PTE course in Nepal

Overview

A lot of people looking to go abroad have to sit down for a language proficiency test, depending on which country they wish to go to. A fairly common trend amongst Nepalese students has been to go to an English speaking country for their higher education or for better career opportunities. If you want to go to an English speaking country like the UK, Australia, Canada or New Zealand, a PTE exam is probably the way to go.

PTE stands for Pearson’s Test of English, and is an computer-based exam administered by a number of test centers within Nepal and elsewhere. Accepted by over 3500 universities and colleges across the world, PTE is an excellent choice for Nepalese students looking for higher education.

The test itself is 2 hours long and has four broad sections: Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening.
 

About the PTE Exam in Nepal

Being one of the most trusted and widely accepted English proficiency tests available to Nepali students, there are a lot of places that a student can prepare for the test beforehand. From institutions and private tutors to online courses, one can truly prepare at their own convenience.

The test has four main segments (although PTE officially says there are 3), namely Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening. The speaking segment has 5 types of questions, with multiple of each. Likewise, Writing, Reading and Listening each have 2, 5 and 8 different types of questions with multiples of each question. A thorough breakdown of each segment and their weightage is presented later in the article.

With that being said, a student ready to give the test can sign up for a PTE exam from the official website and pay for it through their banks. The exams are held fairly frequently. So a student is likely to find an exam date that is convenient for their schedule. There are more exam centers in the capital and a few more scattered across the major cities in the country.

A friendly tip could be for you to go to an educational consultancy and ask around for the exam booking. Usually, because these institutions book tests frequently, they have discount coupons that they can apply while booking a new test. If none of the consultancies around you offer a discount, you can always visit the bank yourself.

It is also recommended that you book the test a couple of weeks in advance so that you get the time slots that would be best for you. You can still reschedule the test two weeks before your original date with no additional charges.

You can book the test by presenting either your citizenship or passport. However, on the day of the test, you will have to present your passport as proof of your identity, and that would be the only document that you will be allowed to take into the exam center.
 

IELTS vs. PTE: What should you do?

Another opinion amongst the professionals in the field is that PTE is a much better alternative to the IELTS, which in itself is a rather popular test. They argue that PTE is much easier and students have a better chance of scoring good grades with this test.
Objectively speaking, there are three main reasons that students have a better chance at getting a higher overall score in PTE over IELTS. The first reason is the score conversion metric.

You see, IELTS is graded on a 1 to 9 band, in increments of 0.5 points respectively for Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. PTE is graded on a band of 10 to 90 points.

However, the conversion of scores between the two tests is disproportionately in favor of PTE.

IELTS-PTE Comparison

PTE Academic	23	29	36	46	56	66	76	84	89	N/A
IELTS	4.5	5.05	5.5	6	6.5	7	7.5	8	8.5	9

As you can see, scoring 56 in PTE, which should be proportional to 5.5 in IELTS is actually scored as 6.5. It is not until one goes to the higher bands that the score conversion metric skews in favor of IELTS.

Another reason why students find PTE easier is because of the Speaking segment. The IELTS speaking segment is measured after a face-to-face interview. However, the PTE test is a series of exercises where the examinee is to record their answers in the microphone. Most students find the IELTS speaking segment jarring as they have to talk to an actual person, whereas the PTE segment is conducted in a more secluded manner giving students a little boost in confidence.

Finally, what makes PTE really convenient for most students is the availability of template answers. One could simply memorize a set of template answers and with little added variations, score really high on the PTE exam. On the other hand, a memorized answer is not even considered during the IELTS exam.

Now, you might be thinking why are people even appearing for the IELTS test? Well, the simple answer is, although PTE is accepted by many institutions, the acceptance of IELTS is much higher. IELTS is almost universally acceptable.

So it is advised that you make sure that the course or country that you are applying for accepts a PTE score. If not, you might have to get an IELTS score instead.
 

How is PTE Graded?

The marking system in PTE is a little bit more complicated than most of its contemporaries.

It is not necessary that an exercise in the Speaking segment of the test only contributes to the points you will receive for Speaking. For example, the first graded exercise of the test, Read Aloud, contributes heavily to both the Speaking and Reading segments of the test even though it is an exercise in the Speaking segment of the test. Similarly the second exercise, Repeat Sentence, contributes to both the Speaking and Listening segments.

PTE Scoring Guide

                                                       

Preparing for the PTE exam

You can sign up for a PTE course in most educational consultancies scattered across the country. Most of them offer a PTE Course at a discount should you be willing to go through the visa processing stage with the same institution.

A PTE class will usually be 1.5 to 2 months long and the instructor will facilitate lectures for individual exercises, templates when applicable, full or sectional mock tests, and general ideas on how one can improve their command of the English language.

If you are a working professional who doesn’t have the time to sit down for a physical lecture, there are many online platforms that have pre-recorded lectures and practice materials that you could sign up for.

You can choose the PTE course that is the best fit for you and prepare accordingly.