PTE Summarize Written Text Practice with Template
Summarize Written Text is a PTE Academic writing task. You read a passage of up to 300 words and write one English sentence of 5 to 75 words that states its main point, within 10 minutes. Practise with 40 original passages below, watch your word count and form checks, then check your score and compare with a model answer. Check my score gives a clearly labelled practice estimate with feedback. Updated 10 October 2026.
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Passage 1 of 40
Public libraries today
Read the passage (165 words)
For much of the twentieth century, public libraries were seen mainly as places to borrow books. Today they offer a much wider range of services, and many city governments now treat them as community centres. Libraries lend laptops, tablets and Wi-Fi hotspots to residents who cannot afford their own, which has made them important for students and job seekers. Many also run classes in computing, English conversation and small business planning. Critics question whether this broader role justifies the cost, arguing that libraries should concentrate on books and reading. Supporters reply that lending a book is only one of many ways a library helps people. Studies of library use in several countries suggest that visits often rise when services expand, particularly among families with young children and older adults who want company as well as information. The most successful libraries, according to researchers, are those that ask local residents what they need and then design programmes around those answers rather than around a fixed collection.
0 words. Start writing. The limit is 5 to 75 words.
- Check: Between 5 and 75 words
- Check: Starts with a capital letter
- Check: Ends with one full stop, and only one sentence
- Check: Not all capitals and not all lower case
Practice estimate only. It checks length and form, key ideas by keyword, and a few simple writing slips. It does not judge whether your grammar is correct overall.
Form checks follow the rules Pearson publishes for this task. The score is a practice estimate from simple text checks, not Pearson's scoring and not an official score. Your saved results stay in this browser only.
What the Summarize Written Text rules say
Pearson's published guidance for this task gives the rules below. Check them against your own answer before you practise, because the form checks above use the same limits.
| Rule | What Pearson says |
|---|---|
| Passage length | Text up to 300 words |
| Time | 10 minutes |
| Response | One sentence, no more than 75 words |
| Word limits | Between 5 and 75 words; outside this range the response is not scored |
| Punctuation and case | Capital letter at the start, one full stop at the end; all capitals or all lower case scores zero |
| Scored on | Content, form, grammar and vocabulary |
| Style tip | A good sentence is about 20 to 35 words long (a tip, not a rule) |
How this task is scored (practice estimate)
When you press Check my score, the page marks your sentence with simple text checks and shows a percentage. It is a practice estimate. Only Pearson issues an official PTE score, and this figure is not a prediction of it. The percentage is never converted into a 10 to 90 score.
What is measured
- Form: one sentence of 5 to 75 words, not written in all capitals. This follows Pearson's published rule. If form fails, the estimate is 0, because Pearson gives no points when form scores 0.
- Content: whether each key idea of the passage appears in your sentence. Each idea is found by looking for its keywords, so this is a keyword match and not a judgement of meaning. If no key idea is found, the estimate is 0.
- Vocabulary variety, linking words and repetition: how many different words you use, whether you join ideas with a connector, and whether you repeat words or copy a long run of words from the passage. These use our own simple thresholds.
- Capitals and punctuation: a capital at the start, a full stop at the end, and spacing around punctuation marks.
What is only partly checked or not measured
- Grammar is only partly checked. About a dozen specific slips are looked for, such as a/an and a doubled word. Most grammar errors will not be found, and a clean result does not mean your grammar is correct.
- Spelling is only partly checked. Only a list of frequent misspellings is checked, so run your own spell-check as well.
- Not measured: whether your ideas are accurate, whether the sentence reads naturally and coherently, and whether a good idea written in different words matches the key idea.
After each check you see your answer, the model answer and a one-line reason for each item. Your results are saved in this browser only, and you can review them on the practice progress page.
How to answer Summarize Written Text, step by step
- Scan the passage first. Read it once to find the topic and purpose. If you are unsure, make a sensible guess from the context.
- Find the main point. Key points are usually repeated or developed in the text. Your sentence must state the meaning or purpose of the passage, or it scores zero.
- Leave out the examples. Statistics, case studies and quotations belong in your notes, not in the summary.
- Build one sentence with a connector. Join the main claim and one qualification or reason with a word such as although, because or which.
- Check before time runs out. Count the words, look for a capital letter and one full stop, and check articles, plurals and subject–verb agreement.
