PTE Academic · Guides · October 24, 2026 · 6 min read
PTE score chart 2026: what 10–90 means, skill scores and PTE to IELTS bands
PTE Academic reports every score on a scale from 10 to 90: one overall score and four skill scores for Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening. There are no pass or fail marks; the score you need is set by your university or visa. By Pearson’s July 2025 table, 50 sits in the IELTS 6.0 range, 65 in the 7.0 range and 79 is the minimum for 8.0.
What the 10–90 scale means
Each score is a point on the same 10–90 scale, linked to Pearson’s Global Scale of English. Higher is better, and the steps are fine-grained: 64 and 65 are different scores, which matters when a visa or course names an exact number.
On your score report you will see:
| On the report | What it is |
|---|---|
| Overall score | your general level across the whole test, 10–90 |
| Speaking, Writing, Reading, Listening | four skill scores, each 10–90 |
Institutions read the report in two ways. Some ask only for an overall score (“PTE 58 overall”). Many also set a minimum for each skill (“65 overall, no skill below 58”), and Australian visas set a separate minimum for each skill, with no overall score at all (see PTE score for Australia). Always check which kind of requirement you are dealing with: a high overall score does not cover a single weak skill.
Overall vs skill scores
There is no separate “Speaking section” or “Writing section” with its own score. The test has three parts (Speaking & Writing, Reading, Listening), but the four skill scores are built from tasks across all of them. That is because PTE uses integrated tasks: one answer can count towards two skills.
| Task | Counts towards |
|---|---|
| Read Aloud | Speaking, Reading |
| Repeat Sentence, Re-tell Lecture, Answer Short Question | Speaking, Listening |
| Respond to a Situation, Summarize Group Discussion | Speaking, Listening |
| Describe Image | Speaking |
| Summarize Written Text | Writing, Reading |
| Write Essay | Writing |
| Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks | Reading, Writing |
| Summarize Spoken Text, Fill in the Blanks (Listening), Write from Dictation | Listening, Writing |
| Highlight Correct Summary, Highlight Incorrect Words | Listening, Reading |
| Reading and Listening multiple choice, Reorder Paragraphs, Reading: Fill in the Blanks, Select Missing Word | only Reading or only Listening |
Sources describe this mapping slightly differently (Read Aloud in particular), so treat it as the common reading of the 2025 format rather than an official Pearson table.
Two practical consequences follow. First, your Listening score depends partly on what you do in the Speaking & Writing part: a weak Repeat Sentence hurts both Speaking and Listening. Second, Write from Dictation, a short task at the end of the test, feeds both Listening and Writing, so careless spelling there costs twice. The full list of tasks, with timing, is in the PTE exam pattern.
How each task is scored
Tasks fall into four scoring types:
- Traits. Spoken answers are scored on content, oral fluency and pronunciation. Written answers are scored on content and features such as form, grammar, vocabulary and, for some tasks, spelling and structure. Pearson’s automated scoring does this, and since 2025 some answers are also checked by human experts. Memorized templates with no real content lose content marks.
- Partial credit. Fill in the Blanks earns a point for each correct blank; Write from Dictation and Fill in the Blanks (Listening) earn a point for each correct word; Reorder Paragraphs earns a point for each correct adjacent pair.
- Partial credit with negative marking. In Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers (Reading and Listening) and Highlight Incorrect Words, each correct choice is +1 and each wrong choice −1, never below zero.
- Correct or incorrect. Answer Short Question, Multiple Choice, Single Answer, Highlight Correct Summary and Select Missing Word give a point or nothing.
In spoken tasks, timing is part of the score: the microphone closes after 3 seconds of silence, and a long hesitation in the middle of an answer cuts it short.
PTE score chart in IELTS bands (July 2025)
In July 2025 Pearson published a new concordance between PTE Academic and IELTS for the updated test. The table gives the minimum PTE score that corresponds to each IELTS band:
| IELTS band | Minimum PTE Academic score | PTE range for this band |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5 | 24 | 24–30 |
| 5.0 | 31 | 31–38 |
| 5.5 | 39 | 39–46 |
| 6.0 | 47 | 47–54 |
| 6.5 | 55 | 55–62 |
| 7.0 | 63 | 63–70 |
| 7.5 | 71 | 71–78 |
| 8.0 | 79 | 79–85 |
| 8.5 | 86 | 86–89 |
| 9.0 | 90 | 90 |
Source: Pearson concordance, July 2025. The ranges in the third column are read from the minimums.
Many charts online still show the older table, where 65 was needed for IELTS 7.0. If a chart has no date or no source, treat it with caution. The IELTS Partners publish their own, different comparison; both tables and how to read them are in PTE vs IELTS.
A conversion table is a guide, not a rule. If your university or visa lists a PTE requirement, aim for that number; do not convert an IELTS requirement yourself unless the institution tells you to.
What 50, 65 and 79 mean
These three scores come up most often in searches, mostly because of university and Australian visa requirements.
| PTE score | IELTS band (Pearson, July 2025) | Where it sits in that band |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 6.0 (range 47–54) | lower half |
| 65 | 7.0 (range 63–70) | lower half |
| 79 | 8.0 (range 79–85) | exactly at the minimum |
For Australian visas, do not use a single number like “65” or “79”. For tests taken from 7 August 2025, the Department of Home Affairs sets a different minimum for each skill at each level, and a single overall score is not enough. The current table is in PTE score for Australia.
Score validity
Pearson shows your results for two years. Whether an older score is still accepted is up to the institution or authority that receives it, so check their rules before you rely on a past test.
Common questions
What is a good PTE score? The one your course or visa asks for. Requirements differ widely between universities, courses and visas, so read the exact number, and any minimum per skill, on the course or visa page.
What is PTE 50 equal to in IELTS? By Pearson’s July 2025 table, 50 falls in the IELTS 6.0 range (47–54).
Is PTE 65 equal to IELTS 7? Yes, under the July 2025 table: the IELTS 7.0 range starts at 63 and runs to 70. Under the older table, 65 was the minimum for 7.0.
What is PTE 79 in IELTS? 79 is the minimum PTE score for IELTS 8.0 in the July 2025 table.
Is the PTE score for each module shown separately? Yes. The report shows four skill scores (Speaking, Writing, Reading, Listening) alongside the overall score, all on the 10–90 scale.
Find out where you stand
Before you book, it helps to know roughly where you are on the scale. Take a full or section mock test in the Nomto trainer: all 22 task types run in exam timing, Reading and Listening are marked by key with partial credit and negative marking as on the test, and spoken and written answers get trait feedback with an approximate estimate on the 10–90 scale. The report shows all four skills, so you can see which one is holding your overall score down. For a plan built on that report, read how to prepare for PTE.
PTE Academic™ is a trademark of Pearson. Nomto is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson.