Circle the topic
Circle the topic in the essay question. Then underline the part of the topic you must write about — e.g. 'taking part in sport as an adult', and 'important for health and happiness'.
Made Easy
Write Essay
Write Essay (WE) is a Writing task that tests your ability to plan, structure and write a 200–300 word argumentative essay in 20 minutes. On this page: an overview, top strategies for the 20-minute window, the exam interface, sample prompts, common mistakes, the official PETA worksheet, and a full writing simulator.
Chapter
Overview
Length of prompt:
2–3 sentences
Plan, write & revise time:
20 minutes
Word range:
200–300 words
Number of these tasks:
1–2
Write Essay tests your ability to write a clear, argumentative essay on a familiar topic — developing a position, supporting it with reasons or examples, and controlling standard written English.
- You will see instructions, an essay prompt and a single text box for your essay.
- You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise your essay.
- Use the on-screen Cut / Copy / Paste buttons to rearrange paragraphs as you write.
- This task tests your writing only — there is no audio and no reading passage.
Scored by AI + Human expert review
How Write Essay contributes to your score
Task
Write Essay
AI
scoring
scoring
Human
review
review
0%
Writing
0%
Overall
Your writing → analysed by AI + human expert → contributes 56% to Writing and 12% to Overall.
Watch — Write Essay walkthrough
Official PTE School walkthrough — how to answer Write Essay.
How the test screen works
The screen below is annotated with green markers (1–5). Each marker is explained on hover — they cover the timer, instructions, the essay prompt, the response box with Cut/Copy/Paste + word counter, and the Next button.
SimulatorReady
PPTE Academic - Candidate Name
Time Remaining 20:00 1 of 1
1Timer counts down from 20 minutes — total time for this Write Essay task.You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise an essay about the topic below. Your response will be judged on how well you develop a position, organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of standard written English. You should write 200–300 words.2Read the instructions carefully — you must write 200–300 words in formal academic English.
Tobacco, mainly in the form of cigarettes, is one of the most widely-used drugs in the world. Over a billion adults legally smoke tobacco every day. The long term health costs are high - for smokers themselves, and for the wider community in terms of health care costs and lost productivity.
Do governments have a legitimate role to legislate to protect citizens from the harmful effects of their own decisions to smoke, or are such decisions up to the individual?
CopyCutPaste
Total Word Count: 04Type your essay here. Use Cut / Copy / Paste to reorganise paragraphs. Word counter must end inside 200–300.
5Click 'Next' once you're satisfied — otherwise the test moves on automatically when the timer runs out.
Hover the green markers to see what each part of the screen does.
What this task tests
Skill assessed
Writing
Score weight
up to31points
The AI scorer checks
Criterion
Writing under timed conditions.
Criterion
Writing within a fixed word range (200–300 words).
Criterion
Developing a clear position with supporting reasons and examples.
Criterion
Organising ideas into introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.
Vocabulary
Using a range of academic vocabulary and accurate grammar.
Criterion
Controlling spelling, punctuation and capitalisation.
Chapter
Top Strategies for Success in Write Essay
Approach essay writing by following these three steps. Internalise them so they happen automatically on test day.
Identify the instruction
Find the instruction that tells you exactly what to do — e.g. agree or disagree with a statement; argue for or against an opinion; discuss advantages and disadvantages; problems or solutions. 'To what extent do you agree?' = give reasons and/or examples to support your ideas.
Plan the essay
Plan a logical structure: short introduction (general statement + your position) → 2–3 body paragraphs (one main argument each, with support) → short conclusion that restates your main argument.
Practice Tips
Follow To Succeed- 1
Spend some time brainstorming ideas for essay topics. You usually have to give reasons for and against an idea — practise thinking of arguments (reasons in favour of an opinion), counter-arguments (reasons against that opinion) and rebuttals (reasons why even the counter-arguments could be wrong).
- 2
Try writing main paragraphs first, then the introduction and conclusion last. Many people find this helpful. Practise different approaches and see which ones work for you.
- 3
Practise checking and editing your writing, especially for grammar, vocabulary and punctuation mistakes. Get used to identifying your own weak areas and common mistakes — there's no spell-check function in the test.
- 4
Time yourself writing and completing essay tasks in 20 minutes with a maximum of 300 words. Work out how much time you should allocate to planning, writing and checking. Also practise typing an essay quickly.
Quick tips — Do this, not that
- Tip 01
You write a clear introduction, 2–3 body paragraphs and a conclusion.
You don't write one long block of text without paragraphs.
- Tip 02
You stay on the topic from start to finish.
You don't drift onto a related but different topic (e.g. schoolchildren when the question is about adults).
- Tip 03
You support every main point with a reason or example.
You don't make claims with no support.
- Tip 04
You write 200–300 words.
You don't write fewer than 200 or more than 300 — both lower your score.
- Tip 05
You use linking words and a range of sentence structures.
You don't use bullet points or memorised templates.
- Tip 06
You spend the last 2–3 minutes proofreading.
