Part 3 of the PTE exam is the PTE Listening test. The PTE Listening section consists of 8 audio and video questions out of which, the first question is the “PTE Summarize Spoken Text”. The question involves listening to a recorded text on the speaker and then recording the summarised text over the microphone.
Part 3 of the PTE exam, i.e. PTE Listening consists of 8 questions and the total duration for completing this part is 30-43 minutes. Each audio and video clip gets played automatically and gets played only once. PTE test takers can take notes while listening to these audio and video clips and then record their answers in the desired format.
The first question of the PTE Listening section is “PTE Summarize Spoken Text” which involves listening to a recording and then speaking the summarised content of the recording within 50-70 words. This article consists of all the details on the PTE Summarize text question of the PTE Listening exam. But first, let us understand the PTE summarize spoken text question in detail.
- What is PTE Summarise Spoken Text?
- How to Answer the PTE Summarize Spoken Text Question?
- PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring
- PTE Summarize Spoken Text FAQs
What is PTE Summarise Spoken Text?
The PTE Summarise Spoken Text is a question in which the test takers are presented with a recording on their screens which starts to play itself and can be played only once. Candidates taking the PTE exam are then required to summarise the recorded text that they just heard in around 50-70 words.
This is the first out of eight questions in Part 3: Listening section of the PTE test. This is an integrated skills task and the length of the prompt in this question is around 60-90 seconds. The skills assessed by the PTE Summarise spoken Text question are Listening and Writing. However, there is no definite time applicable to answer this question.
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| All About PTE Summarise Spoken Text |
|
|---|---|
| Prompt Length |
60-90 seconds |
| Skills Assessed |
Listening and Writing |
| Part of the PTE Exam |
Part 3: Listening |
| Question |
Question 1 of 8 |
| Question Re-play Allowed |
No |
| Taking Notes |
Allowed |
| Total Time Offered to Listen and Write Your Answer |
10 minutes |
| Partial Credit Scoring |
Yes |
Taking Notes in the PTE Summarise Spoken Text
Candidates get an erasable noteboard booklet that allows them to take notes from the recording online. Candidates can use these notes to derive the main and supporting points for creating a summary of the presented recording.
Make sure to use the available resources properly and don’t miss out on listening any important detail as the recording will be played only once.
How to Answer the PTE Summarize Spoken Text Question?
Candidates get only 10 minutes to listen, understand, take notes and record their answers for the PTE summarise spoken text question. So, this time must be used judiciously. Check out the tips below to learn how to answer PTE summarise spoken text questions properly to score good marks.
- The “summarise spoken text” question of the PTE exam begins with a recording that plays automatically. As you start writing the answer, the word count appears at the bottom of the page. Make sure to write your summary in between 50-70 words.
- While writing down the summary, you will have options to “cut”, “copy” and “paste” your answer, available on the left click of the button. Use these options to structure your summary properly.
- Make sure you summarise the main points and include the supporting points from the recording. On incorporating both essential points and supporting points, you may get full marks for the content.
PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring
The scores in the PTE Summarize Spoken Text question are awarded on the basis of the following 5 parameters.
- Content,
- Form,
- Grammar,
- Vocabulary and
- Spelling.
Partial credit scoring is applicable to PTE Summarised Spoken Text. Candidates must also note that no score is awarded (0 marks) for not answering the question or providing irrelevant answers to any question.
Note: This scoring in this section affects the scores in the listening an writing sections of the PTE test.
Each of the above parameters is briefly described below to help students understand each parameter nicely and hence work on improving each before their PTE exam date.
Content
The Content determines whether or not your summary includes all the essential points of the recording without deviating from the main idea of the recording. However, if you misinterpret the main purpose or the topic of the recording provided to you then, you will not receive any scores for any of the five parameters or for your whole summary.
Therefore, take the given 10 minutes to closely identify the main points and the supporting points from your notes to add to your summary. Make sure, your points are clear and stick to the purpose of the recording.
| PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring based on Content |
|
|---|---|
| Summary describes the topic and purpose of the recording correctly without missing any essential aspect |
2 Points |
| A good summary is written and one or two aspects of the text are missing |
1 Marks |
| Main aspects are missing or misinterpretated |
0 Marks |
Form
The form is scored by the length of the summary you have provided. Full scores are awarded if the length of your summary is between 50 to 70 words.
