Tally Stick Finance

Choose the summary that best matches.

Audio question

1. AThe lecturer describes how English treasury clerks recorded debts on notched wooden sticks that were split in two. Because the halves could not be matched reliably, forgery was common, and tallies were never accepted as a form of payment. The system was finally replaced in the twelfth century by written ledgers, which proved far more secure and lasted until the nineteenth century.
2. BMedieval tallies were paper receipts issued by the English treasury that were later copied onto hazel wood for storage. The debtor kept the longer half, called the stock, which could be sold on to others. When the system was abolished in 1826, the sticks were burned immediately, and the resulting fire destroyed the Palace of Westminster that same year.
3. CEnglish treasury tallies were notched hazel sticks recording debts, with notch width indicating the sum. Each stick was split so creditor and debtor held matching halves whose unique grain made forgery nearly impossible, and the creditor's half could be traded like money. Used from the twelfth century until 1826, the stored sticks were burned in 1834, accidentally destroying much of Westminster.
4. DTally sticks were used across medieval Europe mainly to teach arithmetic to clerks, who learned to carve notches representing different sums. The lecturer focuses on how the training system evolved, noting that hazel wood was preferred because it burned well, which is why the sticks were eventually used as fuel to heat the Palace of Westminster in 1834.

Highlight Correct Summary format (Pearson)

How it is scored

• Scored as either correct or incorrect.
• The recording plays only once.

Source: Pearson, PTE Academic & UKVI test format, Part 3: Listening, checked 9 October 2026.