You don't keep writing right up to 00:00 with no time to check.
Common Mistakes in Write Essay
Watch the most frequent mistakes test takers make in Write Essay — and how to avoid each one.
Points To Remember
Write Essay- 1
Read the brief
Identify the topic AND the instruction (agree/disagree, discuss, argue, problems/solutions) before you plan.
- 2
Use your 20 minutes
Plan ~3 min · write ~13 min · revise ~3 min. Don't keep writing until 00:00.
- 3
Stay inside 200–300 words
Word range is strict. One sentence per idea, paragraphs separated, only one topic.
Quick Tips for a Better Score
Start by analyzing the task
Before you write anything, note key words in the prompt. Find out the topic, what key points you should focus on to answer the question, and any points of view to present and discuss:
Analyze the essay prompt so you know how to answer
Essay prompts can be written in a number of ways. For example, you may need to discuss whether you agree or disagree with a statement:
You may have to consider how different groups of people might feel about a particular situation:
How this question is scored
Your Write Essay score combines seven traits: Content, Form, Development/Structure/Coherence, Grammar, Linguistic Range, Vocabulary and Spelling. Open the cards below to see what raises and lowers your score, with the full official band descriptors.
Content is the heaviest single trait in Write Essay (max 6) and the only Content-bearing trait in Summarize Written Text (max 3). Examiners check that you covered the question, supported your view, and used your own words.
What raises your score
- Restate the prompt in your own words (don’t copy).
- Take a clear position in the introduction and stick to it.
- Each body paragraph: claim → reason → specific example → mini-conclusion.
- Conclude by restating your position + one forward-looking sentence.
What lowers it
- Copying chunks of the prompt instead of paraphrasing.
- Two body paragraphs that argue opposite positions without connecting them.
- Generic examples (“many studies show…”) with no specifics.
Click a band to exploreMax 6
6Essay only
- Fully addresses the prompt in depth; argument convincingly supported with subsidiary points and relevant examples.
Coach tip · Plan 2 minutes before you type — a structured essay always beats a long unstructured one.
- ◾Form is all-or-nothing — a response outside 200–300 words scores 0 on Form (and 0 on Content).
- ◾This question type contributes only to your Writing score.
Chapter
Practice now with your trainer
Practice essay — Tobacco & smoking
Practise on the same prompt used in the worked example. Real exam timing — 20 minutes to plan, write and revise (200–300 words). Compare your answer with the model below.
SimulatorReady
PPTE Academic - Candidate Name
Time Remaining 20:00 1 of 1
You will have 20 minutes to plan, write and revise an essay about the topic below. Your response will be judged on how well you develop a position, organize your ideas, present supporting details, and control the elements of standard written English. You should write 200–300 words.
Tobacco, mainly in the form of cigarettes, is one of the most widely-used drugs in the world. Over a billion adults legally smoke tobacco every day. The long term health costs are high - for smokers themselves, and for the wider community in terms of health care costs and lost productivity.
Do governments have a legitimate role to legislate to protect citizens from the harmful effects of their own decisions to smoke, or are such decisions up to the individual?
CopyCutPaste
Total Word Count: 0Model essay — Tobacco & smoking (click to reveal)Click to revealHide
Model essay — Tobacco & smoking (click to reveal)Click to revealHide
Tobacco use remains one of the most pressing public-health issues of our time. Although adults have the right to make their own lifestyle choices, governments also have a clear responsibility to protect their citizens, and in my view this responsibility justifies sensible legislation around smoking.
The main argument for government action is the cost smoking imposes on the wider community. Treating smoking-related illnesses places enormous strain on public health budgets, and lost productivity through illness and premature death affects every taxpayer. Because these costs are shared, the choice to smoke is never purely personal. Restricting advertising, increasing taxes on tobacco and banning smoking in public spaces have all been shown to reduce uptake, particularly among young people.
It is true that adults should generally be free to make their own decisions, even unhealthy ones. However, nicotine is highly addictive, and most smokers begin in their teenage years before they can give true informed consent. Legislation that delays first use therefore protects future adults from a decision they may later regret.
In conclusion, while individual freedom matters, governments are right to legislate against the most harmful aspects of tobacco use. The combined health, economic and social costs are simply too great to leave entirely to individual choice.
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Chapter
Write Essay Task Worksheet
Practise the building blocks of a great essay
Work through the short exercises below — they target the essential essay-writing sub-skills: knowing the rules of the task, choosing the right paragraph topics, generating ideas with prompts like because / therefore / for example, using verbs of result (enable, prevent), considering opposing viewpoints with concession sentences, and finally writing your own response. Type your answers, then click Answer to check.
Adapted from The Official Guide to PTE Academic, 3rd edition · Pearson Education. Click each step to expand, answer, then reveal the model answer.
1Yes/No — what the Write Essay task is (and isn't)
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Yes/No — what the Write Essay task is (and isn't)
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Answer Yes or No for each question about the Write Essay task. Type Y or N for each.
