupil to get an A in their exam, and they want one too, then I can show them all the steps to get there and how marks are achieved. 

IELTS and what I found on PTE is all very cloak and dagger. Their marking scheme for the writing is just a selection of broad statements that are objective and don't tell you what picks up credit. Unless you pay to do their practice tests for both organisations, your preparedness comes down to how well judged your guesswork has been. Maybe a little bit of natural ability as well.

Certainly at £180 a go it's good business. It's a money spinner. 

[Ausvisitor]

@Dean0703 the IELTS results should be out today how did you do?

[Pominuk]

PTE is the way forward, it only takes a few hours and you don't have to waste the whole day waiting for your speaking slot, you can book and sit it within days and you get your results very fast. I did IELTS and got W9,S8,L9,W7.5 - very frustrating

I did PTE last week and got straight 90's

PTE is a much more efficient and fairer system, I would recommend it over IELTS but then again each to their own.

[Dean0703]

On 18/01/2020 at 11:23, Ausvisitor said:

@Dean0703 the IELTS results should be out today how did you do?

Takes 13 days so Friday 

[Ausvisitor]

5 hours ago, Dean0703 said:

Takes 13 days so Friday 

Ah, I knew it was basically two weeks, I thought you'd taken it the week before - sorry.

Good luck for when they come out...

[Denson]

PTE is the way. It only takes a few hours and you don't have to waste time and wait for others to finish.  You just come in sit, take the test and you get your results in 5 days or less.

Got straight 80's with 1 month of practice.

PTE over IELTS.

But if you're not used to a noisy environment, PTE isn't for you.

[helpplease]

Hi all, I am a native English speaker. I have sat both  the IELTS and PTE tests. I have just received my PTE scores and in my speaking I only received 29!! Pronunciation was 10 which I believe is the lowest!

I received a 9 in my speaking section for IELTS.

Do you know where I could have gone wrong? Thanks 

[Dean0703]

So to solve the mystery 

listening 9.0

speaking 9.0

reading 7.5

writing 7.5

overall 8.0 

Their Reading I can’t dispute as whatever they say the answer is is the answer. Although even doing all their practice stuff, there are some of the reading exercises where I find myself disagreeing with the answer, or finding that there could be two or three possible answers. Problem is they’ve decided there’s only one answer. 
 

I don’t agree with their writing score either. According to what they’ve sent me as their band descriptor of a 7.5, my writing lacks “understanding of some linguistic features,” and contains “occasional spelling and grammatical errors but not that make the piece difficult to understand.” 
 

Naw - that’s fictional. There wasn’t an error in my writing in any aspect of spelling, grammar or sentence structure. I do teach this stuff every day so I do know how to write. But in the eyes of the IELTS my English ability can only be described as “very good.” 
 

Of the four people I met on the day and kept in contact with, none of us achieved above a 7.5 in the writing and I was the only one of us to get a 9.0 in speaking. 
 

I’m absolutely convinced it’s corrupt! 

[Marisawright]

16 hours ago, helpplease said:

Hi all, I am a native English speaker. I have sat both  the IELTS and PTE tests. I have just received my PTE scores and in my speaking I only received 29!! Pronunciation was 10 which I believe is the lowest!

I received a 9 in my speaking section for IELTS.

Do you know where I could have gone wrong? Thanks 

Do you have a regional accent?

[helpplease]

2 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Do you have a regional accent?

No. I have a very neutral accent. I was born and bred in Manchester and people could never guess where the UK I originated from. I was thinking maybe I spoke too quietly and the microphone was picking it up.  There were so very noisy candidates in that room!

I’m wondering if it is worth a rescore?

[CharleyP]

1 hour ago, Dean0703 said:

So to solve the mystery 

listening 9.0

speaking 9.0

reading 7.5

writing 7.5

overall 8.0 

Their Reading I can’t dispute as whatever they say the answer is is the answer. Although even doing all their practice stuff, there are some of the reading exercises where I find myself disagreeing with the answer, or finding that there could be two or three possible answers. Problem is they’ve decided there’s only one answer. 
 

I don’t agree with their writing score either. According to what they’ve sent me as their band descriptor of a 7.5, my writing lacks “understanding of some linguistic features,” and contains “occasional spelling and grammatical errors but not that make the piece difficult to understand.” 
 

