The confusion is very common! The students often stay confused about whether they should go for IELTS or PTE as their English language proficiency test when choosing to study in Australia.
Well, when it comes to studying in Australia, we can certainly help the students in choosing the test they can take. While most of the Australian educational institutions recognise both the tests, a clear inclination towards PTE has been observed in the recent past, so much so that PTE has become one of the most preferred English language proficiency tests taken by international students coming to Australia.
There are reasons that PTE’s popularity has increased and most of the students now prefer taking PTE over IELTS. Here are some of the top ones!
Just like IELTS, PTE is also accepted by almost all the educational institutions across Australia. The educational institutes in Australia are monitored by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (Australian Government) and every course is approved by CRICOS (Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students). The Government of Australia has fully authorised PTE as one of the English language proficiency tests for international students coming to Australia.
Although IELTS is also accepted by all the Australian educational institutions, there are many other points to prefer PTE over it; we’ll be covering them ahead.
PTE is a computerized English language proficiency exam, unlike IELTS, which has a paper and pen-based format. PTE requires the candidate to select correct options and type/speak answers into a headset, whereas IELTS requires the candidate to write on a paper. As a good part of today’s generation is well acquainted with using keyboard, PTE is a preferred option. On the other hand, the candidates with slower typing speed may find PTE a little more challenging.
All in all, computerized format gives PTE an edge over IELTS in more than one way.
PTE has a far more convenient test structure as compared to IELTS. While both the tests are divided into 4 modules – reading, writing, speaking and listening – the candidates generally require to appear for different sections on different days in IELTS; on the other hand, in PTE, the candidate can appear for all the modules within 3 hours on the same day!
Therefore, PTE definitely has a much more convenient structure as compared to IELTS, and is therefore preferred.
PTE being a completely computer-based test delivers test results much more quickly when compared to the IELTS. While IELTS typically takes 13 (or more) days to deliver the results, most PTE candidates get their test result within 3-5 days of appearance.
Therefore, PTE can be clearly preferred here over IELTS as it delivers test results much more quickly.
There are times when candidates need to either cancel or reschedule their date of taking the test. In such cases, IELTS can give the candidates a little hard time, for it may require medical reasons behind cancellation/rescheduling. Moreover, in case of cancellation, IELTS will only refund a partial fee only if the request is initiated 5 weeks before the scheduled test date.
On the other hand, PTE won’t ask any questions whatsoever and would initiate a partial refund (50%) if the cancellation request is made 7 days prior to the date of the test. However, the refund reduces to 25% if the request is made within 7 days of the scheduled test date.
Both PTE and IELTS are fairly equal in terms of scoring; however, there are sections that are more difficult or easier as compared to the others.
A lot of test-takers have reported writing section in IELTS to have been fairly tough as compared to PTE.
. On the other hand, according to them, the reading section tends to be a little more on a tougher side in PTE.
The speaking and listening sections have been reported to be equal in terms of difficulty.
While there are tons of resources available over the internet to help with both the tests, IELTS doesn’t have any official mock test. On the other hand, PTE has an official scored mock test, which the candidates can take and get an estimate for their score.
Mock tests prove to be of great help when it comes to practising. In fact, one can get a good score in PTE by practising mock tests. Here are some tips to get an overall score of 90 in PTE.
Going through all the above points, it can be clearly deduced that PTE is preferred over IELTS by most of the candidates because of practical reasons.
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