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Guidelines for PTE Panacea Scoring
Speaking
Read Aloud
Communicative Skills Reading and Speaking
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
Each replacement, omission or insertion of a word counts as one error.
Maximum 5 Points
Pronunciation:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Intrusive 0 Non-English
Fluency:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Limited 0 Disfluent
Note:
Points can be given up to one decimal like 2.7, 3.4, 3.5, or 4.3 etc in Content, Pronunciation and Fluency
Repeat Sentence
Communicative Skills Listening and Speaking
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
Errors = replacements, omissions and insertions only
Hesitations, filled or unfilled pauses, leading or trailing material are ignored in the scoring of content
3 All words in the response from the prompt in the correct sequence
2 At least 50% of words in the response from the prompt in the correct sequence
1 Less than 50% of words in the response from the prompt in the correct sequence
0 Almost nothing from the prompt in the response
Pronunciation:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Intrusive 0 Non-English
Fluency:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Limited 0 Disfluent
Note:
Points for content will be either 0,1,2 or 3 not in decimals.
Points can be given up to one decimal like 2.7, 3.4, 3.5, or 4.3 etc in Pronunciation and Fluency
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Describe Image
Communicative Skills Speaking
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
5 Describes all elements of the image and their relationships, possible development and conclusion or
implications
4 Describes all the key elements of the image and their relations, referring to their implications or
conclusions
3 Deals with most key elements of the image and refers to their implications or conclusions
2 Deals with only one key element in the image and refers to an implication or conclusion. Shows basic
understanding of several core elements of the image
1 Describes some basic elements of the image, but does not make clear their interrelations or implications
0 Mentions some disjointed elements of the presentation
Pronunciation:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Intrusive 0 Non-English
Fluency:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Limited 0 Disfluent
Note:
Points can be given up to one decimal like 2.7, 3.4, 3.5, or 4.3 etc in Content, Pronunciation and Fluency
Retell Lecture
Communicative Skills Listening and Speaking
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
5 Re-tells all points of the presentation and describes characters, aspects and actions, their relationships,
the underlying development, implications and conclusions
4 Describes all key points of the presentation and their relations, referring to their implications and
conclusions
3 Deals with most points in the presentation and refers to their implications and conclusions
2 Deals with only one key point and refers to an implication or conclusion. Shows basic understanding of
several core elements of the presentation
1 Describes some basic elements of the presentation but does not make clear their interrelations or
implications
0 Mentions some disjointed elements of the presentation
Pronunciation:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Intrusive 0 Non-English
Fluency:
5 Native-like 4 Advanced 3 Good 2 Intermediate 1Limited 0 Disfluent
Note:
Points can be given up to one decimal like 2.7, 3.4, 3.5, or 4.3 etc in Content, Pronunciation and Fluency
Answer Short Question
Communicative Skills Listening and Speaking
Correct/incorrect:
1 Appropriate word choice in response
0 Inappropriate word choice in response
Scoring criteria: Pronunciation and Oral fluency
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The following scoring criteria apply to the speaking item types that are scored on pronunciation and oral fluency in
PTE Academic.
