I read that the PTE test turned 15 years old last week. The folks at Pearson have accomplished quite a lot since the launch of the test. They’ve played a part in the breaking up of old testing monopolies and have catapulted the PTE from an annual test volume of zero to about 1.2 million, according to the firm’s most recent annual report. By my math, that makes it the second biggest test in its category.
I’m probably the last person who should be writing about the success of the PTE, since I’ve been paying attention only for the past five years. But a few things come to mind when seeking to account for what has happened. The following list is mostly for the benefit of other test makers who are trying to catch up.
Said things are:
- Pearson is really good at government relations. Over the past 15 years, the company has enjoyed an enormous amount of success getting its tests accepted by the Canadian, Australian and UK governments. None of the other IELTS competitors come close. ETS’s TOEFL has actually lost governments in the same time frame.
- The PTE benefits from so-called “perceived easiness.” When I ask students why they took the PTE or some other non-legacy test, their response usually includes some variation of “it’s easier than XYZ.” Are the non-legacy tests actually easier? Probably not. Do these students have any idea what items on legacy tests actually look like? Definitely not. Why do they think the tests are easier? Good marketing, I suppose. It probably has something to do with positive user experience and test taker stress levels as well. This is controversial, but it is a big big factor.
- The PTE is not a fee-generating machine. Unlike the legacy test makers, Pearson doesn’t charge onerous fees for sending scores to institutions. It also includes generous rescheduling and cancellation policies (both things can be done without any fee at all more than two weeks before test day). Late booking fees are reasonable.
- PTE results come very quickly, usually within 48 hours. When I started teaching 15 years ago, students didn’t really care about getting results quickly. They took responsibility for their deadlines, and scheduled language tests well in advance. But today’s students are different.
- Pearson is not a student placement agency. This makes it easier for the company to build relationships with agents in key markets like India.
There are more factors (a whole post could be written about differing approaches to at-home testing) but I will leave it at that.