Writing anywhere less than 50 words or more than 70 words may result in a decrease in your score for the PTE Summarise Spoken Text task. Another important point to be noted is that - if you write less than 40 or more than 100 words in your summary then, you will get zero marks for your summary. Hence, answering within the desired work length must be strictly followed.
| PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring based on Form |
|
|---|---|
| 50-70 Words |
2 Marks |
| 40-49 words or 71-100 words in Your Summary |
1 Marks |
| Less than 40 or more than 100 Words in Your Summary |
0 Marks |
Grammar
Scores based on grammar are provided only if the basic structure of the English sentences is correct. Concise sentences that deliver the intent and purpose of the recording effectively are considered to be the best form of grammar writing in a summary. Additionally, checking your sentences for tenses, subject/verb agreement, vocabulary and word order will be equally beneficial.
| PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring based on Grammar |
|
|---|---|
| All grammatically correct structures |
2 Marks |
| Contains 1 grammatical error with no hindrance to communication of the summary |
1 Marks |
| Significant grammatical errors that could affect the communication |
0 Marks |
Vocabulary
The best vocabulary for the PTE Summarize Spoken Text is relevant to the recording and academic environment. Since PTE tests the overall English fluency of the test taker, even the appropriate usage of synonyms is scored. As a best practice, make use of words from the recording to summarise the whole content nicely.
| PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring based on Vocabulary |
|
|---|---|
| For an appropriate choice of words |
2 Marks |
| Contains some lexical errors with no hindrance to the communication of the summary |
1 Marks |
| Significant lexical errors that could affect the communication |
0 Marks |
Spelling
The convention of English spellings in the PTE Academic exam is adapted from the US, the UK, Australia and Canada English. However, the test taker must use only a single spelling convention throughout their PTE test. For example, if a test taker is comfortable in writing spellings based on US conventions then, throughout the entire PTE exam, they must use only the US convention spellings.
| PTE Summarize Spoken Text Scoring based on Spelling |
|
|---|---|
| All Spellings Correct |
2 Marks |
| 1 incorrect Spelling |
1 Marks |
| More than 1 Incorrect Spelling |
0 Marks |
This was all about the PTE Summarise Spoken Text question of the PTE Listening part. In this article, we have learnt all about the pattern, tips to solve, and scoring of the PTE Summarise Spoken Text question. If you have any doubts, feel free to post your queries in the comments below.
PTE Summarize Spoken Text FAQs
Q. How do you summarise the spoken text in the PTE Listening exam?
A. To summarise a spoken text in the PTE Listening test, note down the important points on the noteboard provided in the exam.
Since the recording will be played only once, listen to each and every point very carefully and make short notes to recall each point while constructing a summary after the recording has stopped.
You will be given 10 minutes of time to listen, analyse and construct a good summary for the PTE Summarise Spoken Text question.
Below are a few PTE summarise spoken practice points:
- Practice improving your grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and spelling.
- Give good time to identify the main idea or purpose of the recording and make sure your summary expresses the same. Any deviation from the topic or the purpose of the recording will lead you to get zero marks.
- It is advisable that you solve a few PTE summarise spoken text samples beforehand taking your exam.
- The most important point to note for summarising the spoken text in the PTE exam is that - remember the format of the question. Construct your summary strictly between 50-70 words.
Q. What is the word limit of PTE Summarize Spoken Text?
A. PTE test takers should pay close attention in listening to the recording in the “PTE Summarize Spoken Text” question as there is no option of replaying the same. While listening to the recording, the test takers can also take note of the main and supporting points from the recording. After the recording is over, test takers will be recording to summarise the content of the recording in 50-70 words only.
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However, from 07 August 2025, there will be a total of 22 different question types (excluding the personal introduction) which will contribute to a total of 52-64+ questions in the PTE exam.