What do you need to do?
- You listen to or watch an academic lecture lasting up to 90 seconds.
- After the recording, you have 10 seconds to organise your notes.
- You speak once for up to 40 seconds, retelling the lecture in your own words.
Keep in mindPreparation: 10 seconds. Response: 40 seconds. Scored skills: Listening and Speaking.
What should your answer do?
Retell the main argument and how its points connect.
How to answer
- Build a small note outline
Listen for the topic and central message, then note key support with short phrases. Use arrows for cause, contrast or sequence.
- Separate support from examples
Keep an example only if it helps explain a main point. Avoid filling your notes with details you cannot use.
- Use preparation to order the notes
In the 10 seconds, choose an opening and a logical route through the main points. Do not draft a full script.
- Speak as a connected summary
Explain the topic, the main points and their relationship in your own words. Finish the thought within 40 seconds.
Practise each part of Retell Lecture
Use these focused exercises to work on one part at a time, then bring them together in a complete attempt.
Note-taking
Use a topic line and a few indented points, with arrows or plus/minus signs for relationships.
Spoken organisation
Retell from keywords without reading full written sentences. Practise moving from one point to the next.
Sample-style lecture task
Reveal the sample sentence
The lecture explains that coastal wetlands reduce storm damage by absorbing wave energy, but argues that their protective value depends on preserving connected habitats rather than restoring small isolated sites.
This is an original PrepEx example designed to demonstrate the response format. It is not an official Pearson test item.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Recording isolated details without identifying the lecture topic
- Reading notes as disconnected fragments
- Repeating the same point when recall runs out
- Spending the opening seconds searching for a perfect first sentence
How to improve your next answer
Listen once and make notes, then record within the test timing. Compare your retelling with the transcript afterward. Circle a missed relationship, improve the note symbol you used for it, and test that on a new lecture.
- Check the main claim before checking individual details.
- Ask whether the summary preserves a contrast or qualification instead of turning it into a simpler, different claim.
Change one thing, then try a new question. A better repeat on a familiar prompt is useful rehearsal; a fresh prompt shows whether you can apply the skill.
Review previous attempts to see whether the same issue keeps returning.
What your response is scored on
Content
Credit reflects how accurately and thoroughly you convey the main points, relationships and supported conclusions.
Pronunciation
Speech should be immediately understandable to a regular English speaker.
Oral fluency
A natural rate, smooth phrasing and controlled rhythm score better than fragmented recall.
Read the feedback alongside the number and use it to choose your next exercise. A PrepEx score is a practice estimate, not an official PTE score. Only Pearson can issue an official result.
Check the rules before test day
Read the official Pearson task instructions before your test. Follow Pearson's current instructions if the format changes.
Task instructions and timing checked October 15, 2026. The exercises and study suggestions on this page are independent preparation guidance.