IELTS has been the master platform for decades as when it comes to the assessment of English language for students in terms of four major components namely: Listening, Speaking, Reading & Writing. More so, PTE is an addition to the tests of English Language Proficiency. While both tests cater to the requirements of students for academic or professional purposes, there are a few revelations that reflect the importance of these tests respectively.
IELTS uses a conventional nine-band scale to assess the levels of proficiency, that looks at non-user (band score 1) to an expert category (band score 9).The tests are available in two different versions namely, Academic and General. The Academic version is meant for those pursuing higher education and the General Training for those migrating to mostly Australia, Canada and the UK or applying for secondary education, training programmes and work experience in an English-speaking environment. PTE on the other hand follows a scoring pattern on a scale of 10 to 90. PTE Academic is the latest entrant since 2009 to the test of English communication and is the only computerized test that is in practice for English especially for studying abroad or immigration processes. Pearson’s Test of English (PTE) is conducted for over 360 days in a year across 200 test centers around the world.
As with the contrast, IELTS relies more upon British and Australian English including accents, intonations and other speaking elements, while PTE Academic has a distinctly American background. Although both of these tests claim to deliver equitable results, not every University accepts both of them equally. IELTS is more commonly accepted in Europe and Australia while PTE is making progress into being accepted by university programs all over the world. If test takers are fortunate to apply to a program that accepts more than one of these exams, they might want to think about which exam suits their testing style best. For example, the Speaking section of each test is very different. And since this language skill is often the most difficult for test-takers to master, they might want to compare and decide which test’s speaking section is best suited to their strengths.
The Interesting fact about IELTS is as test takers speak face-to-face with the invigilators, which for some test-takers are more comforting, while some feel anxious and disturbed. In PTE Academic the test takers speak into the computer that captures the audio. Again, this might be more relaxing for some or more unsettling for others. In PTE the scoring pattern of speaking is fully computerized while for IELTS, the scoring is partly done by the invigilator. In PTE, fully computerized marking ensures that all test takers are scored precise with fair conduct. To ensure validity and authenticity of the tests and the scores, the test centers use highly prolific digital biometrics that include digital signatures, palm-scanning, electronic results, randomized test formats and surveillance. If you need your results quickly then it is advisable to take PTE test. In terms of ease of test, both tests have arguably good factors to consider, they are rigorous tests though both have its own advantages and disadvantages. In the IELTS reading front, you get to face a variety of questions than PTE. In IELTS, the simple fact that you get to speak to a human being is more comforting but then the same factor can be quite discomforting for few who tend to get nervous and there is a lot of psychological thinking process running in the background whereas in PTE you only speak to the computer.
IELTS is more organized in terms of the procedure or the inclusive processes for the exam. The speaking part in IELTS is easier even though the individual long turn section might pose some challenge; the task cards provide simple questions to the test taker. On the contrary for PTE, the speaking task is aligned towards the academic frame. However, IELTS writing as a whole is quite challenging as compared PTE. Considering the writing part, the IELTS offers test takers the demanding task of describing an image. The essay part offers more time with an essay of 250 words in 40 minutes, which is not much of a hard buy. Contrarily, PTE summarization of 70 words or even the 200- 300 words essay in 20 minutes can be quite motivating as you get to type in the words rather than write using a pencil.
During 2017 PTE Academic has witnessed continued growth in test volumes across the network of test centers, which dramatically rose up to 67% globally. This growth has been driven by test takers who seek to study abroad or migrate, and thereby appreciate having test sessions available 365 days of the year, combined with the growing number of institutions that use PTE Academic to speed up their admission process with fast English test results.