Naw - that’s fictional. There wasn’t an error in my writing in any aspect of spelling, grammar or sentence structure. I do teach this stuff every day so I do know how to write. But in the eyes of the IELTS my English ability can only be described as “very good.” 
 

Of the four people I met on the day and kept in contact with, none of us achieved above a 7.5 in the writing and I was the only one of us to get a 9.0 in speaking. 
 

I’m absolutely convinced it’s corrupt! 

I agree on this! I don’t think the reading answers were clear enough to be right and wrong as you say, particularly as the final question I had was to pick the ‘best’ title for the text. There were three that would have been suitable!! Also I did not have a single typing error in my writing, and I stuck to the format they said you needed to follow. I think they need to review how they score the writing. It’s a general test not academic. 

[helpplease]

1 hour ago, helpplease said:

No. I have a very neutral accent. I was born and bred in Manchester and people could never guess where the UK I originated from. I was thinking maybe I spoke too quietly and the microphone was picking it up.  There were so very noisy candidates in that room!

I’m wondering if it is worth a rescore?

Sorry, I meant the microphone was NOT picking my voice up and there are so MANY noisy candidates in the room!

[Dean0703]

I completed it with a pen so no typing issues. 
 

Plus, I managed a 9.0 in speaking and I have a very broad West of Scotland accent, although I did have my “parents night” voice on. This may have helped matters along. 

[FFacs]

4 hours ago, Dean0703 said:

I completed it with a pen so no typing issues. 
 

Plus, I managed a 9.0 in speaking and I have a very broad West of Scotland accent, although I did have my “parents night” voice on. This may have helped matters along. 

I'm pretty convinced the markers for these tests are just following marking guides with little recognition of the actual standard of the text. I had a battle with TOEFL, needing a score of 30 on writing. I took the test twice, both times I scored R30, S30, L30 and W29. Re-marks delivered no change, just more money lost. I called up to complain, and had some Southern guy: "Hey y'all, awful sorry to hear that." I looked at the samples for a score of 30 online and they were shit, frankly. Really clunky, No flow. No variation in language usage, sentence structure or rhythm. Inappropriate verb selection. We're talking secondary school level. I did some hunting, and as far as I can tell my response wasn't idiomatic enough. In other words (no pun intended) I didn't score 30 because in my response addressing the moral arguments for gene therapy - or whatever - I had failed to include a totally inappropriate metaphor or simile. My uni tutor would be proud of me.

I gave up on TOEFL as I was running out of time for my visa application. I flew to another country to take PTE. Scored 90s across the board and maximum scores on all components. A perfect score. TOEFL can stick their test up their arse.

Don't let the bastards grind you down.

[Ausvisitor]

11 hours ago, Dean0703 said:

So to solve the mystery 

listening 9.0

speaking 9.0

reading 7.5

writing 7.5

overall 8.0 

Their Reading I can’t dispute as whatever they say the answer is is the answer. Although even doing all their practice stuff, there are some of the reading exercises where I find myself disagreeing with the answer, or finding that there could be two or three possible answers. Problem is they’ve decided there’s only one answer. 
 

I don’t agree with their writing score either. According to what they’ve sent me as their band descriptor of a 7.5, my writing lacks “understanding of some linguistic features,” and contains “occasional spelling and grammatical errors but not that make the piece difficult to understand.” 
 

Naw - that’s fictional. There wasn’t an error in my writing in any aspect of spelling, grammar or sentence structure. I do teach this stuff every day so I do know how to write. But in the eyes of the IELTS my English ability can only be described as “very good.” 
 

Of the four people I met on the day and kept in contact with, none of us achieved above a 7.5 in the writing and I was the only one of us to get a 9.0 in speaking. 
 

I’m absolutely convinced it’s corrupt! 

I had a feeling you were going to end up with 7.5 for writing (as most people do).

I did as well and I've got a master's in English so proven to be well above the level that IELTS marks up to.

No point getting a re-score it's the same price as taking it again takes twice as long and will almost certainly result in the same answer.

