PTE Core Summarize Spoken Text practice

You hear a recording once, then sum it up in 20 to 30 words. That's far fewer than in PTE Academic.

By Thanh Tran, PTE and IELTS coach
Updated October 2026

SSTListening, Summarize Spoken Text

05:40

After listening to a recording, write a 20 to 30 word summary.

Status: Completed

The city will build a bike lane on Main Street this summer. It will make cycling safer, but the street will lose some parking spaces.

25 words20 to 30 words

Key facts

Recording

45 to 75 seconds, played once

Time

8 minutes to listen and write

Your answer

20 to 30 words

In a test

1 or 2 recordings

Skills scored

Listening and writing

Scores zero if

Off the topic, under 5 or over 40 words, all in capitals, with no punctuation, or in bullet points

Questions to practise

63, reported from real PTE Core tests

Pearson marks five things. If content or form gets zero, the whole summary gets zero.

Leap Exam marks the same five, with PTE Core's rules, and shows the fixes on your own summary.

Your first Summarize Spoken Text feedback is free.

Listening, Summarize Spoken Text

Question 4 of 10

Graded

9 / 10

An example grade: a full summary with two spelling mistakes.

30 words is about two short sentences. That's room for the main point and two details.

Writing too much
50 words is right for PTE Academic. In PTE Core, over 40 scores zero.
Missing the main point
Get the topic wrong and the summary scores zero.
Notes, not sentences
Bullet points or very short notes score zero for form.
Spelling mistakes
Two mistakes cost you a spelling mark.
Trying to write down every word