Pronunciation
5 Native-like
All vowels and consonants are produced in a manner that is easily understood by regular speakers of the language. The
speaker uses assimilation and deletions appropriate to continuous speech. Stress is placed correctly in all words and sentence-
level stress is fully appropriate
4 Advanced
Vowels and consonants are pronounced clearly and unambiguously. A few minor consonant, vowel or stress distortions do not
affect intelligibility. All words are easily understandable. A few consonants or consonant sequences may be distorted. Stress is
placed correctly on all common words, and sentence level stress is reasonable
3 Good
Most vowels and consonants are pronounced correctly. Some consistent errors might make a few words unclear. A few
consonants in certain contexts may be regularly distorted, omitted or mispronounced. Stress-dependent vowel reduction may
occur on a few words
2 Intermediate
Some consonants and vowels are consistently mispronounced in a non-native like manner. At least 2/3 of speech is intelligible,
but listeners might need to adjust to the accent. Some consonants are regularly omitted, and consonant sequences may be
simplified. Stress may be placed incorrectly on some words or be unclear
1 Intrusive
Many consonants and vowels are mispronounced, resulting in a strong intrusive foreign accent. Listeners may have difficulty
understanding about 1/3 of the words. Many consonants may be distorted or omitted. Consonant sequences may be non-
English. Stress is placed in a non-English manner; unstressed words may be reduced or omitted and a few syllables added or
missed
0 Non-English
Pronunciation seems completely characteristic of another language. Many consonants and vowels are mispronounced,
misordered or omitted. Listeners may find more than 1/2 of the speech unintelligible. Stressed and unstressed syllables are
realized in a non-English manner. Several words may have the wrong number of syllables
Oral Fluency
5 Native-like
Speech shows smooth rhythm and phrasing. There are no hesitations, repetitions, false starts or non-native phonological
simplifications
4 Advanced
Speech has an acceptable rhythm with appropriate phrasing and word emphasis. There is no more than one hesitation, one
repetition or a false start. There are no significant non-native phonological simplifications
3 Good
Speech is at an acceptable speed but may be uneven. There may be more than one hesitation, but most words are spoken in
continuous phrases. There are few repetitions or false starts. There are no long pauses and speech does not sound staccato
2 Intermediate
Speech may be uneven or staccato. Speech (if >= 6 words) has at least one smooth three-word run, and no more than two or
three hesitations, repetitions or false starts. There may be one long pause, but not two or more
1 Limited
Speech has irregular phrasing or sentence rhythm. Poor phrasing, staccato or syllabic timing, and/or multiple hesitations,
repetitions, and/or false starts make spoken performance notably uneven or discontinuous. Long utterances may have one or
two long pauses and inappropriate sentence-level word emphasis
0 Disfluent
Speech is slow and labored with little discernable phrase grouping, multiple hesitations, pauses, false starts, and/or major
phonological simplifications. Most words are isolated, and there may be more than one long pause
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Writing
Summarize Written Text
Communicative Skills Reading and Writing
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
2 Provides a good summary of the text. All relevant aspects mentioned
1 Provides a fair summary of the text but misses one or two aspects
0 Omits or misrepresents the main aspects of the text
Form:
1 Is written in one, single, complete sentence
0 Not written in one, single, complete sentence or contains fewer than 5 or more than 75 words. Summary
is written in capital letters
Grammar:
2 Has correct grammatical structure
1 Contains grammatical errors but with no hindrance to communication
0 Has defective grammatical structure which could hinder communication
Vocabulary:
2 Has appropriate choice of words
1 Contains lexical errors but with no hindrance to communication
0 Has defective word choice which could hinder communication
Note:
Points can be given up to one decimal like 0.4, 0.9, 1.5, or 1.8 etc in Content, Grammar and Vocabulary
Points for Form will be either 0 or 1not in decimals.
Either Content or Form is Zero, overall points for the item will be Zero
Write Essay
Communicative Skills Writing
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
3 Adequately deals with the prompt
2 Deals with the prompt but does not deal with one minor aspect
1 Deals with the prompt but omits a major aspect or more than one minor aspect
0 Does not deal properly with the prompt
Form:
2 Length is between 200 and 300 words
1 Length is between 120 and 199 or between 301 and 380 words
0 Length is less than 120 or more than 380 words. Essay is written in capital letters, contains no
punctuation or only consists of bullet points or very short sentences
Development, structure and coherence:
2 Shows good development and logical structure
1 Is incidentally less well structured, and some elements or paragraphs are poorly linked
0 Lacks coherence and mainly consists of lists or loose elements
Grammar:
2 Shows consistent grammatical control of complex language. Errors are rare and difficult to spot
1 Shows a relatively high degree of grammatical control. No mistakes which would lead to
misunderstandings
0 Contains mainly simple structures and/or several basic mistakes
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General linguistic range:
2 Exhibits smooth mastery of a wide range of language to formulate thoughts precisely, give emphasis,
differentiate and eliminate ambiguity. No sign that the test taker is restricted in what they want to
communicate
1 Sufficient range of language to provide clear descriptions, express viewpoints and develop arguments
0 Contains mainly basic language and lacks precision
Vocabulary:
2 Good command of a broad lexical repertoire, idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms
1 Shows a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to general academic topics. Lexical
shortcomings lead to circumlocution or some imprecision
0 Contains mainly basic vocabulary insufficient to deal with the topic at the required level
Spelling:
2 Correct spelling
1 One spelling error
0 More than one spelling error
Note:
Points can be given up to one decimal like 0.4, 0.9, 1.5, or 1.8 etc in Content, Development, structure and
coherence, Grammar, General linguistic range and Vocabulary
Points for Form and Spellings will be either 0, 1 or 2 and not in decimals.
