Summarize Written Text rewards accurate compression. Find the passage’s controlling idea, connect only the essential support and remove examples that do not change the conclusion.
Response rules for each exam
Check which exam you are taking because the response rules differ. PTE Academic gives 10 minutes to produce one complete sentence of 5 to 75 words from a passage of up to 300 words. PTE Core gives 10 minutes for a 25 to 50 word summary, which may contain one or more complete sentences, from a passage of up to 200 words. Pearson Academic format Pearson Core format
Find the hierarchy
After reading once, write three things:
- Topic: What is the passage about?
- Controlling idea: What is the writer saying about that topic?
- Essential support: Which causes, effects, contrasts or conditions explain the controlling idea?
Examples, names and figures often support a point without belonging in the final summary. Include them only when they are central to the author’s conclusion.
A flexible sentence frame
Try this logic, changing the language to suit the passage:
Although [important qualification], [controlling idea], because [essential support], which [result].
This is a relationship map, not a sentence to force onto every text. If the passage is chronological, preserve the sequence with language such as “first”, “later” and “finally”. Use cause-and-result wording only when the passage explicitly establishes causation. For Core, two short sentences can be safer than one overloaded sentence, provided the total remains 25 to 50 words.
Original passage
Urban trees can reduce summer temperatures by shading streets and releasing moisture into the air. However, simply counting how many trees a city plants can give a misleading picture of progress. Young trees provide limited shade, some species struggle in hotter conditions, and poorly chosen planting sites may leave the warmest neighbourhoods without meaningful coverage. Long-term maintenance is equally important because trees need water, healthy soil and protection from construction damage. Cities should therefore measure canopy growth and its distribution, not only the number of seedlings planted. This approach directs resources towards places with the greatest heat exposure and reveals whether trees survive long enough to provide the intended cooling benefit.
Idea hierarchy:
- Topic: urban tree planting and heat
- Controlling idea: seedling counts are inadequate measures of progress
- Support: cooling depends on survival, canopy, placement and maintenance
- Result: measure canopy growth and distribution to target heat-exposed areas
Rough draft:
Trees cool cities, and cities plant many seedlings, but young trees are small and need water and soil and can be damaged, so cities should count canopy and put trees in hot neighbourhoods.
This draft captures several points, but “count canopy” is imprecise, the repeated “and” weakens the relationships, and the role of maintenance is blurred.
Improved Academic answer, 43 words:
Although urban trees can reduce heat, seedling totals alone do not show progress because effective cooling depends on suitable placement, survival and maintenance, so cities should measure canopy growth and distribution to identify whether planting programs benefit the neighbourhoods with greatest heat exposure.
Improved Core answer, 33 words:
Urban trees can reduce heat, but planting totals are misleading because cooling depends on location, survival and maintenance. Cities should measure canopy growth and distribution to ensure the hottest neighbourhoods receive lasting benefits.
Both versions preserve the author’s qualification, criticism and recommendation. The Academic version meets the one-sentence rule. The Core version uses two complete sentences and stays within its separate range.
Edit in the right order
First check meaning: no reversed cause, exaggerated claim or missing conclusion. Then check form and word count for your exam. Finally check sentence boundaries, agreement, punctuation and spelling. Do not join disconnected clauses with commas merely to satisfy Academic’s one-sentence rule.
Practise the method with passages for your selected exam in the Summarize Written Text practice.
Join ideas without creating a run-on sentence
Choose the logical relationship before choosing the connector. Use because for cause and although for contrast. Use which to introduce a relative clause with a clear antecedent, as in “The council expanded tree cover, which was the programme’s central measure.” For a stated result, use an explicit connector such as so or therefore.
Comma splice: “Urban trees reduce heat, they also improve air quality.”
Correct: “Urban trees reduce heat and improve air quality, although their benefits depend on species, placement and maintenance.”
After drafting, find every comma. If complete sentences sit on both sides, add a conjunction or restructure the sentence.
Related guides
- PTE Core Summarize Written Text Examples and Answer Method
- PTE Writing Word Counts for Current Fixed-Range Tasks