Process for preparing polyarylene ether ketone

A process for preparing a polyarylene ether ketone, comprising: a) reacting an aromatic dihalogen compound with a bisphenol and/or a halophenol in the presence of alkali metal carbonate and/or alkaline earth metal carbonate in a high-boiling aprotic solvent to give a polyarylene ether ketone, b) wet-comminuting the solidified reaction mixture in the presence of water, c) washing with an organic solvent, d) washing with water and e) drying the washed product, wherein the wet-comminuted reaction mixture is fed to the two-stage washing with a residual moisture content of at least 1% by weight, which process leads to distinctly reduced residual contents of salts and reaction solvents.