Summarize Group Discussion

Summarize Group Discussion

Reading Time: 16 minutes

Part 1: Speaking

SUMMARIZE GROUP DISCUSSION

Made Easy

  • Length of audio: 2.30 – 3 minutes
  • Preparation time: 10 seconds
  • Time to summarise: 2 minutes
  • Type of recording: a conversation between 3 people
  • Number of these tasks: 2 - 3

Summarize Group Discussion tasks test your ability to retell the
important main points and some supporting details in your own
words.

  • You will see instructions, an audio status box and a recording status box.
  • You will hear a conversation between three people.
  • You will have ten seconds to prepare before you have to start giving your summary.
  • This task tests your Listening and Speaking skills.
  • The timer shows the time left for all tasks in this part of the test.
  • Read the task instructions.
  • The audio status box counts down from three seconds to zero. Then the recording starts to play.
  • The recording status box changes to ‘Recording’. Start speaking when the bar begins moving. When the bar reaches the end, the microphone switches off and the recording status box changes to ‘Completed’.
  • Click ‘Next’ to go to the next task as soon as you’ve finished speaking.
Summarize Group Discussion UI with pointers - PTE School
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You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

Summarize Group Discussion - UI- PTE School 2025
Next

Summarize Group Discussion Tests Two Skills

  • Speaking
    up to 19 points
  • Organising opinions or points with details, examples and explanations under timed conditions
  • Using appropriate words, phrases and grammar
  • Speaking fluently at a natural speed with clear pronunciation and intonation
  • Listening
    up to 21 points
  • Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas
  • Identifying the topic, theme or main ideas
  • Identifying the speaker’s purpose, style, tone or attitude
  • Inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words
  • Comprehending explicit and implicit information

Top Strategies for Success in Summarize Group Discussion

  • Before The Test

A good summary: It’s important to know what a good summary looks like.

It starts with an introductory sentence, saying who is talking and about what

It’s clearly and logically structured.

It includes information from all speakers.

It clearly shows how the ideas are related to each other.

It uses a variety of reporting verbs.

It paraphrases what the speakers said.

It has accurate pronunciation, intonation, rhythm and stress.

  • Practice Tips
    Follow To Succeed

Find online recordings in which there are three speakers. Try to find conversations in which people discuss a topic connected with university life. If you are not able to find one, you can practise the skills needed for this task using audios or videos on other topics. Choose an excerpt that is between two- and-a-half and three minutes long. Listen to the recordings and do the following:
• Identify the main points from the talk.
• Identify the relationships between what the speakers say, e.g. do they agree or disagree?
• Identify speakers’ attitudes. Are they enthusiastic, not convinced, sad, supportive, etc.?
• Identify supporting details or examples.

To summarise a discussion well, you need to take good notes. Work on developing your note-taking technique for this task. Focus on the following:
• Structure your notes in a way that will help you know which speaker said what, e.g. group your notes under S1, S2, S3.
• Note down the main topics, students’ attitudes, some supporting details or examples and connections between the points.
• Find a way to note down connections between what speakers say, e.g. arrows to link the same point mentioned by two different speakers.
• Work on your own style of abbreviations to help you quickly take notes.

Record yourself. Set a two-minute timer and use your notes to record your answer. Listen afterwards to check the organisation of your summary, your pronunciation, intonation and rhythm, and general fluency. Check that you

  • Language focus

Learn a variety of reporting verbs and expressions for describing people’s attitudes. These will help you to paraphrase and summarise what the speakers said.

  • Make a list of reporting verbs grouped by the attitude they express.
  • Learn and practise the grammar patterns used in reported speech and with reporting verbs.
  • Learn expressions for comparing and contrasting, as well as linking expressions, to help you organise your summary.
  • During The Test

WHILE LISTENING

Take notes using the technique you practised before the test (mentioned earlier). Use the erasable whiteboard and pen.
• Listen for the main points and supporting details or examples.
• Note down the topic of the conversation and which speaker says what.
• Use abbreviations, symbols and arrows to help you remember and note down the points discussed and connections between them.

BEFORE SUMMARIZING THE GROUP DISCUSSION

Quickly review your notes when the recording stops and plan your summary. You have ten seconds to do this. Think about a logical structure, such as:
• An introduction.
• The order in which you’ll cover the main points.
• Note any connections between the points. Use arrows on your notes to connect the points.

When the count-down is nearly at zero, take a deep breath so that you’re ready to start speaking.

WHILE SUMMARIZING THE GROUP DISCUSSION

Use your notes to give your summary.
• Start by saying who is talking and about what.
• Include information from all speakers.
• Use a variety of reporting verbs to say what each speaker said.
• Describe the connections between the points made and speakers’ attitudes, e.g. Two speakers were worried about …, In the end they all agreed …
• Speak clearly at a natural pace.
• Pay attention to time and make sure you speak up to two minutes.

