1. Why these three?
If you're considering testing now, these three share important properties:
- Each is accepted by UK universities at master's level
- Each can be sat at home or computer-delivered
- Each turns results around within a week
- Each lends itself to machine-evaluable formats
The differences are in the details — and the details matter.
2. Who accepts each one?
- IELTS — universally accepted across English-speaking destinations.
- PTE Academic — accepted by all UK, Australian, New Zealand, Singaporean universities; most US graduate schools; some Chinese institutions.
- Password Skills Plus — accepted primarily by UK universities (including several at Russell Group level for pre-sessional programmes). US and Australian acceptance is rare.
Action: open your target programme's "English language requirements" page and read it line by line. Whatever appears on that page, take. Don't gamble.
3. Cost and turnaround
| Test | Price | Score turnaround | At-home option |
|---|---|---|---|
| IELTS UKVI computer-delivered | ~£196 | 3–5 days | ❌ |
| IELTS UKVI paper-based | ~£196 | ~13 days | ❌ |
| PTE Academic | ~£170 | 2 working days | ❌ (PTE Home in some countries) |
| Password Skills Plus | ~£89 | 3–5 days | ✅ (priority option: 24 hours) |
At-home availability and the lowest starting cost — Password wins on both. PTE wins on raw turnaround.
4. Difficulty curves
IELTS — well-known problems: gap-fills in Listening and abstract Part 2 cue cards. Learning curve is gentle once you're past those.
PTE Academic — machine-graded throughout, so clarity of pronunciation is the make-or-break factor. Chinese-English accents that are clear and well-paced score high; muddled ones cost real points. Once you adapt to the format, scores are remarkably stable.
Password Skills Plus — closest to general academic English. No exotic question types. Writing volume is small but the precision bar is high. The speaking section involves a real examiner over video, which is more forgiving than PTE's machine grading on accent.
5. Material availability
- IELTS — Cambridge has published 18 official practice books plus countless secondary materials.
- PTE — Pearson tutorials plus thousands of question-bank items from third-party prep platforms.
- Password — almost none for free. This is its biggest weakness, and the reason free in-browser practice (like this site) exists.
If you thrive on practice volume, choose IELTS or PTE. If you'd rather train fundamentals and not chase tests, Password is fine — but you need self-discipline.
6. Retake cost
Average outcomes (broad community-reported figures):
- IELTS — first attempt around 6.0–6.5; many people need 2–3 attempts to hit 7.0+
- PTE — first attempt around 58–62; 65+ usually takes 1–2 attempts
- Password — community data is sparse, but the low cost and high flexibility make multiple attempts low-risk
7. Recommendation by scenario
| Scenario | Best choice |
|---|---|
| UK master's, programme lists all three | Password (best price + speed) |
| UK + US + Australia simultaneous applications | IELTS (widest acceptance) |
| Already confident speaking, want fast results | PTE Academic |
| Tight budget + tight calendar, only need B2 | Password at-home (priority) |
| Already at IELTS 6.0, pushing for 7.0+ | Switch to PTE (typically lower attempt count to the same CEFR) |
| Need ongoing mock practice + tutoring market | IELTS |
8. Last step before booking
Take our placement test, confirm your CEFR start level, then use the score converter to translate it across all three tests. Your best test is whichever gets you to the same CEFR rung with the least time and money invested.