If you can, move onto PTE, I did that and got 90 in all the key metrics and either 90 or 89 in the supporting ones on the first try. I booked it the afternoon after getting the IELTS score and took it on the Tuesday, had the result back by 6am Wednesday.

 

[CharleyP]

On 16/01/2020 at 09:47, CharleyP said:

If you are looking to get an 8 or above at IELTS I would say don't bother with it, and go straight for the PTE. I sat the IELTS General test last week as I couldn't get booked on to a PTE on the days I had available. The writing is pretty much impossible to get an 8. I got a 7.5 and I write and edit copy everyday for my job. Here's an example of a 7.5: https://www.ielts-practice.org/psychological-illnesses-may-not-be-as-obvious-as-physical-disabilities-or-illnesses-band-7-5-ielts-essay-sample/. I'm sorry but I would say this is superior English and worth an 8. Particularly when you compare it to the simple questions on the reading and listening sections (I got 9 on those).  I joined a free webinar on task two before the test and the host told us that we would lose marks if we put information that wasn't relevant (and I disagreed with the examples she gave, I would argue they were relevant). So they are not just testing your English but your knowledge too? Sounds wrong to me. And very subjective. 

Plus, on the speaking I was asked to speak continuously for two minutes but I wasn't allowed to see the timer. That's really hard - and is no reflection of my English. I am sure I dropped half a mark here because I paused before the two minutes was up (I got an 8.5). 

I'm managed to get booked on to the Pearson next week, fingers crossed!!

I now have my PTE Academic results. I found the PTE content and questions much harder that IELTS and hated that I couldn’t go back and review my answers. But nevertheless I still scored R90, S90, L90 and W88. 

[helpplease]

So now I have a dilemma - do i retake the PTE academic (even though I got a score of 29 in speaking, pronunciation 10!!!  despite being a native English speak with a neutral accent but all other scores were good) or the IELTS test (where I got a speaking score of 9 but I am aware that the writing component is extremely difficult!)?

Any advice would be much appreciated! 

Thanks!

[Lavers]

6 hours ago, helpplease said:

So now I have a dilemma - do i retake the PTE academic (even though I got a score of 29 in speaking, pronunciation 10!!!  despite being a native English speak with a neutral accent but all other scores were good) or the IELTS test (where I got a speaking score of 9 but I am aware that the writing component is extremely difficult!)?

Any advice would be much appreciated! 

Thanks!

Stick with what you are most comfortable with, for me I preferred the Ielts.

 

[Pooja Negi]

On 25/01/2020 at 12:18, helpplease said:

Hi all, I am a native English speaker. I have sat both  the IELTS and PTE tests. I have just received my PTE scores and in my speaking I only received 29!! Pronunciation was 10 which I believe is the lowest!

I received a 9 in my speaking section for IELTS.

Do you know where I could have gone wrong? Thanks 

I believe PTE doesn't actually tests your English. It's just a computer software and people uses tricks and hacks to fool the system. It's really sad to hear that being a native speaker, you got only 29 in speaking. I believe that if you are talking a bit slow and taking pauses in between, the microphone might not pick it. I gave PTE last year and got 79+ in all the sections in my first attempt (FYI, English is not my first language). What I followed was that one needs to continue speaking on the microphone at a continuous speed without any pauses. Also, in PTE content doesn't give you much marks (Sad reality) so instead of focusing on what one is saying, one should focus on how it is being said. This could be one of the hacks of cracking PTE in first attempt. 

I find IELTS to be the real test but tough obviously because that's where they test your actual English language abilities, especially the speaking & writing section. But since one needs to score marks and not improve English by giving these tests, so PTE is always a better option as one can use tips and tricks. 

[shirani2001]

First of all, everyone aims for 65+ or 79+ or 90 to get 10 or 20 or 30 points respectively while applying PR.

Nevertheless, if you want to score 65+ in all sections, a minimum of 3 weeks’ extensive practice with the right techniques is mandatory (Assuming 2 hours/day). A complete month or 5 weeks of hard work with the right approach is advisable if one aims for 79+. Finally, If you are looking for 90 in all, You need to give 4 hours each for complete 2 months.

I would also suggest my friends to not to practice blindly that does not help them crack PTE. Practicing with the right tips and tricks and use right mock tests platform from  necessary to score above 65 and 79.