If you’ve been following along with the world of English language testing you may know that Pearson Test of English – Academic (PTE-A) has been available in select countries for the past year. The most recent development, according to Mark Anderson, President of Pearson Education, announced that starting in October 2009, the PTE-A would be available internationally as well.
While some institutions have been very publically supportive of this test, others question if the PTE is ready overtake the TOEFL in terms of relevancy.
Currently, the PTE is only recognized by approximate 300 institutions in 15 different countries, while the TOEFL is recognized by over 2,400 institutions in North American alone. Also, the PTE is a completely computer based test, unlike TOEFL which maintains a paper based option for writing centers where computers are not available. Furthermore, TOEFL tests can be written in over 175 countries at one of almost 1300 testing sites, and once you taken the test, your score will remain valid for two years.
So which is better? At the moment, TOEFL offers more options, and provides more opportunity to test takers. Nonetheless, JumboTests will be monitoring the PTE as it becomes a larger factor in English-language proficiency testing.
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