PTE Core is the Pearson English test IRCC accepts for Express Entry, alongside CELPIP-General and IELTS General Training. It has fewer question types than PTE Academic, drops several Academic-only task types, and adds one task of its own. This page covers how PTE Core is structured, how it is scored, and how it differs from PTE Academic, with links through to Core practice by skill.
Preparing for PTE Academic instead? See the full PTE Academic practice catalog.
PTE Core runs for about two hours in total, and Pearson states that no sitting exceeds two hours. Across that time, you answer between 52 and 67 questions spread over 19 question types, covering Speaking & Writing, Reading and Listening in one continuous sitting, in that order.
Every question type in PTE Core also exists in a form on this site, so you can practise each one individually before attempting a full Core mock exam.
PTE Core's three sections run in a fixed order. Speaking & Writing takes 50 to 65 minutes and covers 7 question types; Reading takes 27 to 37 minutes across 5 question types; Listening takes 22 to 37 minutes across 7 question types. Pearson also gives a rounded overview of around 50, 30 and 30 minutes for the three sections respectively.
Pearson publishes ranges rather than fixed times; for PTE Academic it explains that test versions are balanced for total length, so section minimums and maximums do not add up to the total. The PTE Core Score Guide adds that no test exceeds 2 hours.
PTE Core has fewer question types than PTE Academic, at 19 against Academic's 22, and it is missing several Academic-only tasks entirely: Retell Lecture, Summarize Group Discussion, Write Essay and Highlight Correct Summary do not appear in PTE Core. In their place, PTE Core has one task Academic does not: Write Email.
Scoring also differs for several shared tasks. The PTE Academic Score Guide lists Read Aloud under Speaking; in PTE Core it counts toward both Reading and Speaking. Answer Short Question counts toward Listening in Academic but Listening and Speaking in Core, and Reading & Writing Fill in the Blanks counts toward Reading in Academic but Reading and Writing in Core.
PTE Core reports the same five scores as PTE Academic: an overall score and one score each for Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing, all on a 10 to 90 scale. As with PTE Academic, the overall score is not a simple average of the four skills.
Pearson states results are typically available within 48 hours, and Core results are shared automatically with IRCC.
PTE Core is the PTE test IRCC accepts for Express Entry programmes such as the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canadian Experience Class. IRCC converts each PTE Core skill score into a Canadian Language Benchmark rather than comparing it to IELTS.
If you are targeting a Canadian immigration programme, see our PTE score requirements for Canada page for the CLB thresholds by programme, and use the PTE Core to CLB calculator to check your own scores against them.
Each PTE Core skill has its own practice hub on this site, covering every Core-specific question type with format, timing and scoring guidance written for Core candidates rather than reused from the Academic version.
Start with the skill you find hardest, or work through Speaking & Writing, Reading and Listening in the same order the real test uses, to build up timing awareness for the full two-hour sitting.
