PTE Academic word limits
| Question type | Limit | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Write Essay | 200 to 300 words | 20 minutes |
| Summarize Written Text | One sentence, 5 to 75 words | 10 minutes |
| Summarize Spoken Text | 50 to 70 words (zero below 40 or above 100) | 10 minutes |
Form is scored separately in these tasks, so staying inside the limit protects points you have already earned with good content. Aim for the middle of the range rather than the edges.
How words are counted here
This counter treats any group of characters between spaces or line breaks as one word. Hyphenated words and numbers each count as one word, and punctuation on its own does not count. Pearson does not publish its exact counting method, so leave a small margin inside each limit.
Practice with real prompts
The counter is useful for checking drafts, but timed practice builds the skill. Every writing practice page has original prompts, a live word count, a timer and a sample answer, and the PTE writing section has 50 free timed writing tests.