The 5 most common PTE writing mistakes in grammar, spelling and form

The 5 most common writing problems

Each problem is listed only when at least 20 students had it; a share is shown only when at least 20 students also did not have it.

Grammar and spelling marks per answer

How this data was collected

• Sample: 59 students · 232 attempts · 10 October 2026 to 21 October 2026.
• Scored Summarize Written Text, Write Essay and Summarize Spoken Text answers.
• Problems come from the scoring notes on each answer; spelling and form are checked by code, grammar by the AI examiner.
• No student text is stored in or shown on this report.
• AI scores are RealPTE's practice estimates on Pearson's 10–90 scale, not official PTE scores; Pearson's own scoring can differ.
• Every figure on this page is based on at least 20 different students; smaller groups are not shown. Only totals are published, never a single student’s results.
• The report is about students’ practice and results. It does not show any test questions or question text.
• Recalculated every week from new practice; the update date above shows the latest run.

Questions students ask

What is the most common mistake in PTE writing?

In RealPTE practice: main points missed, seen in the answers of 52 students.

Which tasks are counted?

Summarize Written Text, Write Essay and Summarize Spoken Text answers that RealPTE scored.

How are grammar problems grouped?

Each grammar mark compares the student's words with the suggested fix; the change decides the group (articles, prepositions, verb form …). Marks that fit no group are “other grammar”.

Cite this data

RealPTE practice data, October 2026. “The 5 Most Common PTE Writing Mistakes: Grammar and Spelling (Practice Data)”. https://realpte.com/pte-data/pte-writing-errors

You are welcome to quote these figures with a link to this page.

More RealPTE practice data

• The 8 words PTE students misread most in Read Aloud and Repeat Sentence
• Which PTE task type is hardest: average AI score by task
• Where PTE students lose the most points, task by task
• PTE speaking fluency: how often students pause, task by task
• When PTE practice happens: busiest hours and days by country, in local time

All reports