# PTE Reading: the 8 tasks that decide your score

Eight PTE task types feed your Reading score, five of them in Part 2, which runs 23 to 30 minutes. What each one asks, which two have negative marking, and a timed item you can try now.

## Which tasks decide your Reading score

Eight of the 22 PTE task types feed your Reading score. Five sit in Part 2, which runs 23 to 30 minutes on a single clock you manage yourself. The other three are Summarize Written Text in Part 1 and the two highlight tasks in Part 3. Two of the eight take a mark off for a wrong choice, which makes them the only places in PTE Reading where an empty box beats a guess.

Timings and scoring rules come from Pearson's task pages and the July 2025 Score Guide, checked 28 September 2026.

- **Tasks that feed it:** 8 of 22
- **Where they sit:** Parts 1, 2 and 3
- **Part 2 length:** 23-30 minutes
- **Items in Part 2:** 15-20
- **Scale:** 10-90
- **Tasks that penalize a wrong choice:** 2 of the 8

| Task | Items per test | Timing | Scoring |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Summarize Written Text](/pte/task-types/summarize-written-text) | 2 | Prompt length: Text up to 300 words; Time: 10 minutes per item; Response: One single sentence, 5-75 words | Content, form, grammar, vocabulary |
| [Reading & Writing: Fill in the Blanks](/pte/task-types/reading-writing-fill-in-the-blanks) | 5-6 | Prompt length: Text up to 300 words | Partial credit, one point per correct blank |
| [Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers](/pte/task-types/reading-multiple-choice-multiple-answers) | 2-3 | Prompt length: Text up to 350 words | +1 per correct option, -1 per incorrect option |
| [Re-order Paragraphs](/pte/task-types/reorder-paragraphs) | 2-3 | Prompt length: Text up to 150 words | Partial credit for correctly ordered pairs |
| [Reading: Fill in the Blanks](/pte/task-types/reading-fill-in-the-blanks) | 4-5 | Prompt length: Text up to 80 words | Partial credit, one point per correct blank |
| [Reading: Multiple Choice, Single Answer](/pte/task-types/reading-multiple-choice-single-answer) | 2-3 | Prompt length: Text up to 300 words | Correct or incorrect, no penalty for a wrong answer |
| [Highlight Correct Summary](/pte/task-types/highlight-correct-summary) | 2-3 | Prompt length: 30-90 seconds | Correct or incorrect, no penalty |
| [Highlight Incorrect Words](/pte/task-types/highlight-incorrect-words) | 2-3 | Prompt length: 15-50 seconds | +1 per correct word, -1 per incorrect word |

*Compiled by Testmigo from Pearson's own task pages. Each task links to its own rules.*

## How long the texts are

Part 2 is five tasks sharing one clock. How much text each one puts in front of you is what decides where the minutes go.

*Longest text per Part 2 task: Reading Fill in the Blanks 80 words, Re-order Paragraphs 150, Reading and Writing Fill in the Blanks 300, Multiple Choice Single Answer 300, Multiple Choice Multiple Answers 350.*

|  | words |
| --- | --- |
| Fill in the Blanks | 80 |
| Re-order Paragraphs | 150 |
| Reading & Writing: Blanks | 300 |
| Multiple choice, one answer | 300 |
| Multiple choice, several | 350 |

*Pearson's published maximums. The two multiple-choice tasks carry the most text and the fewest items, which is why they overrun.*

## How the score is built

Most of the Part 2 tasks give partial credit: a point per correct blank on both fill-in-the-blanks tasks, and a point per correctly ordered pair on Re-order Paragraphs. Getting half an item right is worth doing.

Two are different. Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words add a point for a correct pick and take one off for a wrong one, with the item floored at zero. Selecting everything on those scores nothing.

> Part 2 has no per-item timer. It is the one stretch of PTE where you can spend your own minutes badly, and the 350-word multiple-choice items are where they usually go.

## How to spend the clock

Four habits that protect the score more than extra vocabulary does.

1. Budget Part 2 before you start: roughly a minute and a half per item leaves a few minutes over at the end.
2. Do the two fill-in-the-blanks tasks first. They are the shortest texts and the most predictable marks.
3. On the two penalized tasks, pick only what you can point at in the text. A third option you are unsure about is worth less than leaving it.
4. Re-order Paragraphs is scored on pairs, so fix the opening and the closing first and let the middle follow.

## Practice Reading free

One full PTE mock and one sectional test per skill are free, with question-bank practice and 100 AI scoring coins a month. No card required. A sectional test is the same engine as a full mock, one skill at a time, so you can fix reading without sitting two hours.

- **Questions in the bank:** 20,000+
- **Sectional tests:** 20+
- **Full mocks:** 20+
- **Reading task types:** 8

**Know the score you are aiming at** Put a target into the PTE score calculator to see the visa band it reaches, the points it is worth, and how far off you are. [Open the PTE score calculator](/pte/score-calculator)

## Common questions

### How many PTE tasks count toward the Reading score?

Eight, and only five of them are in the reading part. Summarize Written Text in Part 1 and the two highlight tasks in Part 3 are scored for reading as well as for their own skill.

### How long is the PTE reading section?

Part 2 runs 23 to 30 minutes and holds 15 to 20 items. It is one clock for the whole part rather than a timer per question, so the pacing is yours to manage.

### Should I guess on PTE Reading?

On six of the eight tasks, yes: a wrong answer costs nothing. On Reading: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers and Highlight Incorrect Words a wrong pick cancels a right one, so guess only when you can justify the choice.

### Why does Summarize Written Text count for reading?

Because you have to read a 300-word text accurately before you can compress it. Pearson scores that task for both reading and writing, so one item moves two of your four skill scores.

**Sources**
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Reading task types (checked 28 September 2026)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/pte-academic/test-format/reading)
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Speaking & Writing task types (checked 28 September 2026)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/pte-academic/test-format/speaking-writing)
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Listening task types (checked 28 September 2026)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/pte-academic/test-format/listening)
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Test Taker Score Guide, July 2025 (PDF)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/ctf-assets/yqwtwibiobs4/WUcBAMkYCC9Dj5vs2HfVA/941d88d07ba7c2a5007f7ce1b18eedbf/Score_Guide__Test_Taker__-_PTE_Academic_-_July_2025__web_.pdf)