Lesson 6 of 136 min read
Write Email
Learn the PTE Core Write Email format, seven traits, word-count guidance, and a worked email. Compare Pearson's published guidance where sources differ.
Is Write Email in your exam?
PTE Academic
PTE Academic does not include Write Email. Academic candidates instead sit Write Essay, a single 200–300 word argumentative essay.
PTE Core
PTE Core gives you 2–3 Write Email items, each with 9 minutes on the clock and a short prompt of up to 100 words describing a situation you need to respond to in writing.
This matches Core's general, everyday register against Academic's academic one: Core tests the short, practical writing you'd actually send at work or in daily life, not a formal argumentative essay.
What does Write Email look like?
- Several short items, not one long one: You'll see 2–3 Write Email items in the test, each a separate 9-minute task with its own prompt and its own score.
- The prompt describes a situation: A prompt of up to 100 words sets a scenario, a complaint, a request, an update to a colleague, and you write the email that responds to it, addressed to whoever the prompt names.
- A running word counter: A word counter sits at the bottom of the screen for the whole task, alongside cut, copy and paste buttons in the response box.
- One pass, no going back: PTE Core's handbook is explicit that you can't return to a previous question to amend your answer once you've moved on, so proofread before you submit each email, not after.
How is Write Email scored?
Write Email carries seven traits, each scored out of 2 or 3. Content is scored first: if it comes back at 0, nothing else is scored and the task contributes 0. If Content is above 0, Form is checked next; if Form is 0, scoring also stops there. Only once both Content and Form score above 0 do the remaining five traits get scored.
| Trait | Range | What the top band rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Content | 0–3 | Addresses the task requirements sufficiently and appropriately. |
| Email Conventions | 0–2 | Conventions (greeting, sign-off, register) are obvious, appropriate and used correctly for the task. |
| Form | 0–2 | Falls inside the scored word-count band (see below). |
| Organization | 0–2 | Clear, logical, with effective transitions between ideas. |
| Vocabulary | 0–2 | A good command of vocabulary appropriate to the context. |
| Grammar | 0–2 | Generally consistent grammatical control, with only occasional errors. |
| Spelling | 0–2 | At most 2 spelling or typing errors. |
Significant memorised material risks Content 0
The lowest Content band is described exactly as a response that “may not deal properly with the prompt due to significant amounts of pre-prepared/memorized material.” One reused greeting or sign-off isn't “significant amounts” on its own, but an email built mostly from a memorised block of text, with only a few words changed to fit the prompt, risks the same outcome as writing on the wrong topic: Content 0, and the whole task scores 0.
How long should your email be?
| Word count | Form score |
|---|---|
| 50–120 words | 2 (full credit) |
| 30–49 or 121–140 words | 1 (partial credit) |
| Under 30 or over 140 words | 0, also 0 for capital letters or missing punctuation |
Two Pearson numbers that aren't the same claim
Pearson's own test-format page tells candidates to aim for “between 80 and 120 words”, useful as informal guidance for a solidly developed response. The Score Guide's own scoring table, however, is what actually determines your Form score, and it gives full credit from 50 words, with partial credit down to 30. Treat 80–120 as a comfortable target, and 50–120 as the band the scoring table itself rewards, writing 60 focused words isn't wrong, it just leaves less room to develop Content and Organization.
What do Email Conventions and Organization actually check?
These two traits are specific to Write Email and don't appear in the other Writing tasks, because they're about the shape of an email rather than the quality of an argument.
- Email Conventions rewards the format: A suitable greeting for the person named in the prompt, a sign-off that matches the register (formal for a manager or official, warmer for a colleague), and a subject/purpose that's clear from the first line.
- Organization rewards the flow between ideas: State the purpose early, group related points together, and use a transition, for example, in addition, as a result, to move from one point to the next instead of listing sentences with no connection between them.
- Register should match the recipient: A prompt addressed to a landlord or manager calls for a more formal register than one to a friend or classmate, the same register-matching skill tested in Respond to a Situation on the Speaking side. Mismatched register is exactly what a low Email Conventions band describes as “too brief or inappropriate register.”
A worked Write Email example
Practice email prompt: renovation noise (original prompt, not a real exam item)
You live in an apartment building where renovation work in a neighbouring unit has caused daily noise for the past two weeks, often starting before 8am. Write an email to the building manager, Mr. Hale, explaining the problem and asking for a schedule of when the work will happen.
Answer: Dear Mr. Hale, I'm writing about the renovation work currently taking place in the unit next to mine. For the past two weeks, drilling and hammering have started before 8am most mornings, which has disrupted my sleep and made it difficult to work from home. Could you let me know the planned schedule for this work, and whether there are set hours during which noisy tasks are permitted? I'd also appreciate it if the contractor could be reminded to keep to reasonable start times where possible. Thank you for looking into this, and please let me know if you need any further details from me. Best regards, A. Kowalski
Content: states the problem clearly, gives a specific detail (before 8am, two weeks), and makes two concrete requests, a schedule and a reminder about start times, rather than a vague complaint.
Email Conventions: a named greeting (Dear Mr. Hale), a formal sign-off (Best regards) and a register appropriate for writing to a building manager throughout.
Form: the response runs to roughly 109 words, inside the 50–120 band for full credit.
Organization: opens with the purpose, develops the problem before the request, and closes with a courteous offer of further detail, a clear beginning, middle and end.
Vocabulary and Grammar: precise, everyday vocabulary (disrupted, contractor, reasonable start times) in grammatically controlled sentences, including a polite conditional request (“I'd also appreciate it if...”).
Spelling: no spelling errors, well inside the top Spelling band's allowance of up to two.
Continue learning
Related lessons and more practice
Write Email is one of two Core Part 1 tasks, the other, Summarize Written Text, you've likely already met. Four more Writing-scoring tasks sit inside the Listening and Reading sections rather than Part 1, Summarize Spoken Text, Fill in the Blanks, Write from Dictation, and Reading and Writing: Fill in the Blanks, see Integrated Tasks That Score Writing next.
For how Content, Form and the rest interact across every Writing task, see How Writing Is Scored, and for transitions and paragraph shape see Structure & Coherence.
Full timed practice, including your own Write Email attempts, is on the Writing practice hub, and a complete timed Core test is in the mock exam library.