A Summarize Written Text template you can adapt
A sentence skeleton keeps your answer to one sentence and gives it a clear order: the subject and main claim first, then a qualification or reason, then the effect or conclusion. The three patterns below follow that order. The examples are original and unrelated to the passages above.
| Pattern | Skeleton | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Argument with a counterpoint | The passage argues that [main claim], although [counterpoint]. | The passage argues that bus lanes speed up city travel, although some shop owners fear fewer customers. |
| Cause and effect | [Cause] leads to [effect], because [reason]. | Dry seasons lead to lower harvests, because crops receive less water than they need. |
| Problem and solution | [Problem] can be reduced by [solution], provided that [condition]. | Traffic noise can be reduced by quieter road surfaces, provided that councils maintain them. |
Connectors that join ideas in one sentence
- Contrast: although, while, whereas, rather than
- Reason and result: because, as a result, which means, so that
- Condition: provided that, unless, if
- Addition: as well as, along with, in addition to
Pearson recommends complex or compound sentences for this task, so practise joining two clauses. Use grammatical structures you can write correctly, because a broken long sentence loses marks for grammar.
Common mistakes that cost marks
- Two sentences. A full stop in the middle means you have written more than one sentence. Join the ideas instead.
- A run-on sentence. Long chains joined only by commas or “and” lose grammar marks. Split them into a compound or complex sentence.
- Over 75 words. Cut a detail rather than a key point. Examples are the first thing to remove.
- Missing the main point. A sentence about a minor detail, however well written, does not summarise the passage.
- Copying long phrases. Pearson suggests synonyms and noun phrases where possible, so reuse the key words but rephrase the rest.
Academic or Core? Check which test you are preparing for
This page follows the PTE Academic rules. The task exists in PTE Core as well, but the word limits and passage length are different. Read the PTE Academic vs Core vs UKVI comparison before you use the limits on this page for another test.
Sources
Checked 10 October 2026 against Pearson's published guidance: PTE Academic test format for Writing and Writing: Self-Improvement. Passages and model answers are original practice material written for this site.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Summarize Written Text task in PTE Academic?
You read a passage of up to 300 words and write one sentence that states its main point. You have 10 minutes. The task sits in the Writing section and is scored on content, form, grammar and vocabulary.
How many words should a Summarize Written Text answer be?
Your response must be between 5 and 75 words. Pearson says a response with fewer than five words or more than 75 words will not be scored. Pearson's writing tips also suggest that a good sentence is about 20 to 35 words long, which is long enough to hold the main point.
Can I write two sentences if the passage has two main ideas?
No. The answer must be one sentence with a capital letter at the start and one full stop at the end. Combine the two ideas with a connector such as although, while or because, and keep the whole answer within 75 words.
Is there a Summarize Written Text template?
Yes. The template section on this page gives a sentence skeleton, three patterns and a list of connectors. Use them to organise your thinking quickly. Do not memorise sentences to reuse, because you will need to write from what the passage says.
What gets a Summarize Written Text answer a score of zero?
Pearson's guidance says an answer that does not summarise the meaning or purpose of the text scores zero. An answer written in all capitals or all lower case also scores zero, and so does a response outside the 5 to 75 word range.
Should I copy phrases from the passage?
Use the words of the passage where they carry the key idea, but use synonyms and noun phrases where you can. Pearson's tips say that using academic vocabulary in your own words is a good way to show range.
Should a summary include examples or statistics?
No. Pearson advises leaving out examples and supporting evidence. Keep the summary at the level of the main idea, and let the one sentence cover the key points rather than the details behind them.
How does this page score my Summarize Written Text answer?
Press Check my score and you get a practice estimate as a percentage, with a breakdown. It checks form (one sentence of 5 to 75 words, not in all capitals), content (whether each key idea of the passage appears, found by keyword), vocabulary variety, linking words, repeated or copied wording, capitals and punctuation, a short list of common grammar slips and a list of frequent misspellings. It is not Pearson's scoring and it is not an official score.
What does the practice estimate not measure?
It cannot tell whether your grammar and spelling are correct overall, because only a few specific patterns are checked. It matches key ideas by keyword, so a good idea written in different words can be marked missing. It does not judge whether your sentence reads naturally or whether the meaning is accurate. Treat it as a prompt to compare your sentence with the model answer, not as a prediction of your PTE result.
Are the passages on this page real PTE exam questions?
No. Every passage and model answer on this page was written from scratch for practice. They match the length and style of the task, but they are not taken from any real or repeated test.
How do I write Summarize Written Text well? (Hindi and Bengali search phrasing, answered in English)
Read the passage once for the main idea, write it as one English sentence from 5 to 75 words, start with a capital letter and end with one full stop, then count your words and check your grammar before time runs out. Practise with the passages above and use the checklist after each one.
Is Summarize Written Text the same in PTE Core?
The task is related but the rules differ, including the word limits and the length of the passage. Read the comparison guide on this site for the Core and UKVI details before you practise for those tests.