PTE Academic Academic vocabulary

PTE Academic Vocabulary

High-utility academic words for reading, listening, speaking, and writing practice.

Independent PTE Academic study resource — not official exam material.

Teens and up
Academic English
Confident · B2
30 words

Play word detective with these words All 6 ways to practise

The words

Every word in this set, with what it means. Tap a word to hear it.

assess: to judge the quality, importance, or performance of something; “The report assesses the effect of flexible working hours.”
benefit: a helpful result or advantage; “A major benefit of the program is its low cost.”
challenge: a difficult task or problem that requires effort; “Limited data is a challenge for the research team.”
complex: made of many connected parts and therefore difficult to understand; “The issue is complex and has no single cause.”
decline: to become smaller, weaker, or less common; “Attendance began to decline after the first month.”
distribute: to give or spread something among several people or places; “The system distributes clean water to rural communities.”
impact: a strong effect that something has on a situation or person; “The policy had a positive impact on public health.”
maintain: to keep something at the same level or in good condition; “The city must maintain its older bridges.”
method: a planned way of doing or studying something; “The researchers selected a method that could be repeated.”
policy: an official plan or set of rules used by an organization or government; “The university introduced a policy on data privacy.”
priority: something that is considered more important than other things; “Improving access is the council's first priority.”
process: a series of actions that produces a result; “The article explains the process of recycling glass.”
range: a set of different things of the same general type; “The survey covers a wide range of age groups.”
respond: to react or answer after something happens or is said; “The report explains how communities respond to drought.”
resource: a useful supply of money, materials, or information; “The library is an important resource for new researchers.”
outcome: the final result of an action, event, or process; “The expected outcome is a shorter journey for commuters.”
relevant: directly connected with the subject being discussed; “Only include evidence that is relevant to the question.”
shift: a change in position, direction, or way of thinking; “The data shows a shift from cars to public transport.”
source: the place, person, or document that information comes from; “The writer checked the source before quoting the figure.”
trend: a general direction in which something is changing or developing; “The graph shows an upward trend in online learning.”
acquire: to gain or learn something through effort or experience; “Students acquire new strategies through regular practice.”
allocate: to officially give a particular amount of time, money, or resources to something; “The city allocated more funding to public transport.”
consist: to be made up of particular parts or people; “The sample consists of three groups of volunteers.”
constitute: to form or make up something; “These three sections constitute the main part of the report.”
demonstrate: to show clearly that something is true or how something works; “The findings demonstrate the value of early support.”
facilitate: to make an action or process easier; “The online form facilitates communication between students and staff.”
framework: a basic structure used to organize ideas or actions; “The framework helps researchers compare different communities.”
implement: to put a plan or decision into effect; “The school will implement the new attendance policy in September.”
modify: to change something slightly in order to improve or adapt it; “The team modified the questionnaire after the pilot study.”
principle: a basic idea or rule that guides behavior or reasoning; “The proposal is based on the principle of equal access.”