PTE Test Day 2025: what to bring, what's prohibited, and everything the handbook actually says

Why test day prep matters more than one more Read Aloud drill

The most expensive PTE mistakes are not the ones you make inside the booth. They are the ones you make before you sit down: wrong ID, late arrival, a phone in your pocket, a name mismatch on the booking, a coat that should have gone into the locker. Any one of these can lose you the fee and force a rebooking, without ever letting you answer a question.

Pearson prices a PTE Academic sitting in Australia at around AUD 445 in 2025. A late arrival, a wrong ID document, or a phone flagged inside the booth is a full-fee loss with no refund. That is a lot of money to trade for a 60-second re-read of the rules you were going to follow anyway.

This guide walks through the 2025 handbook the way a first-time test taker actually needs to read it: what you bring, what you leave outside, what happens once you sit down, and what quietly triggers a score revocation weeks after you have left the centre.

What to bring to the Pearson centre (and everything you should NOT bring)

The 2025 handbook is short about this on purpose. You bring:

• Your non-expired passport, with the name matching your booking exactly.
• Any prescribed medical device you need during the test (insulin pump, hearing aid). Notify the Test Centre Administrator at check-in.

That is the full list. You do not need to bring pens, paper, water, snacks, a hoodie, printouts of your booking confirmation, a driving licence as backup, or anything else. Pearson provides the whiteboard, the pens, the headset, and the keyboard. Personal items (phone, wallet, watch, jewellery, books, notes) go into the locker at check-in and stay there for the full two hours.

The one exception worth planning around is a permitted comfort aid, which the handbook lists explicitly. That list is short too, and it is what the next section covers.

Which comfort aids does the handbook explicitly allow?

Pearson publishes an exact list. If an item is not on it, assume it is not allowed and confirm at check-in before you take it into the booth.

• Tissues. Loose tissues are fine. The Test Centre Administrator may inspect the pack.
• Cough drops or lozenges, UNWRAPPED. Wrappers are not permitted inside the room because they generate noise near the microphone. Unwrap them at check-in.
• Pillow. For neck, back, or an injured limb. Show it at check-in for inspection.
• Sweater, sweatshirt or blazer. Pockets MUST be visibly empty. Test rooms run cold; layering is expected.
• Eyeglasses. Standard prescription glasses are fine. Smart glasses with a camera or connectivity are not.
• Hearing aids. Permitted. Notify the TCA at check-in and keep them in during the test.
• Neck brace. Medically necessary neck braces are permitted; bring documentation if asked.
• Insulin pump. Permitted. Show it at check-in and place it as instructed.

Nothing else. No water bottle inside the booth. No hoodie with pockets. No smart ring. No fitness tracker. All of it goes to the locker.

What is prohibited in the PTE test room?

Everything in the table below is banned inside the booth. Some of these void a score even if the item stayed switched off in your pocket.

When should you arrive at the test centre?

Pearson asks you to arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled start. That window is not a suggestion. Check-in has five steps that all have to finish before your slot starts: ID verification, digital signature capture, photograph, palm vein scan, and locker allocation. Larger centres process several test takers at once, so the queue can eat 20 of those 30 minutes on a busy day.

Arrive late and the TCA may refuse entry, in which case the fee is forfeited and there is no refund. Aim for 45 minutes early if the centre is unfamiliar, if you are relying on public transport, or if the booking is on a weekday morning when nearby traffic peaks.

What ID does Pearson accept for PTE Academic and PTE Core?

A non-expired passport is the only ID accepted for PTE Academic worldwide, and the default ID for PTE Core. The following four fields on the passport must match the booking exactly:

• Name — first, middle, and last, including spelling and hyphenation. A missing middle name on the booking is a mismatch.
• Date of birth.
• Country of citizenship.
• Gender.

The PTE Core Handbook (October 2025) is explicit that digital IDs are not accepted. A passport photograph on your phone, a scanned copy in Google Drive, or a passport wallet app all count as digital and will be refused at the door. Photocopies (physical or digital) are also refused.

Check your myPTE profile against your passport at least 48 hours before test day. If you spot a spelling difference or a missing middle name, contact Pearson support to fix it before you travel.

What happens once you sit down in the test room?

Every booth has an erasable whiteboard (or an erasable notepad in some centres) and two whiteboard pens, provided by the TCA. This is your only scratchpad. There is no digital scratchpad on-screen and no scrap paper allowed.

A few rules that are easy to forget under exam nerves:

• Do not write on the whiteboard before the test begins. Wait until the on-screen instructions clear and the first item loads. Writing during the tutorial is treated as a rule violation.
• You may request a fresh whiteboard mid-test by raising your hand. The TCA swaps it in without pausing the timer.
• You cannot leave the booth until the test finishes, other than a permitted unscheduled break (see the next section).
• You cannot return to previous questions. PTE moves forward only. Once you click Next, or the item timer expires, the answer is locked. Answer every item before moving on, even if you are unsure.
• The whiteboard, pens, and headset must all stay in the room. Removing anything from the booth is malpractice, even by accident.

For the full task-by-task walkthrough of what actually appears on-screen, see our PTE exam walkthrough.

Can you take a break during PTE Academic or PTE Core?

No scheduled break. The old PTE Academic format included an optional 10-minute break after Part 1; Pearson removed it as part of the format update, and PTE Core has never included one. Plan on a straight two-hour sit.

You may still take an unscheduled break if you need to, but three rules apply:

• The on-screen timer keeps running. Any time you spend outside the booth comes off your remaining answer time.
• You may go to the bathroom only. You cannot access your locker, your phone, your notes, or another test taker during the break.
• On re-entry, you complete a fresh palm vein scan before returning to the booth.

If you know you are likely to need a bathroom break, prep the day of: light on caffeine, moderate on water, and use the centre bathroom before check-in. The unscheduled option exists, but every minute is scored time you cannot get back.

What is the palm vein scan, and why does Pearson use it?

At check-in, and again on re-entry from any unscheduled break, the TCA scans the vein pattern of your palm using an infrared reader. The pattern is unique to you, does not change over time, and cannot be lifted from a surface the way a fingerprint can. Pearson stores the biometric template against your Pearson account.

The scan does two jobs. First, it stops impersonation: a test taker sitting the exam under someone else's booking is flagged the moment the palm scan does not match the account. Second, it stops swap-outs during a break, where one candidate leaves the booth and another returns.

You cannot opt out. Refusing the scan means no test, no refund. If you have a medical reason a palm scan is not possible, contact Pearson support before booking to arrange an alternative.

What triggers malpractice and score revocation?

Pearson can and does revoke scores after they are issued, sometimes weeks later, when a review flags one of these:

• Holding multiple Pearson accounts. Duplicate accounts are merged or closed and any scores under them can be cancelled.
• Sharing or transmitting test content. Posting questions to Telegram, WhatsApp, Reddit, or coaching forums, even from memory after the test, is a scoreable offence. Pearson operates content-matching against known posts.
• Palm vein mismatch on re-entry. If the biometric scan on return from a break does not match, the score is voided and the incident is logged.
• Removing items from the room. Whiteboards, pens, headsets: anything provided must stay. Accidental removal still voids the score.
• Phone or electronic device found in the booth. Score cancelled even if the device stayed off, plus a possible ban from future bookings.
• Impersonation attempt. Permanent ban plus legal referral.

If your score is revoked, you cannot appeal on the grounds of not knowing the rule. The handbook is the contract you accepted when you booked. Read it once, follow it, and the two hours pass without incident.