Speaking & Writing
Summarize Written Text
You read a passage of up to 300 words and write a one-sentence summary of 5–75 words in 10 minutes.
- Reading
- Writing
- Items on a test
- 2
- Passage
- Up to 300 words
- Your summary
- One sentence, 5–75 words
- Time
- 10 minutes
Item counts vary slightly by test form. The ranges follow Pearson’s PTE Academic test-taker score guide.
What this task asks
Summarize Written Text sits in the Speaking & Writing part of the test, but you type the answer. The job is to capture the main point and the essential supporting idea in a single grammatical sentence.
Check the on-screen word count before you submit. The response has to be one sentence: a capital at the start and one full stop at the end.
How scoring works
Four traits are scored. Content is 0–4: a comprehensive, paraphrased summary of the main ideas scores at the top, and a response that shows no comprehension of the source scores 0. If the summary misrepresents the topic or purpose of the passage, Pearson’s task page says the whole response scores zero on every trait.
Form is 1 only when the answer is one complete sentence. It is 0 if it is not a single sentence, if it has fewer than 5 or more than 75 words, or if it is written in capital letters. The task page says a response outside 5–75 words scores zero on all four traits.
Grammar is 0–2, from a correct structure down to errors that could block communication. Vocabulary is 0–2, including whether synonyms are used appropriately rather than copying long stretches of the passage.
The item contributes to Reading and Writing.
The automated system scores this task, and a human expert reviews Content before the score is finalised. Pronunciation and oral fluency, where they apply, stay with the automated scoring.
Timings and scoring follow Pearson’s published format for Speaking & Writing.
Tips that match the task
- 1
Read for the writer’s main claim first, then the one or two reasons that support it. Those are the pieces a one-sentence summary has room for.
- 2
Write a complex or compound sentence so the main point and the support can live together: “although”, “because”, “which” or “while” are enough. Two sentences, or a sentence plus a fragment, fail form.
- 3
Stay inside 5–75 words and leave a margin. Seventy-six words is outside the limit, and the task page treats that as a zero on every trait.
- 4
Paraphrase the claim. A sentence built by copying a long clause from the passage sits lower on content, which looks for synthesis in your own words.
- 5
Use the on-screen word counter and read the answer once as a single sentence. One extra full stop makes it two sentences.
- 6
Prefer grammar you can control. A tidy complex sentence scores better on grammar than an ambitious sentence that breaks down.
- 7
Do not write in all capitals. The score guide gives that form 0.
Common mistakes
- Writing two sentences because the ideas felt hard to join. Form requires one sentence.
- Going past 75 words, or stopping under 5. Either one zeros the response.
- Summarising a minor example and missing the passage’s purpose.
- Copying the first sentence of the passage and calling it a summary.
- Forgetting the full stop, or putting a comma where the sentence should end.
Frequently asked questions
How many words is Summarize Written Text?
One sentence of between 5 and 75 words. Fewer than 5 or more than 75 scores zero on all four traits, according to the task instructions. You have 10 minutes, and the passage is up to 300 words.
What are the four scoring traits?
Content (0–4), form (1 or 0), grammar (0–2) and vocabulary (0–2). Content is also reviewed by a human expert. The item contributes to Reading and Writing.
Can I write two short sentences if they are under 75 words?
No. Form requires one complete sentence. More than one sentence scores 0 for form, and the response has to meet that form to be scored as a one-sentence summary.
Practise Summarize Written Text on a real question
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