Either Content or Form is Zero, overall points for the item will be Zero
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Reading
Multiple-choice, choose single answer
Communicative Skills Reading
Correct/incorrect:
1 Correct response
0 Incorrect response
Multiple-choice, choose multiple answer
Communicative Skills Reading
Partial credit, points deducted for incorrect options chosen:
1 Each correct response
- 1 Each incorrect response
0 Minimum score
Example:
Options Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4
A A
B B B
C C C
D D D D
E E
Total Points: 2 +1-1=0 Points +2-1=1 Point +1-2=0 Points 1 Point
Assume Right options: B and D
Re-order paragraphs
Communicative Skills Reading
Partial credit:
1 Each pair of correct adjacent texboxes
0 Minimum score
Reading: Fill in the blanks
Communicative Skills Reading
Partial credit:
1 Each correctly completed blank
0 Minimum score
Reading and writing: Fill in the blanks
Communicative Skills Reading and witing
Partial credit:
1 Each correctly completed blank
0 Minimum score
Listening
Summarize Spoken Text
Communicative Skills Listening and writing
Enabling Skills and other traits scored
Content:
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2 Provides a good summary of the text. All relevant aspects are mentioned
1 Provides a fair summary of the text, but one or two aspects are missing
0 Omits or misrepresents the main aspects
Form:
2 Contains 50-70 words
1 Contains 40-49 words or 71-100 words
0 Contains less than 40 words or more than 100 words. Summary is written in capital letters, contains no
punctuation or consists only of bullet points or very short sentences
Grammar:
2 Correct grammatical structures
1 Contains grammatical errors with no hindrance to communication
0 Defective grammatical structures which could hinder communication
Vocabulary:
2 Appropriate choice of words
1 Some lexical errors but with no hindrance to communication
0 Defective word choice which could hinder communication
Spelling:
2 Correct spelling
1 One spelling error
0 More than one spelling error
Note:
Points can be given up to one decimal like 0.4, 0.9, 1.5, or 1.8 etc in Content, Grammar and Vocabulary
Points for Form and Spellings will be either 0, 1 or 2 and not in decimals.
Either Content or Form is Zero, overall points for the item will be Zero
Multiple-choice, choose multiple answer
Communicative Skills Listening
Partial credit, points deducted for incorrect options chosen:
1 Each correct response
- 1 Each incorrect response
0 Minimum score
Reading: Fill in the blanks
Communicative Skills Listening and writing
Partial credit:
1 Each correct word spelled correctly
0 Minimum score
Highlight correct summary
Communicative Skills Listening and reading
Correct/incorrect:
1 Correct response
0 Incorrect response
Multiple-choice, choose single answer
Communicative Skills Listening
Correct/incorrect:
1 Correct response
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0 Incorrect response
Select missing word
Communicative Skills Listening
Correct/incorrect:
1 Correct response
0 Incorrect response
Highlight incorrect words
Communicative Skills Listening and reading
Partial credit, points deducted for incorrect options chosen:
1 Each correct word
- 1 Each incorrect word
0 Minimum score
Write from dictation
Communicative Skills Listening and writing
Partial credit:
1 Each correct word spelled correctly
0 Each incorrect or misspelled word
