Pause and Resume Rules for Mock Exams

Pausing a Mock

Real PTE does not let you pause — but ClearMyPTE mock exams do, because they are practice. Use this freely if life gets in the way, but be aware of the trade-off: a paused-and-resumed mock is less realistic than a single-sitting attempt.

How to Pause

Click the Exit button (top-right of the exam interface, next to the section timer).
A confirmation modal appears asking "Pause and exit? Your progress is saved and you can resume any time."
Confirm. You are returned to your dashboard.

Do not close the browser tab without exiting — the section timer keeps ticking until you formally exit. Always click Exit first.

What Gets Saved

Your current section and question position.
All answers and recordings submitted so far.
Section timer remaining (frozen at exit).
Per-question timer state for the question you were on.

Resuming

Open the Mock Exam page. Any in-progress mock will appear at the top with a green Resume button. Click it and you are dropped back into the same section, same question, same timer state you left.

If you exit mid-recording on Speaking, the partial recording is kept and you start fresh on the next question. You cannot re-record the question you were on.

Pause Does NOT Count as an Attempt

Mock exam attempts are counted only on completion — i.e. when the final Listening question is submitted and the exam transitions to scoring. Pausing, exiting, and never resuming does not consume an attempt slot. You can re-start the same exam from scratch (losing your in-progress data) by clicking Discard & Restart on the resume card.

For attempt limits and refund rules see Can I Retake an Exam?.

Time Limits on Pause

An in-progress mock stays resumable for 72 hours. After that it auto-discards. This prevents stale exams cluttering your dashboard and matches the real-world reality that any practice older than three days is no longer a "fresh" attempt mentally.

When NOT to Pause

If you are taking a mock to simulate exam day, treat it like the real thing — no pause, no break beyond the official 10-minute one, phone face-down. A clean single-sitting attempt is the only valid stamina test before your booked Pearson date.

Resume any in-progress exam from the Mock Exam page or check section behaviour in How Mock Exam Section Timing Works.