PTE Writing: Summarize Written Text and Write Essay
Two tasks, both with hard word limits that gate the rest of the marks. More PTE Writing points are lost to the limits than to the writing, which makes this the section where knowing the rules is worth more than improving your English.
Summarize Written Text
You read a passage of up to about 300 words and compress it into a single sentence. The single sentence is not a stylistic preference; it is the form requirement, and a response containing a full stop in the middle fails it.
- The cap is 75 words and it is absolute. One word over scores zero on form, and form gates the content, grammar and vocabulary marks behind it. Count before you submit.
- One sentence means one main clause with subordination hung off it. The reliable shape is: main idea, then 'while' or 'although' or 'which' carrying the supporting points.
- Content is scored on whether you captured the passage's main idea, so the sentence must be about the argument rather than about the first paragraph. Read for the claim, not for the opening.
- Copying phrases wholesale from the passage is allowed and sensible here — this is a comprehension task, not a paraphrase task, and inventing synonyms is where grammar errors come from.
Write Essay
One argumentative essay in 20 minutes, within a 200–300 word band. The prompts are broad and familiar — technology, education, work, the environment — and the scoring rewards a predictable structure far more than an original argument.
- Both ends of the range matter. Under 200 or over 300 costs you on form, so a superb 320-word essay scores below an ordinary 280-word one.
- Four or five paragraphs, one idea each, with explicit connectives at the start of them. The engine is looking for visible structure and cannot infer an elegant implicit one.
- Take a position in the first paragraph and keep it. A balanced essay that never commits scores worse than a one-sided essay that does, because development is measured against a stated claim.
- Budget the clock as roughly two minutes planning, fifteen writing, three checking. The three minutes are for the word count and the obvious grammar, both of which are worth more marks than another sentence would be.
Writing for a machine
Scored by AI, with a human expert also checking the content of the longer answers. Results usually come back in a day or two, and the scoring rewards clear, evenly paced speech over interesting speech.
The practical consequence for writing is that safety pays. A construction you are not certain of can only lose marks; the engine gives no credit for ambition it cannot parse. Write the sentence you can definitely get right, spend the saved attention on the word count, and remember that these tasks are feeding your Reading score too.
Common questions
How many words should a PTE Summarize Written Text answer be?
Between 5 and 75 words, and it must be a single sentence. Going over the cap or writing two sentences scores zero on form, and form gating means the rest of your marks on that item go with it — it is the most avoidable zero in the whole test.
How long do you get for PTE Writing tasks?
10 minutes for each Summarize Written Text task and 20 minutes for the essay. There are 2 summaries and 1 essay in a sitting.
How long should a PTE essay be?
Between 200 and 300 words. Outside that range costs you on form regardless of quality, so a superb 320-word essay scores worse than an ordinary 280-word one.
Is PTE Writing marked by a computer?
Mostly. Both writing tasks are scored by AI, and a human expert also reviews the content before the score is final. That shapes what is rewarded: clear structure, explicit connectives, correct grammar and on-topic vocabulary. Rhetorical flourish earns nothing, and risky sentence constructions cost more than they can gain.
Does PTE Writing affect other scores?
Yes. PTE reports communicative skills across the whole test rather than by section, so the Writing tasks contribute to your Reading score as well — Summarize Written Text in particular, since it is scored on whether you correctly identified the source passage's main idea.
Sit the Writing section
Our PTE mock runs both Writing tasks on Pearson's published timings and word limits, and flags a response that breaks the form requirement before it costs you the item. Start with a free quick mock: about 20 minutes, the real tasks, with an estimated score. Full mocks come with a pass.
This guide is written from the PTE Academic format published by Pearson, in our own words. For the official wording, see Pearson's Speaking & Writing format page. MockLive AI is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with Pearson.