Listening MCQ Multiple Answers tests your ability to listen carefully to a short recording or watch a short video and pick more than one correct option from a list. Negative marking applies. On this page: an overview, the exam interface, top strategies (Before / During the test), common mistakes, points to remember and a full simulator with two practice items (one video, one audio).
Length of video or audio:
around 80–120 seconds
Number of correct responses:
2 or more
Type of recording:
audio or video, part of a lecture or conversation
Number of these tasks in each test:
2–3
Total time for all listening tasks:
31–39 minutes
Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers (Listening) tests your ability to understand the main ideas, detailed information, purpose, organisation, and inference in a short academic lecture or conversation. Listen to a short audio clip (or watch a short video) and answer a multiple-choice question with more than one correct response. Click each option you want to select — selected options highlight yellow.
Task
Listening MCQ — Multiple Answers
Listening
Overall
Your voice → analysed by AI → contributes 5% to Listening and 1% to Overall.
Official PTE School walkthrough — how to answer Listening MCQ Multiple Answers.
The screen below is annotated with green markers (1–5). Press Start: a 6-second countdown plays on a white screen, then the video begins automatically. You CANNOT pause or replay it — only volume can be adjusted. The 'Next' button only becomes active after playback ends.
Annotated walkthrough of the actual Pearson screen. 6-second countdown → video plays once (no pause/replay) → answer the question → press Next.
Watch the video and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.2Read the prompt carefully. The phrase 'select more than one' tells you this is multiple-answer — negative marking applies.
Press Start
Press Start to begin
Which of the statements are correct about the speaker?
Hover the green markers to see what each part of the screen does.
Skill assessed
Listening
Score weight
up to4points
The AI scorer checks
Criterion
Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas of a short lecture or conversation.
Criterion
Identifying supporting points and examples.
Criterion
Drawing inferences from what the speaker(s) say.
Tone
Analyzing the speaker's purpose, style, tone or attitude.
It can be easy to panic when you don't understand a speaker. Practise for this scenario by listening to sources of English which you find challenging. Use the four strategies below.
Four habits to build before test day so they feel automatic in the exam.
Make sure you first understand what the topic is. This will enable you to quickly decide what kind of content you will hear. For example, if the speaker is talking about a new government programme, you'll likely need to listen for targets, cost, problems, etc. You can also look for topic clues in the task options.
Although detail should normally be your priority, with difficult audio tracks it's especially important not to be distracted by less important details. Just listen for the main ideas. An understanding of the bigger picture will often be enough to answer the questions in this task.
Try to pick out individual words or phrases and reconstruct them after the recording has finished. For example, if you pick out the words decreased, coffee and Ecuador, you could guess that coffee sales from Ecuador have decreased.
In MCQ Multiple Answers (Listening) tasks, you might need to identify the speaker's attitude or purpose. This is often revealed not only by what a speaker says but also how they say it. Tone can show whether they are agreeing, disagreeing, questioning, expressing irony, providing evidence, summarising, and so on.
Find examples of lectures on topics you are interested in (you may be able to find some online). Listen to short sections of these lectures and identify the main points, along with any supporting details.
Practise making statements about the lectures you have found.
Try to find transcripts of the lectures (some universities have them).
You read the prompt and options BEFORE the recording starts.
You don't wait passively for the audio — preview the options first.
You select only options you can justify from what the speaker actually said.
You don't tick every option as a 'safe' guess — negative marking will hurt you.
You take selective keyword notes while listening.
You don't try to transcribe the whole recording — you'll miss the meaning.
You wait until the recording ends to confirm your answers, then press Next.
You don't pick an option just because its words appear in the recording.
Practise here without strict markers. Press Start: 6-second countdown → audio plays once (no pause / no replay) → pick all the options you can justify from what the speakers say. Press Show Answers to see the correct selections and the explanation for each option.
Same Pearson-style screen as the real test. Listen, take notes, then pick every correct option.
Listen to the recording and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.
Press Start to begin
Which of these sentences about design thinking are likely to be correct, from what the speakers say?
Private to you — tick each item you actually did. Saved on this device only.
Send a screenshot of your selections on WhatsApp and our trainers will explain the evidence behind each correct option — and why each wrong option doesn't fit.
💬 Get evaluated on WhatsApp
Watch the most frequent mistakes test takers make in Listening MCQ Multiple Answers — and how to avoid each one.
Get familiar with each listening task type
Taking the time to get familiar with each listening task type is important. You only get to hear the recording once, so make sure you are always ready to listen with a clear goal in mind.
Manage your time across the whole section
Listening items (apart from Summarize Spoken Text) are not timed individually. You will have between 31 to 39 minutes for all the listening items. Make sure you practise managing your time effectively.
In the seven seconds before the recording begins, read the question and get ready to take notes to help you answer. Taking notes is likely to be more helpful than trying to select options while you listen, because you may not hear the information in exactly the same order as the options.
Note down details (e.g., times, places, things that happened) as well as the main points, because you will need to select more than one option.
Select the options that best match the meaning of what you heard. Don't just choose an option because it has the same words or phrases as the recording. Several options may use words from the recording but may not match the meaning of what you have heard.
Your response is judged on your ability to understand specific details, facts and the speaker's purpose or attitude. This is a partial-credit item with negative marking: you score +1 for each correct option selected and −1 for each incorrect option selected. The minimum score is 0 — you can't go below zero. This question type contributes to your Listening score only.
Listening MCMA and Highlight Incorrect Words both use negative marking. For HIW, every wrongly highlighted word costs you — only click words you’re sure differ from the audio.