PTE Academic · Guides · October 24, 2026 · 7 min read

PTE Summarize Group Discussion: tips, time, template and sample answer (2026)

Summarize Group Discussion is a PTE Academic speaking task in which you listen to three people discuss a topic for up to about 3 minutes, get about 10 seconds to prepare, and then have about 2 minutes to summarize what was said: the topic, each speaker’s view and reason, where they agreed or disagreed, and what they decided. It was added to the test on 7 August 2025, together with Respond to a Situation. It is the longest answer you speak in PTE, so good notes and a clear order matter more than fancy vocabulary.

What the task looks like

You can take notes on the erasable notepad while you listen. After the preparation time a tone sounds and the microphone opens. As in every PTE speaking task, 3 seconds of silence stops the recording, which is a real risk in a two-minute answer if you stop to look for your next point.

How it is scored

The answer is scored on three traits:

• Content. How much of the discussion you report accurately: the topic, who said what and why, the points of agreement and disagreement, the outcome.
• Oral fluency. A steady, natural flow for the whole answer, without long pauses or restarts.
• Pronunciation. Clear, understandable speech.

Prep sites disagree on the exact trait scales, so we do not quote numbers. Since 2025 Pearson says some answers are also reviewed by human experts; a generic frame with a few names dropped in does not show that you followed the discussion. The PTE score chart explains how task scores feed the overall result.

A worked example

Here is a practice task from Nomto, “Choosing a place for the class trip”. Three students, Mia, Tom and Arjun, discuss where the class should go next month. In short:

• Mia wants the national park: the class is always indoors, and the park is free.
• Tom prefers the city museum, because May is often rainy; he agrees cost matters, since not everyone has a job.
• Arjun suggests the science centre: many students saw the museum last year, and it has hands-on team activities. When Mia worries about price, he says student groups pay only eight dollars on weekdays, and there is a café and a picnic area.
• Outcome: the science centre on a weekday in May, a park picnic in June. Tom will write to the teacher; Arjun will ask the class about a date.

Notes taken during the recording might look like this:

A model answer from our bank (about 150 words, comfortable in 2 minutes):

Three students, Mia, Tom and Arjun, discussed where to go on their class trip next month. Mia wanted to visit the national park, because the class spends every day indoors and the park is free. Tom was worried that it often rains in May, so he preferred the city museum, which is indoors. Arjun pointed out that many students had already visited the museum, and he suggested the science centre, where they could do hands-on activities and practise English in teams. Mia thought it would be too expensive, but Arjun explained that student groups pay only eight dollars on weekdays, and there is a café and a picnic area. In the end, they agreed to visit the science centre in May and to have a picnic in the park in June, when the weather is warmer. Tom will contact the teacher, and Arjun will ask the class about a date.

What makes it strong: it opens with the topic and the people, gives each person a position and a reason, shows how the discussion moved (the price fact changes Mia’s mind), and ends with the decision and who does what. It uses reporting verbs (“pointed out”, “explained”, “was worried”) instead of repeating “said”.

How to take notes

You will not write down everything, and you do not need to. Split your notepad into three columns, one per speaker, as soon as the recording starts. For each speaker write:

• the position in two or three words;
• the reason in one key word or number;
• an arrow if they change their mind or agree with someone.

Leave a line at the bottom for the outcome, which usually comes in the last 20–30 seconds. Names help: if you catch them, use them; if not, “the first speaker”, “the second student” is fine.

Tips for Summarize Group Discussion

1. Start with the topic. One sentence that says who is talking and about what gives the answer a frame and buys you a moment to read your notes.
2. Go speaker by speaker, then the outcome. It is the easiest order to follow and the easiest to speak without losing your place.
3. Always pair a view with a reason. “Tom preferred the museum because of the rain” carries more content than “Tom preferred the museum”.
4. Report the disagreement and the turn. Where people disagreed, and what changed someone’s mind, is often the most important content.
5. Finish with what they decided. Many answers run out of time before the outcome. Plan to reach it by about 1 minute 40 seconds.
6. Use past tense and reporting verbs. Suggested, argued, agreed, pointed out, was concerned that.
7. Keep moving. If you forget a detail, skip to the next point. A 3-second pause ends the recording.
8. Do not aim for all 2 minutes at any cost. A clear 90–110 seconds is better than padding with repetition.

Common mistakes

• Reporting only the first speaker in detail. Then rushing the other two and missing the outcome.
• Listing points without saying who made them. The task is about a group; who thought what is part of the content.
• Opinions instead of a summary. Adding your own view of the topic is not what the task asks.
• Reading out notes word by word. Fragments like “park, free, outdoors” sound unfluent; turn them into sentences.
• Long silence while looking at notes. Glance, then speak; do not stop.

A word on templates

You will find long templates for this task with blanks for names and keywords. The problem is that the template takes up time and says nothing about the discussion, and with human review it is easy to spot. A minimal frame of two or three phrases is enough:

• “The discussion was about…, between [names].”
• “[Name] argued that… because…; however, [name] thought…”
• “In the end, they agreed / decided to…”

Fill the rest with what you heard.

Common questions

How much time do you get for Summarize Group Discussion? About 10 seconds to prepare and about 2 minutes to speak, after a recording of up to about 3 minutes.

Is Summarize Group Discussion new? Yes, it was added on 7 August 2025. See the PTE exam pattern for the full current format.

Is there a template for Summarize Group Discussion? Use two or three linking phrases, not a script. Content marks come from the speakers’ views, reasons and the outcome.

How is it different from Re-tell Lecture? A lecture has one speaker and one line of argument; a group discussion has three people, so you need to track who said what and where they agreed. See Re-tell Lecture.

Which skills does it count towards? Speaking and Listening.

Practise it in the Nomto trainer

The Summarize Group Discussion trainer plays three-speaker discussions with different voices and accents, in exam timing, with the tone and the microphone that closes after 3 seconds of silence. Your summary gets feedback on content, oral fluency and pronunciation, an approximate estimate on the 10–90 scale, and a model answer and key points to compare with your notes. For the whole speaking section under test conditions, use the mock tests.

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