E2306 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Any advice please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrydalton Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Practice, practice, practice! I wouldn't bother with buying the books, I found the best stuff oNline I booked mine for 4 weeks in advance and did a bit of study every night. Probably a bit of over kill as I needed 7 or 8 and ended up with 8.5 (and English was not my best subject) but still really helped me out with my visa points. Still a bit of joke that we have to do a 3 hour exam! I would spend the most time on reading and writing, listening is easy and speaking you cant really prepare for, its just a conversation with the examiner. Good luck!! Harry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipporah Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Job well done .. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E2306 Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 Practice, practice, practice! I wouldn't bother with buying the books, I found the best stuff oNline I booked mine for 4 weeks in advance and did a bit of study every night. Probably a bit of over kill as I needed 7 or 8 and ended up with 8.5 (and English was not my best subject) but still really helped me out with my visa points. Still a bit of joke that we have to do a 3 hour exam! I would spend the most time on reading and writing, listening is easy and speaking you cant really prepare for, its just a conversation with the examiner. Good luck!! Harry Thank you Harry. Which test did you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrydalton Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Sorry I didn't read you initial question properly. I only needed to do General but I believe Academic is just an analysis of some data instead of writing a letter in the writing section. Not certain though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest115110 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Go to https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/189- Click on points test Click on English Language ability. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny88 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I took the PTE Academic exam a couple of days ago and would definitely recommend it, especially if you're a native English speaker. Preparation was minimal, I just read through the tips that are available for free on the Pearson website to familiarise myself with the format, and then took one scored practice exam a couple of days before, which you can buy through the Pearson site. There are also lots of free videos on YouTube if you want extra tips from people that have taken it and done well. The exam itself is fairly common sense stuff and you are simply sitting in a booth with a headset for 3 hours (or less) working through the questions. I found the speaking the hardest section and didn't score very well on it in the practice exam, but in the real thing got a pleasant surprise as I got 90 for all of the sections. The other great benefit is your result is available within 5 days, or more likely, the next morning. I can't comment on IELTS as I have never attempted it, but there are plenty of other threads on here weighing up the pros and cons, and having read them I chose PTE. Very glad I did, and as I said earlier, especially if you're a native speaker I think it probably is the better option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire rose Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 HI , I just noticed your thread and its just a coincidence that I was coming on to the thank the gentleman who had put a large thread on regarding the differences between the two. I have sat IELTS what feels like so many times I eventually passed it the first time round after 3 times which helped to get my skills assessment, I then stupidly let time lapse and lost points due to age. I then had to sit the nightmare test again to gain the points and shock horror I failed it again by 0.5 (IELTS) I decided to try the pearson test after reading the Gentlemans thread, I was petrified and put a thread on myself asking for practice papers, I took the advise of a lady who said it was ok but she recommended buying the book which i did. Basically I was over the moon , I sat the test most of it was ok and due to IELTS i just didnt have any confidence in myself. The results were supposed to take 5 days, I sat it this Wednesday and had my marks the day after, i was only a few marks from superior English and that was because im crap at reading graphs in time lol, I was nowhere near superior in the IELTS. Obviously I can only speak for myself but i promise you I have only ever been an average student how I got a degree i will never know lol . Good luck in whichever test you take , I would also recommend looking in the search engine for the gentleman who compares the two test magnificently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E2306 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 I just want to thank you all for your replies. I decided to go for the PTE test on your advice and the thread which you mentioned. I did a few practice tests which put me through my paces lol but I managed to get a very surprising score of 89! I was just hoping for the extra 10 points but banked 20 instead! Plus I also got my results first thing next morning So thank you kindly for your advice. Very much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.