Remember, What To Do What Not To Do In Summarize Group Discussion

  • You use your own note-taking technique that helps you structure your answer.
  • Don’t write down every word. You may miss important information if you focus more on writing than listening.
  • You start speaking as soon as you hear the beep.
  • Don’t make long pauses.
  • You only include information from the audio.
  • Don’t add in your summary anything that was not mentioned in the group discussion
  • You continue speaking even if you make a mistake.
  • Don’t start again if you make a mistake.
  • You use your own words to summarize the discussion.
  • Don’t repeat word for word sentences from the discussion.
  • You ignore others in the room.
  • Don’t let other people speaking distract you.
  • You use natural pronunciation.
  • Don’t exaggerate your pronunciation or intonation.

Practice Now With Your Trainer

Practise Sumnmarize Group Discussion 2 here, if you want to try Summarize Group Discussion without a time limit. Think about the strategies mentioned above. Then follow the task instructions and record your response on your mobile phone or other device.

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You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

Summarize Group Discussion - UI- PTE School 2025
Next

Reflecting on your practice

1. Play back and listen to your response. Use the checklist below to decide what you did well and what you need to practise more. Set aside time to work on each area that you want to improve.

  • I listened carefully and identified key points.
  • I took notes using the note-taking technique I’d practised before the test.
  • I planned my summary before I started speaking.
  • I followed my plan in my summary.
  • I started with a sentence giving context of the conversation.
  • I gave the important details.
  • I included information from all speakers.
  • I used a variety of reporting verbs.
  • I used appropriate intonation, rhythm and stress.
  • I didn’t pause too much or for too lon

2. Listen to a model answer for this task. Compare it to your own response. What are the differences? Are you happy with your response? What could you improve?

Common Mistakes Problems Errors In Summarize Group Discussion

Points To Remember Speaking Tasks

Some speaking tasks focus only on speaking while others assess integrated skills. So, depending on the task you may only need to speak, or listen and then speak, or even take notes while you are listening to help you speak afterwards. It is important to practise different ways of doing each task type to find an approach you are comfortable with.

Don’t click ‘Next’ too soon. Only move on to the next task when you are sure you are finished with the current one. You can’t go back to these tasks to try again.

More Questions on Summarize Group Discussion

1. You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

2. You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

3. You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

4. You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

Quick Tips Strategies For Better Score!

For this question type, you need to summarize what you heard.

The audio begins to play automatically. After the audio finishes, you have 10 seconds to prepare and two minutes to speak.

The recording status box displays a countdown until the microphone opens. You hear a short tone. After the tone, start speaking immediately. Do not start speaking before the microphone opens because your voice will not be recorded.

👉 You should speak clearly. There is no need to rush.

👉 Finish speaking before the progress bar reaches the end. The word “Recording” changes to “Completed’’.

👉 You are only able to record your response once.

Note: While the audio is playing, you can take notes on the erasable whiteboard provided.

You only have 2 minutes to speak, so make sure that you include all the main points of the discussion. If you repeat ideas, correct yourself or hesitate, you will use up valuable time and lose score points. So keep talking and ignore any mistakes that you make.

Your response is judged based on your ability to give a presentation on information from a discussion on some aspect of daily life in a higher education setting. Your score is based on three factors:

Content: Does your response accurately and thoroughly retell the information in the discussion?

Content is scored based on how you paraphrase the discussion and expand on each speaker's contribution, how you explore relationships between speakers, how you use a variety of expressions and how you connect your ideas together. The best responses start with a summary of the main topic and then introduce subtopics with supporting details including which speaker said which piece of information. Just retelling the group discussion, without paraphrasing, will negatively impact your score.

Pronunciation: Does your response demonstrate your ability to produce speech sounds in a similar way to most regular speakers of the language?

Pronunciation is scored by determining if your speech is easilyunderstandable to most regular speakers of the language. The best responses contain vowels and consonants pronounced in a native-like way, and stress words and phrases correctly. Responses should also be immediately understandable to a regular speaker of the language.

PTE Academic recognizes regional and national varieties of English pronunciation to the degree that they are understandable to most regular speakers of the language.

Oral Fluency: Does your response demonstrate a smooth, effortless and natural rate of speech?

Oral Fluency is scored by determining if your rhythm, phrasing and stress are smooth. The best responses are spoken at a constant and natural rate of speech with appropriate phrasing. Hesitations, repetitions and false starts will negatively affect your score.

Notes
• This question type uses partial credit scoring. No credit is given for no response, an irrelevant response or an unoriginal response. You must use your own words.

• The task assesses Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation and Oral Fluency. Your Reading skills are only used to understand the instructions. Your Writing skills are not assessed.

• Content, Pronunciation and Oral Fluency are all A1-scored traits. A human expert will also review Content before your final score for the task is confirmed.

Sample Answers & Feedback

  • PTE Academic - Candidate Name
  • Time Remaining 00:08:41
  • 23 of 31 (9123.3)

You will hear three people having a discussion. When you hear the beep, summarize the whole discussion. You will have 10 seconds to prepare and 2 minutes to give your response.

Summarize Group Discussion - UI- PTE School 2025
Next

Sample Answer: 1 C-1 Level

Three students are discussing whether to live on campus next year. The female speaker mentions that the accommodation office needs to know
their decision. The first male speaker has already decided to stay on campus, enjoying his current living situation with his roommate Jake, appreciating their compatibility and the social atmosphere. The female speaker also plans to stay, citing the convenience of campus life, despite the food not being great. She values the proximity to amenities and classes, though she admits to sometimes being late.

The second male speaker, on the other hand, is considering moving off-campus. While he acknowledges the convenience of campus living, he
feels it’s time to experience more independence and meet new people. The first male speaker counters that the social aspect of campus life is appealing, with plenty of activities and people around, though he agrees with the female speaker that the food can be monotonous. However, he would miss the friends he has made if he moved away.

Another argument for leaving the campus that the second male speaker expresses is a desire for privacy and the opportunity to gain life skills, like managing money.

The female student feels that there’s no rush to leave campus, as this stage of life, with minimal responsibilities, is unique and fleeting. She prefers to enjoy the convenience and social aspects of campus living before transitioning to the next stage of life.

Feedback:

This is an excellent answer for content. It clearly introduces the topic of the discussion and then follows on to introduce subtopics and supporting ideas. The answer accurately includes which speaker mentioned which points and the summary is connected very well with appropriate linking words.

The test taker is able to summarize the discussion in his own words by paraphrasing and using synonyms. The vocabulary and grammar are varied and appropriate. There are no grammatical or lexical errors
and the response shows advanced fluency as well as excellent pronunciation. The response is within the time limit.

Sample Answer: 2 B-2 Level

Three students are discussing their plans for living on campus next year.

The girl starts the conversation by saying that the accommodation office needs to know who will be returning to campus housing and asks the others about their decisions. She is happy with her current living situation and plans to stay. She finds the convenience of being close to the library, gym and classes appealing, despite occasionally being late. She mentions the food could be better, but considers it a minor issue compared to how easy it is living on campus. In her opinion, there’s no rush to leave. She enjoys the lack of responsibilities other than studying and prefers to wait until graduation to face the challenges of the real world.

The second speaker has also decided to stay in the campus and has put his name down along with his roommate, Jake. He enjoys living with Jake due to their compatibility in keeping things tidy and their good company. He appreciates the social atmosphere of campus life, where there is always someone around and something happening, although he sometimes prefers eating off-campus due to the repetitive food options.

The third speaker is the only one that expresses a wish to move off-campus. He feels that campus life is almost too easy and he’s ready to experience more independence and meet different people. He wants more privacy and to develop life skills such as managing his money. Although he appreciates the social opportunities and the good start campus living provided, he feels it’s time to move on.

Feedback:

The response summarises the important points from the discussion accurately. The test taker includes some main ideas and details regarding which speaker mentioned which piece of information. The test taker is able to summarize the discussion in her own words by paraphrasing and using synonyms.

The vocabulary is relevant and appropriate. There are no grammar or vocabulary errors, which means the points that the test taker mentions are all clear. The response shows advanced fluency and very good pronunciation: rhythm, phrasing (grouping words in meaningful units) and stress are appropriate. All words are easily understandable, though ‘leave’ is pronounced more like ‘live’ in one instance. The response is 116 seconds long.

Sample Answer: 3 A-2 Level

Three students are talking about whether to live on campus next year. The girl says they need to decide soon. The second student has decided to stay because he likes living with his roommate Jake and enjoys the social atmosphere. The girl also wants to stay, even though the food isn’t great.

The third student is thinking about moving off-campus. He feels it’s time to gain more independence and meet new people. He mentions wanting more privacy and the chance to learn life skills like managing money. The second boy likes the social life on campus and the ease of meeting people, though he admits the food can get boring.

The girl says there’s no rush to leave campus. She wants to enjoy this time with few responsibilities before life changes in a few years.

Feedback:

This is a short response which mentions many important points but also misses many details. Few linking expressions are used to connect the ideas or show relationships between what was said. The response consists of simple sentences, which shows that the test taker’s grammar and vocabulary knowledge is still limited.

The test taker’s speech is uneven, with two hesitations and one long pause. Although some words are mispronounced, the speech is clear enough to understand. She did not make use of the full speaking time available.

