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PTE word counter: check your answer against the official word limit

Choose a PTE Academic or PTE Core writing task, paste your answer, and see the word count change as you type, with a warning before you fall outside Pearson's range.

10 minutes in the test

One sentence of 5 to 75 words, with a capital letter at the start and only one full stop, at the end. Source: Pearson

0words

Aim for 5 to 75 words.

Practise Summarize Written Text

Nothing is sent to a server. The count is a practice check, not an official Pearson score.

By Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi · Updated 11 November 2026

PTE word limits for each writing task

In PTE, length is part of the score. Pearson marks a trait called Form, and for most writing tasks Form is "scored by counting the number of words in your response" (Pearson). Stay inside the full-credit range and you get the Form points. Go a little outside and you lose some. Go far outside, and on some tasks even a little, and the whole response scores zero.

TaskFull Form creditScores zeroSource
Academic: Summarize Written Text5–75 words, one sentenceUnder 5 or over 75 wordsPearson
Academic: Write Essay200–300 wordsUnder 120 or over 380 wordsPearson
Academic: Summarize Spoken Text50–70 wordsUnder 40 or over 100 wordsPearson
Core: Summarize Written Text25–50 words, complete sentencesUnder 25 or over 50 wordsPearson
Core: Write EmailTask asks 80–120; full Form credit 50–120"Significantly" under or over: no Form marksPearson
Core: Summarize Spoken Text20–30 wordsUnder 5 or over 40 wordsPearson

Summarize Written Text: the one-sentence rule

PTE Academic asks for a one-sentence summary. Pearson tells you to check that it is only one sentence, with a capital letter at the beginning and only one full stop, at the end, and that it is between 5 and 75 words; outside that range it is not scored (Pearson). The counter flags a second sentence, a missing capital and a missing final full stop. Watch for abbreviations such as "e.g." or "etc." in the middle: the extra full stop can make one sentence look like two, so the checker flags it too.

PTE Core is different. Its Summarize Written Text asks for 25 to 50 words in one or more complete sentences, each starting with a capital letter and ending with a full stop. You may still write a single complex sentence if you prefer (Pearson).

Write Essay, Summarize Spoken Text and Write Email

The PTE Academic essay should be 200 to 300 words. Writing fewer than 200 or more than 300 lowers your score, and under 120 or over 380 words scores zero on all seven traits (Pearson). Summarize Spoken Text works the same way with a 50 to 70 word target and zero below 40 or above 100 (Pearson). In PTE Core the spoken summary is 20 to 30 words, with zero below 5 or above 40 (Pearson).

PTE Core Write Email has two numbers on Pearson's page. The task asks for 80 to 120 words, while the scoring note gives full Form credit for 50 to 120 (Pearson). Aim for 80 to 120 and you satisfy both. Pearson does not give a number for "significantly" under or over, so the counter does not guess one. It also asks for a salutation, an introduction, a conclusion and a farewell, which you should check yourself.

How this counter counts words

A word is any group of characters between spaces or line breaks, the way the test's own counter at the bottom of the screen counts what you type. A hyphenated word or a contraction counts once, and a lone dash or symbol does not count. Pearson does not publish how its counter handles these edge cases, so keep a margin of a few words from each limit.

The counter only measures length and sentence form. For a practice estimate of content, grammar and vocabulary, paste your essay into the free PTE essay checker. Its scores are practice estimates, not official Pearson results.

Questions

What is the word limit for PTE Summarize Written Text?

In PTE Academic it is one sentence of 5 to 75 words; outside that range the summary is not scored. In PTE Core it is 25 to 50 words, and you may use more than one complete sentence.

What happens if my PTE essay is over 300 words?

Between 301 and 380 words your Form score goes down but the essay is still marked. Over 380 words, or under 120, the whole essay scores zero.

Does PTE count hyphenated words and contractions as one word?

Pearson does not say. This counter treats anything between two spaces as one word, so "well-known" and "don't" count once. Stay a few words inside each limit so a different count cannot push you out.

Is this an official Pearson tool?

No. BandLadder is an independent practice platform, not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson. The limits come from Pearson's public test-format pages, and the counter only checks length and basic sentence form, not content or grammar.

Keep practising

Sources

Checked on 11 November 2026. BandLadder is an independent preparation platform, not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson.