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PTE Writing Practice Test

Develop clear, well-structured written answers. Choose your exam to practise the appropriate summary, essay or email tasks.

PTE Academic2 task types

Select a task type:

01SWTSummarize Written TextStart 02ESSAYWrite EssayStart

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Make the most of writing practice

Choose a focus, try a question, then review what you learned.

Start with the purpose of your answer

Before drafting, identify what the reader needs to understand. A summary selects essential information from the source; an essay develops a position; an email responds to a situation and a reader. Use the exam selector to see the relevant task types. Read the individual instructions before applying a structure you have memorised.

Plan, write and check

Build a short outline before writing: your main message, supporting points and a suitable ending. Give each sentence a clear job. During revision, first check that you answered every part of the prompt, then correct grammar and spelling. A polished sentence cannot compensate for a missing request or an unsupported claim.

Keep a useful writing error log

Save a sentence you wrote, your corrected version and the reason for the change. Group recurring errors such as tense agreement, sentence fragments and word choice. Rewrite the sentence in a different context to check that you understand the pattern. Review this short list before starting your next response.

Connect this practice with the other skills

Study sentence connections in Reorder Paragraphs and natural word combinations in dropdown blanks. Explore the complete question bank to plan your practice, or compare full test formats in Mock Exams.

A focused practice session

  1. 1

    Choose

    Choose one task type and read its instructions.

  2. 2

    Try

    Make an initial attempt without consulting an answer or a template.

  3. 3

    Review

    Find the decision or language pattern that caused difficulty.

  4. 4

    Apply

    Repeat once to apply the correction, then move to a new prompt.

Make every sentence count

  • Identify the purpose and audience before you begin writing.
  • Plan the main points and connect them in a logical order.
  • Leave time to check your answer against the task instructions.

Keep building your PTE skills

Focus on one task type, then combine your preparation with the other skills. For a complete test format, explore PTE mock exams.

PTE Academic Writing has only two tasks, but they carry real weight: Summarize Written Text and Write Essay sit inside the same 76-84 minute Speaking & Writing section as the seven Speaking tasks, and both are marked on several traits rather than a single mark. This hub covers what each task tests, how the clock works, exactly how the trait scoring breaks down, and how to plan your Writing practice.

What PTE Academic Writing tests

Writing sits inside the same section as Speaking - Speaking & Writing, 76-84 minutes, 9 question types in total - so there is no separate 'Writing section' clock. Summarize Written Text also feeds your Reading score, and it is one of two tasks, alongside Write Essay, that appear only once or twice in a full test, so each item matters more per question than a Read Aloud or Repeat Sentence does.

Both tasks are marked on several traits at once rather than one overall mark. In Summarize Written Text, a response that scores 0 on Form - not one sentence, fewer than 5 or more than 75 words, or written in capitals - scores 0 overall even when the ideas are strong.

Because both tasks are typed, keyboard layout and typing speed matter more here than anywhere else in the exam; the 10-minute Summarize Written Text window and the 20-minute Write Essay window are fixed, so slow typists should budget planning time accordingly.

The two Writing tasks

Both tasks appear in the practice catalogue under Writing:

  • Summarize Written Text (SWT) - read a passage of up to 300 words and summarize it in a single sentence of 5-75 words, within 10 minutes.
  • Write Essay (ESSAY) - read a 2-3 sentence essay prompt and write a 200-300 word essay within 20 minutes.

Time management for Writing

Summarize Written Text gives you 10 minutes (600 seconds) to read up to 300 words and write one sentence; Write Essay gives you 20 minutes (1,200 seconds) to read a short prompt and write 200-300 words. Both windows sit inside the 76-84 minute Speaking & Writing section.

Because Summarize Written Text appears twice in a full Academic test and Write Essay only once, the two summary windows add up to the same 20 minutes as the single essay, even though each essay is the longer individual task.

Treat the final minute of each window as dedicated proofreading time rather than further drafting, since Grammar, Vocabulary and Spelling are marked on exactly what is on the screen when the timer ends, not on a first draft you meant to fix.

How PTE Academic scores Writing

Summarize Written Text is marked on four traits: Content (up to 4), Form (1 point for one complete sentence of 5-75 words, 0 for anything else - not one sentence, fewer than 5 or more than 75 words, or written in capitals), Grammar (up to 2) and Vocabulary (up to 2). If Content or Form scores 0, the whole response scores 0 on every trait, and a human expert reviews the Content score alongside the AI.

Write Essay carries seven traits and a maximum of 26 points across them: Content (6), Form (2 - full credit for 200-300 words, 1 point for 120-199 or 301-380 words, 0 outside that or for capitals, no punctuation, or bullet points only), Development, Structure and Coherence (6), Grammar (2), General Linguistic Range (6), Vocabulary range (2) and Spelling (2 - full credit with no errors, 1 point for one error, 0 for more than one). An essay judged off-topic scores 0 on every trait, and a human expert reviews Content, Development/Structure/Coherence and General Linguistic Range.

A study plan for Writing

Drill Summarize Written Text first: because Form failure zeroes the whole response, practise counting words as you write until a 5-75 word single sentence becomes automatic, before you worry about Content or Grammar.

For Write Essay, build a repeatable structure - an introduction with your position, two or three body paragraphs, a short conclusion - and rehearse it against the 20-minute clock until 200-300 words fits comfortably with time to proofread for spelling and punctuation, since Form and Spelling are graded mechanically on the numbers, not on how the essay reads.

Read a few of your own past responses against the Content, Grammar and Vocabulary descriptions rather than just checking word count - those three traits carry more combined weight than Form on both tasks.

PTE Writing FAQ