Prepare for PTE Academic and PTE Core with Glossom

Glossom is an English exam prep app for iPhone and iPad. It prepares you for PTE Academic and PTE Core with a daily path to your target score in each skill, six courses, and AI feedback on your speaking and writing.

Coming soon to iPhone and iPad

What PTE tests

Pearson’s PTE tests take about two hours on a computer at a test centre. They are scored by computer from 10 to 90, overall and for each skill; in PTE Academic, people also check the content of the long spoken and written answers. Each test runs in three parts: speaking and writing together, then reading, then listening.

PTE Academic is for university study and for visas, such as in Australia and New Zealand. PTE Core is for Canadian permanent residence, citizenship and some work permits, and uses everyday and workplace English rather than university topics.

Short spoken answers, one tryYou read a text aloud, repeat sentences, describe a picture or chart, retell a short lecture and answer quick questions, each recorded once. How fluent and clear you sound is a large part of the speaking score.
Tasks that count twiceMany tasks feed two skills. Repeating a sentence counts for listening and speaking; typing a sentence you hear counts for listening and writing.
PTE Academic: an essay and summariesAn essay of 200 to 300 words, a one-sentence summary of a text, and a short written summary of a lecture.
PTE Core: emailsPTE Core has short emails in place of the essay, and shorter summaries.

Dates, prices and booking are on the PTE website.

How Glossom prepares you

Glossom does not copy PTE tasks. It builds the skills they measure, and some of its drills are close to them.

Read aloud and repeatSpeaking drills have you read texts of about 60 words aloud and repeat sentences of 6 to 12 words after a model voice. You can play your take and the model one after the other to compare them.
Type what you hearEach writing drill ends with a sentence of 8 to 12 words to type from what you hear, with two plays at most, checked word by word.
The missing wordsSome listening clips end with a beep in place of the last words, and you choose what was said. Others ask you to rebuild a sentence you heard from word tiles.
Feedback on longer answersAnswer a question out loud or retell a short talk, in about 30 seconds. An AI coach shows what to fix, then gives your answer back improved at your level, for you to read aloud. Writing works the same way, with opinions, emails and chart descriptions.
A path to your scoreSix short timed tests suggest a starting score in each skill. Choose your targets and your daily time, and Glossom shows the date you can reach them.

Glossom has no full PTE mock tests and gives no PTE score for your answers. Before your test day, practise full timed tasks too.

Glossom levels and PTE scores

Pearson does not treat PTE Academic and PTE Core scores as the same: the two tests are built for different purposes. So Glossom keeps a table for each.

PTE Academic

Glossom’s table comes from Pearson’s 2025 study comparing PTE Academic with IELTS skill by skill. It shows how different the skills are: at IELTS 7, PTE listening starts at 58 but speaking at 76.

PTE Academic scores for each Glossom level (Glossom’s estimate)
Glossom level	Reading	Listening	Speaking	Writing
Level 1	No score	No score	No score	No score
Level 3	29	26	14	17
Level 5	36	33	24	29
Level 7	42	40	39	41
Level 9	48	47	54	51
Level 11	54	53	66	60
Level 13	59	58	76	69
Level 15	65	64	83	77
Level 17	70	69	88	85
Level 19	75	75	No score	No score
Level 20 done	90	90	No score	No score

A dash means the study gives no PTE score there: below IELTS 4.5 in every skill, and at the very top in speaking and writing. The app shows the Glossom level instead. The table shows every other level: each level in between sits about halfway to the next row. Source: Pearson’s 2025 PTE Academic concordance study.

PTE Core

Glossom’s PTE Core table goes through the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). For each IELTS band, it takes the CLB level that band reaches in each skill, from Canada’s table for IELTS General Training, then the PTE Core score set for that CLB level.

PTE Core scores for each Glossom level (Glossom’s estimate)
Glossom level	Reading	Listening	Speaking	Writing
Level 1	42	18	42	41
Level 3	42	28	42	41
Level 5	51	39	51	51
Level 7	51	50	59	60
Level 9	60	60	68	69
Level 11	69	60	76	79
Level 13	78	60	84	88
Level 15	78	71	89	90
Level 17	88	82	89	90
Level 19	89	90	90	90
Level 20 done	90	90	90	90

PTE Core scores step up with each CLB level, so some rows repeat. Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s language test equivalencies. Dates, levels and scores are estimates from your study path, not a promise of your exam result.

Questions

Should I prepare for PTE Academic or PTE Core?

The one your application asks for. PTE Core is for Canadian permanent residence and citizenship. PTE Academic is for universities, including in Canada, and for visas such as in Australia and New Zealand. Choose it when you start, and your scores follow that test’s table.

Why are my targets so different from skill to skill?

Because PTE scores each skill on its own terms. The same IELTS band can mean about 60 in PTE listening and nearly 80 in PTE speaking, so Glossom sets a target for each skill and moves each one at its own pace.

Does Glossom give my answers a PTE score?

No. Glossom’s feedback shows what to fix and never gives a score. Your scores in the app are estimates from your levels.

Can I switch between PTE Academic and PTE Core?

Yes, in Your Path at any time. Your levels stay, and the scores you see change to the other table.

Start your PTE path

Start without signing up. Choose PTE Academic or PTE Core, take the level tests, and your path is ready in a few minutes.

Coming soon to iPhone and iPad