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PTEPTE Prep

Part 1 · Speaking & Writing · SWT

Summarize Written Text: Speaking & Writing PTE question type

A short paragraph appears with a one-sentence summary prompt. You write exactly one complete sentence summarising it.

You have thirty seconds to read and thirty-five minutes of total section time for two items, so the reading is a genuine sprint. The instruction to write one sentence is a hard constraint, not a guideline.

Scoring

How Summarize Written Text is scored

Form is 0 or 1 — 1 for a single complete sentence, 0 for anything else — and a form of 0 scores the whole item at zero regardless of what you wrote. Content runs 0 to 4, with grammar and vocabulary scored alongside.

Skills scored
Reading — contributes to your Reading scoreWriting — contributes to your Writing score
Questions per test
2 in Speaking & Writing
Traits Pearson rates
Content · Form · Grammar · Vocabulary

This is an integrated item: it counts towards 2 different skill scores at once, which is why its weighting in a full test is higher than a single-skill item.

Watch out

Common Summarize Written Text mistakes

  1. 1Writing two sentences, which takes form to 0 and zeroes the entire item.
  2. 2Copying a sentence from the passage instead of summarising it.
  3. 3Falling outside 5 to 75 words, which also scores form 0.

Strategy

Read the passage once, then write one sentence. Form is scored 1 for a single complete sentence and 0 otherwise — form 0 scores the whole item at zero.
Practice Summarize Written TextSit a full mock

Questions

Summarize Written Text questions, answered

How many Summarize Written Text questions are on the PTE Academic?

A PTE Academic has 2 Summarize Written Text items in the Speaking & Writing section. Each one is an integrated item, so it counts towards both your Reading and Writing scores.

How is Summarize Written Text scored?

Form is 0 or 1 — 1 for a single complete sentence, 0 for anything else — and a form of 0 scores the whole item at zero regardless of what you wrote. Content runs 0 to 4, with grammar and vocabulary scored alongside.

What goes wrong most often on Summarize Written Text?

Writing two sentences, which takes form to 0 and zeroes the entire item.

Keep going

Related speaking & writing question types

All Speaking & Writing question types · tips for all 22 types · full test format · how PTE scores work.

Scoring figures on this page follow the current PTE Academic official guide. This is an independent practice site and is not affiliated with Pearson.