1. Twenty minutes isn't very long, so is it a good idea to start writing the introduction immediately?
2. Will I get a lower score if I write fewer than 200 words?
3. Will the opinions I give affect my score?
4. Must I write in paragraphs?
5. Can I use bullet points?
6. Is it important to use punctuation correctly?
7. Can I use US spellings?
8. Someone told me I should memorise lots of essays so that I have one ready for whatever topic I am given. Is this a good idea?
2Match the reasons (a–h) with the questions (1–8)
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Match the reasons (a–h) with the questions (1–8)
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Match each Yes/No question from Exercise 1 with the reason that explains it.
1.1 — Should I start writing the introduction immediately?
2.2 — Will I lose marks if I write fewer than 200 words?
3.3 — Will my opinions affect my score?
4.4 — Must I write in paragraphs?
5.5 — Can I use bullet points?
6.6 — Is correct punctuation important?
7.7 — Can I use US spellings?
8.8 — Should I memorise essays in advance?
Options
- a.a) Yes — but be consistent: choose British or American English and stick to it.
- b.b) No — the question won't match what you memorised; you must plan every time.
- c.c) No — you can't write a good essay without planning first; planning saves time later.
- d.d) Yes — the essay must be between 200 and 300 words.
- e.e) Yes — paragraphs are an essential part of organising an academic essay.
- f.f) No — opinions just need clear reasons; there is no right or wrong opinion.
- g.g) Yes — you must follow the usual rules of punctuation and capitalisation.
- h.h) No — bullet points don't belong in an academic essay and don't show how ideas connect.
3Choose the best two body-paragraph topics
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Choose the best two body-paragraph topics
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Read the essay question:<br/><em>'Taking part in sport as an adult is important for health and happiness.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Provide reasons and/or examples to support your ideas.</em><br/><br/>An essay of this length needs only two or three main paragraphs plus an introduction and a conclusion. Tick the BEST option for the two body paragraphs.
Tick 1 · Selected 0/1
4Generate ideas with because / therefore / for example
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Generate ideas with because / therefore / for example
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Complete each sentence to generate one idea you could use in the essay.
1. Taking part in sport is important for health because …
2. Joining a sports club is a good way of meeting regularly with friends and therefore …
3. People often find taking part in sport more motivating than exercising alone. This is because … For example …
5Use verbs of result (enable, prevent) to find more ideas
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Use verbs of result (enable, prevent) to find more ideas
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Phrases with verbs that refer to results — like <em>enable</em> and <em>prevent</em> — can help you think of ideas. Complete each sentence with two ideas.
1. Taking part in sport enables you to …
2. Taking part in sport prevents you from …
6Consider opposing viewpoints — make notes
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Consider opposing viewpoints — make notes
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Even if the statement in the essay title is generally true, it can be useful to consider opposing viewpoints. Complete the notes about why sport could be 'bad' or cause negative emotions.
1. Bad for health — Can cause injuries (what type? from what sport? specific person?) …
2. Possible negative emotions — Anger (why?) …
3. Possible negative emotions — Stress (why?) …
7Concession sentences — analyse the examples
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Concession sentences — analyse the examples
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If you don't want to write a whole paragraph on the opposing view, use a <strong>concession</strong> — admit it may have some truth, then contrast it with your main opinion. Read the examples and answer.<br/><br/><em>1. Although competitive sports can sometimes cause stress or anxiety, most people enjoy the challenge.</em><br/><em>2. It is true that focusing on the competitive nature of some sports can make some people angry instead of happy, but most people do not react like this.</em>
1. 1a — What linking word is used to introduce the concession?
2. 1b — What punctuation mark separates the concession from the main opinion?
3. 2a — What phrase is used to introduce the concession?
4. 2b — What linking word is used to introduce the main opinion?
8Write your own concession sentences
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Write your own concession sentences
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Use your ideas from the previous exercise (injuries, anger, stress) to write two concession sentences. Use <em>Although</em> for one and <em>It is true that … but</em> for the other.
1. Concession sentence 1 — using 'Although …'
2. Concession sentence 2 — using 'It is true that … but …'
9Build a two-sentence conclusion
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Build a two-sentence conclusion
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Your conclusion needs to restate your opinion and the most important reason. You can also include a concession sentence. Put the words in the correct order to make a two-sentence conclusion.
1. 1 — taking part in sport / to maintain health and happiness / all in all / helps most adults
2. 2 — but it is certainly one of the most obvious / the only means of achieving this, / ways to promote physical and mental health / it is true that sport is not
10Choose the best introduction
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Choose the best introduction
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Read three example introductions for the sport essay. Tick the one you think is best.
Tick 1 · Selected 0/1
11Write your own essay — Sport for health and happiness
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Write your own essay — Sport for health and happiness
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Now put it all together. Write your OWN response (200–300 words) to the essay question:<br/><em>'Taking part in sport as an adult is important for health and happiness.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Provide reasons and/or examples to support your ideas.</em><br/><br/>Then read it through twice — first sentence by sentence to check completeness, then for typos, spelling and small grammar errors.