Tests and scores

Updated 29 October 2026

Progress Test in English (PTE)

What GL's English test covers, which level your child sits, what the scores on the report mean and how to help at home.

What PTE tests

GL describes PTE as an attainment test of key English skills for the child's age: phonic knowledge for the youngest children, then spelling, punctuation and grammar, and reading comprehension using age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction texts.

The parts are always taken in this order. The test is untimed and can be spread over one or two sessions on one or two days. On the digital version all instructions come through headphones, and the example questions at the start can be repeated.

GL is open that a test of about an hour cannot cover everything. Its own example: PTE 9 covers four of the six spelling objectives in the English national curriculum for that stage; using a dictionary and writing from dictation are not tested this way. Reading questions focus on understanding what is read, finding information, making inferences and how language and structure shape meaning.

Which PTE level your child sits

Levels from GL's international table. PTE 11T, a start-of-Year-7 test, is not available in the UAE. "International average" is the mean score of international schools in GL's 2023 benchmark table; the UK average is always 100. PTE 15 was standardised with students in international schools.

In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Years 4 to 10 sit PTE each year, usually in May or June. See GL Progress Tests explained for each emirate.

What your child's PTE score means

The report gives:

• Standard Age Score (SAS) for the whole test: your child's mark adjusted for their age and compared with UK children of the same age. 100 is average.
• National Percentile Rank (NPR): how many in every 100 children of the same age scored the same or lower.
• English skills stanine and, from level 7, a separate reading comprehension stanine, each from 1 to 9.
• Progress category, if your child took a Progress Test in English before.

Stanine bands are GL's. Percentiles are worked out from the SAS scale (average 100, standard deviation 15); the NPR on your child's report comes from GL's own tables and can differ slightly.

Reading the two stanines together

If the English skills and reading comprehension stanines are close, your child is equally secure in both. A gap tells you where to focus: a lower English skills stanine points to spelling, grammar or punctuation; a lower reading stanine points to understanding longer texts, such as finding information and working out what is implied.

Small changes are not meaningful

For PTE 12, GL says there is a 90% chance that an average child's true score lies within 7 points either side of the score reported. GL treats differences of less than 3 points as not significant, so a move from 103 to 101 is noise.

English as an additional language

PTE compares your child with a national sample of UK children of the same age. For a child still learning English, the score reflects that stage of learning as well as what has been taught, which is what the school needs to know to plan support. In GL's reading test, for example, pupils with English as an additional language scored 3.6 points lower on average. Comparing this year's score with last year's tells you more than comparing with classmates. In Dubai, KHDA also expects a separate reading test; GL's is the New Group Reading Test (NGRT).

How to help at home

PTE samples the English taught during the year, so there is no shortcut and no official practice paper for parents. What helps:

• Reading every day, both stories and non-fiction, and talking about it: what happened, why a character did something, what a word means in that sentence.
• Learning the year's spelling patterns a few at a time, rather than long word lists the night before.
• Using punctuation and grammar in their own writing, such as a diary or a letter, so it becomes habit rather than a rule to remember.
• Going back to the text. The reading part is untimed, so encourage your child to look back at the passage before choosing an answer.

GL publishes free documents for each PTE level on its support site showing which parts of the curriculum the questions sample.