# PTE Speaking: the 6 tasks that decide your score

Six PTE task types feed your Speaking score, all of them in Part 1, which runs 76 to 84 minutes. What each one asks, how content, oral fluency and pronunciation are marked, and a timed item you can try now.

## Which tasks decide your Speaking score

Six of the 22 PTE task types feed your Speaking score: Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture, Respond to a Situation and Summarize Group Discussion. All six sit in Part 1, Speaking & Writing, which runs 76 to 84 minutes. Every one is marked on content first, then oral fluency and pronunciation. On most of them a content score of zero stops the scoring there.

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

- **Tasks that feed it:** 6 of 22
- **Where they sit:** Part 1, Speaking & Writing
- **Part length:** 76-84 minutes
- **Scale:** 10-90
- **Marked on:** Content, oral fluency, pronunciation
- **Longest single response:** 2 minutes, Summarize Group Discussion

| Task | Items per test | Timing | Scoring |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Read Aloud](/pte/task-types/read-aloud) | 6-7 | Preparation: 30-40 seconds to read and prepare; Response time: Varies with the length of the text | Content, oral fluency, pronunciation |
| [Repeat Sentence](/pte/task-types/repeat-sentence) | 10-12 | Prompt length: 3-9 seconds, played once; Response time: 15 seconds | Content, oral fluency, pronunciation |
| [Describe Image](/pte/task-types/describe-image) | 5-6 | Preparation: 25 seconds to study the image; Response time: 40 seconds | Content, oral fluency, pronunciation |
| [Re-tell Lecture](/pte/task-types/re-tell-lecture) | 2-3 | Prompt length: Up to 90 seconds; Preparation: 10 seconds; Response time: 40 seconds | [How it's scored](/pte/task-types/re-tell-lecture#how-its-scored) |
| [Respond to a Situation](/pte/task-types/respond-to-a-situation) | 2-3 | Prompt length: Text up to 60 words; Preparation: 10 seconds; Response time: 40 seconds | [How it's scored](/pte/task-types/respond-to-a-situation#how-its-scored) |
| [Summarize Group Discussion](/pte/task-types/summarize-group-discussion) | 2-3 | Prompt length: Up to 3 minutes; Preparation: 10 seconds; Response time: 2 minutes | [How it's scored](/pte/task-types/summarize-group-discussion#how-its-scored) |

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

## Where your time goes

The clock is the part people practice least. These are the response windows you actually get, task by task.

*Response windows for the speaking tasks: Repeat Sentence 15 seconds, Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture and Respond to a Situation 40 seconds each, Summarize Group Discussion 2 minutes.*

|  | seconds |
| --- | --- |
| Repeat Sentence | 15 |
| Describe Image | 40 |
| Re-tell Lecture | 40 |
| Respond to a Situation | 40 |
| Summarize Group Discussion | 120 (2 min) |

*How long the microphone stays open, task by task. Read Aloud is left out: its window follows the length of the text.*

## How the score is built

Content comes first on every speaking task. On Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture and Summarize Group Discussion, a content score of zero means nothing else on that item is scored. Oral fluency and pronunciation only apply to what you actually said.

Speaking also reaches your other scores. Repeat Sentence, Re-tell Lecture and Summarize Group Discussion are marked for listening as well. A weak Speaking score often traces back to what you heard, not how you spoke.

> Pearson scores a memorized response as an irrelevant one. A fixed opening sentence is fine as a runway; a fixed body scores nothing on any of the six.

## How to spend the clock

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

1. Spend the preparation time marking where you will pause, not rehearsing whole sentences. Describe Image gives you 25 seconds, Re-tell Lecture 10.
2. Start within the first three seconds of the tone. The microphone closes after three seconds of silence and the response is lost.
3. Keep going through a stumble. A self-correction costs content (a word that was not there) and breaks fluency for the rest of the sentence.
4. Fill the whole window on the long tasks. Forty seconds is about 100 words: an overview, two details, a close.

## Practice Speaking 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 speaking without sitting two hours.

- **Questions in the bank:** 20,000+
- **Sectional tests:** 20+
- **Full mocks:** 20+
- **Speaking task types:** 6

**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 Speaking score?

Six: Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence, Describe Image, Re-tell Lecture, Respond to a Situation and Summarize Group Discussion. Answer Short Question is spoken but Pearson marks it for listening only.

### How long is the PTE speaking section?

There is no separate speaking section. All six sit in Part 1, Speaking & Writing, which Pearson gives 76 to 84 minutes. That part also holds Summarize Written Text and Write Essay.

### What lowers a PTE Speaking score the most?

A zero for content, which stops the rest of the scoring on that item. Memorized material, describing a different image, or silence in the first three seconds all produce it.

### Does my accent matter for pronunciation?

Pronunciation is scored on whether a speaker of English would recognize every word, not on sounding like a particular accent. Pace and word stress move the score; an accent on its own does not.

**Sources**
- [Pearson: PTE Academic Speaking & Writing task types (checked 28 September 2026)](https://www.pearsonpte.com/pte-academic/test-format/speaking-writing)
- [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)