Summarize Group Discussion Task Worksheet

In this worksheet, you are going to learn how to get ready for the Summarize Group Discussion
task. You will look at how to approach the task by practising note-taking, listening for main points and constructing a good summary.

1. Make sure you are familiar with the opening screen and how the Summarize Group Discussion task is set up. Look at the picture and choose the correct options.

1. You will see the instructions at the top / bottom of the screen.
2. The audio status box counts down three / five seconds to the speakers’ conversation.
3. The conversation you will hear is always between two / three people.
4. Their conversation can be up to three / four minutes long.
5. After the conversation, you will have 10 / 20 seconds to prepare.
6. The bar on the audio / recording status box starts moving and you will hear a beep before the microphone opens.
7. You will have two / three minutes to record your summary.
8. Only listening / Both listening and speaking skills are tested in this task.

Summarize Group Discussion UI with pointers - PTE School

2.1 Taking good notes is very important while youare listening to the group discussion. There are many different ways of taking notes – here arejust two methods. Label them with the correct description.

2.2 Read about two different students, Berta and Omar. Which method of note-taking from Exercise 2.1 would be best for each one?

Remember, there isn’t a right or wrong way of taking notes as long as you reflect the most important points. Make sure you can quickly read and easily understand your notes. This will help you to summarize them later.

2.3 Write Do or Don’t to complete the advice for good note-taking skills.

1. ____________ choose a method that works for you.
2. ____________ correct any spelling mistakes in your notes.
3. ____________ include symbols to save time.
4. ____________leave space between sections.
5. ____________ try to write every word the speaker says.
6. ____________underline key words and phrases.
7. ____________ use abbreviations and contractions.
8. ____________ write complex sentences.

There are always three speakers in the group discussion. You won’t have to remember any names, but you’ll need to decide how you want to refer to them. For example, if the first speaker is male and the next two speakers are female, you could call them M1, F1, F2 in your notes. If you aren’t sure of gender it’s fine to just write S1 for Speaker 1, S2 for Speaker 2, and S3 for Speaker 3.

4. Put the parts of your response, a–d, in the correct order to give it a structure.

a. The first main point _____________________________________________________
b. An introductory sentence _____________________________________________________
c. A conclusion _____________________________________________________
d. The second main point _____________________________________________________

When you re-tell the lecture, try to link your points so that the structure is clear.

5.1. Listen to a lecture and read the transcript of its re-telling. Choose the correct linking words and phrases.

The speaker was talking about the impact of women’s participation on a country’s development. ¹ Even though / Even so, women’s participation could be greater, progress has been made everywhere. ² It is clear that / Fortunately, women being independent and having skills leads to better resources and conditions and more opportunities for girls to access education. ³ The conclusion is that / Finally, this will have great implications for the women of the future.

5.2. Look again at the parts of a response in Exercise 4. Match a–d in Exercise 4 with the correct sentence in the transcript in Exercise 5.1.

6. In the Re-tell lecture task, you are scored on content, fluency and pronunciation. Read the checklist and write C (content), F (fluency) or P (pronunciation).

1. Rhythm
2. Description of developments
3. Use of standard English sounds
4. Hesitation
5. Pace of speech
6. Ease of understanding each word
7. Appropriate words and phrases

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

7.1. Look at the photo. What do you think the lecture will be about?

Retell-Lecture-Worksheet-Task-5.png

7.2. Practise describing the image, focusing on intonation. Record yourself and check that your intonation sounds natural. Remember that you have only forty seconds to deliver your response.

7.3. Listen to a test taker re-tell the lecture. Review their performance by answering the questions.

1. What main points did the test taker cover?
2. Did the test taker miss out any major points?
3. Did the test taker cover everything you noted when you listened to the lecture?
4. Did the test taker repeat any information?
5. Were there any hesitations or false starts? What effect did these have?
6. Was the test taker easy to understand and follow?
7. Did the test taker make any grammar or vocabulary mistakes?
8. How could this re-telling be improved?

7.4.Read the transcript of the test taker’s response and check your answers.

Uh. In this picture it is a rocket. Uh. And it is, um, it is a rocket which can have for space station which is built by Russian thirty years ago. And what is, uh, what is drawing our attention is the back field. Uh, half ago, uh, half a century ago, the Russian has have the, uh, technology to, uh, support a rocket.

8. Re-tell the lecture. Use your notes from Exercise 7.2. Remember to time yourself because you have only forty seconds to deliver your response. Use the checklist to compare your response with the test taker you listened to. Tick (✅) the statements that are true for you.

  • I spoke clearly.
  • I included all the main points.
  • I had a clear structure.
  • I used appropriate linking words.
  • I spoke without much hesitation.
  • I spoke without repetition.