Is There Any Negative Marking In PTE?

I see a lot of confusion among students when it comes to negative marking In PTE Academic Exam. Let me clear your confusion, there is no negative marking in PTE Academic but there are 3 tasks in PTE which use “Partial Credit” scoring.

The three tasks are:

1. Reading: Multiple Choice Multiple Answer

2. Listening: Multiple Choice Multiple Answer

3. Listening: Highlight Incorrect Words

What Is “Partial Credit” Scoring Method

In “Partial Credit” scoring method, you get +1 for each correct point while points are deducted  (-1) for incorrect option chosen.

There is a reason why I am not it as “Negative Marking” because the lowest mark you can score in these sections is ‘zero‘. You cannot score negative marks.

 Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers: Reading & Listening

In this item types, you are required to answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. More than one response is correct.

You score +1 for every correct option & (-1) for every incorrect option.

Read this explanation to clear your confusion.

Example: Suppose a question has 4 options: A, B, C and D. A and B are the correct options.

Scenario 1: If you select A & B, you score 2 points.

Scenario 2: If you select only one option, let’s say ‘A’. You will gain +1 for selecting option ‘A’ but you will not lose anything. Overall, you will score +1.

Scenario 3: If you select A & C. You will get +1 for option A & you will lose (-1) for selecting option ‘C’. Overall you will score zero.

Scenario 4: If you select option C and D. As both options are wrong, you score will zero (Keep in mind you will not score (-2) instead your score will be zero.

Scenario 5: If you select A, B and C. You will score 1+1-1 = 1

Scenario 6: If you select A, B, C and D you will score 1+1-1-1 = zero

Scenario 7: If you don’t select anything, you will get zero.

Listening: Highlight Incorrect Words

This section has the same ‘Partial Credit’ (-1 point) for every incorrect answer. This task is graded in the same way as ‘Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers’. It is impossible to receive a negative mark.

I would suggest you to focus on answering the question best you can, rather than worry about the consequence of getting the response wrong.