Short version: yes, but only on three specific task types — and even then your score for a single question can never fall below zero. On every other PTE task, a wrong answer simply earns you nothing, so you should never leave those blank. Here is exactly where the penalty bites and how to play it.
Why these three and nothing else.
All three penalised tasks share one feature: you choose an unlimited or open number of items rather than one fixed answer. Because you decide how many boxes or words to select, the test needs a way to discourage you from simply ticking everything. That mechanism is negative marking: +1 for each correct choice, −1 for each incorrect choice, summed across the item.
By contrast, a single-answer multiple choice question forces exactly one pick, so there is nothing to over-select and no penalty is needed. Tasks scored on content, fluency or spelling (like essays or Write From Dictation) also have no such deduction.
Partial credit vs negative marking across all 22 task types.
| Task | Section | Partial credit? | Negative marking? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers | Reading | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers | Listening | Yes | Yes |
| Highlight Incorrect Words | Listening | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Choice, Single Answer | Reading | No (right or wrong) | No |
| Multiple Choice, Single Answer | Listening | No (right or wrong) | No |
| Re-order Paragraphs | Reading | Yes (adjacent pairs) | No |
| Reading: Fill in the Blanks | Reading | Yes (per blank) | No |
| Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks | Reading | Yes (per blank) | No |
| Listening: Fill in the Blanks | Listening | Yes (per word) | No |
| Highlight Correct Summary | Listening | No (choose one) | No |
| Select Missing Word | Listening | No (choose one) | No |
| Write From Dictation | Listening | Yes (per word) | No |
| Summarize Spoken Text | Listening | Yes (traits) | No |
| Summarize Written Text | Writing | Yes (traits) | No |
| Write Essay | Writing | Yes (traits) | No |
| All Speaking tasks | Speaking | Yes (traits) | No |
Speaking tasks such as Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence and Describe Image are marked on content, fluency and pronunciation — there is no "wrong click" to punish. See the full breakdown of every task on the 22 question types hub.
So "negative marking" in PTE is really self-cancelling marking within one question. The worst outcome on any single item is zero points. Your section score, and your overall 10–90 result, are built up from these floored item scores, so no individual answer can ever push a section into the red.
Two rules that follow directly from the marking rules.
For Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers (Reading and Listening) and Highlight Incorrect Words, only select options or words you are genuinely confident about. Ticking an extra "maybe" answer risks cancelling a point you already earned. A common mistake is selecting every plausible option: if the correct number is two and you pick four, you can wipe out your whole score for that item.
A practical rule of thumb: aim to select roughly the number of answers the question expects, and stop as soon as you run out of choices you are sure of. In Highlight Incorrect Words, silence beats a false click — click a word only when you clearly hear a mismatch with the transcript.
Because there is no penalty anywhere else, a blank and a wrong answer cost the same: nothing. So on single-answer multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, re-order paragraphs and all the rest, always attempt an answer even if you are unsure. An educated guess has upside and zero downside.
How the numbers actually add up.
Imagine a Reading Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers question with five options, of which three are correct.
The lesson: precision beats coverage on these items. This is also why they carry a slightly higher risk-reward profile than the rest of the test — worth practising deliberately in timed drills.
Negative marking sits in the Reading and Listening tasks, which is exactly where careful clicking translates into section points. If you are targeting a specific Australian PR band, remember your lowest section sets your level — see the PTE score for Australia PR guide and the points calculator. Tightening up your multi-answer accuracy is one of the cleaner ways to lift a lagging Reading or Listening score.
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