PTE Academic · Speaking
PTE Respond to a Situation
Read a short situation, hear it once, then say what you would say.
A short everyday situation appears on screen and is read aloud once — a deadline you cannot meet, a problem with your flat, a meeting that clashes with something else. It tells you who you are talking to. After ten seconds to think, you speak to that person as you would in real life: get done what the situation needs, use its details, and sound right for the listener.
How the task works
Three moments, and the listener tells you the most
The recording of the situation plays once and your answer is recorded once. Everything you need is in the text on screen — especially the part that names the person you are speaking to.
Find the goal and the listener
Read along as you listen. Ask yourself two things: what do I need to get done, and who am I saying it to? A tutor or a manager needs a polite, formal answer; a flatmate or a friend needs a friendly one.
Pick the details you will use
Ten seconds is enough to choose two or three details from the situation — a reason, a date, something you have already tried, something you can offer. These turn a bare request into a real answer.
Speak
Greet the person, say what you need, explain it with the details you picked, and finish with a clear next step or a thank-you. Speak at an even pace rather than stopping early.
How Pearson scores it
Three things are marked, and Content comes first
Your answer is not simply right or wrong. The computer marks three things, and in the live test a person also reviews the Content mark.
Content
Whether you deal with the situation: how well you achieve its goal, how much of the context in the situation you take into account, and whether your language suits the situation. The top of the scale goes to an answer that is fully developed and persuasive and goes beyond the words of the prompt.
Oral Fluency
How smoothly you speak: an even speed, whole phrases, no long pauses and no "um". Stopping to search for the next idea shows up here.
Pronunciation
How easy you are to understand. You do not need a British or an American accent. You need sounds and word stress that a listener can follow without effort.
Content decides everything else. When Content scores 0, Pearson's score guide says the other traits are not scored and the whole item scores 0 — and memorised or pre-prepared material counts as irrelevant. A fluent answer that does not address the situation earns nothing.
What usually goes wrong
Where students lose marks
One line that does the job
"Can I have an extension, please?" achieves the goal, but the score guide puts a response that achieves the goal with no elaboration or support at the second-lowest band. Give the reason and use the details.
Reading the situation back
Repeating the situation's sentences without reformulating them is named at the lower Content bands. Say it as you would say it to the person: not "you have been ill for most of this week" but "I've been unwell for most of the week".
The wrong tone for the listener
"Hey, I need more time" to a tutor, or a formal letter read out to a flatmate. The situation names the listener — let it decide how you sound.
Forgetting what you actually need
A long explanation of the problem that never asks for anything leaves the goal unmet. Say clearly what you want the person to do.
A memorised template
A fixed opening that could fit any situation takes seconds you do not have and says nothing about this one, and memorised material counts as irrelevant. Start with this person and this problem.
A worked example
One situation, and what a good response covers
Here is a situation from our practice: “You have an essay due for your history course on Friday, but you have been ill for most of this week and have a note from the campus doctor. You have written about half of it. You decide to speak to your course tutor after today's seminar. What do you say to your tutor?” Decide what you would say in forty seconds, then compare with the list below.
What a good response covers
- Goal Ask for an extension The response asks the tutor, clearly and politely, for more time on the history essay that is due on Friday.
- Detail The illness You have been unwell for most of the week.
- Detail The doctor's note You can show a note from the campus doctor, which is your evidence.
- Detail Your progress About half of the essay is already written, which shows the request is not an excuse.
- Register Formal, for a tutor A polite, formal tone: a greeting, a request rather than a demand, and thanks at the end.
What a full response sounds like
Excuse me, do you have a minute? It's about the history essay that's due on Friday. I'm afraid I've been unwell for most of the week, and the campus doctor gave me a note to confirm it, which I can email to you today. So far I've finished roughly half the essay, but I don't think I can complete it to a good standard by Friday. Would it be possible to have a few extra days, perhaps until Tuesday? I'd be really grateful.
Strategy tip: Put the request in your first two sentences, then let the doctor's note carry it: official evidence is your strongest reason. A specific new date makes the request easy to say yes to.
Notice what that response does. It names the essay and the request in its first sentences, uses all three details — the illness, the doctor's note, the half-written essay — and sounds right for a tutor from greeting to thanks. It adds something of its own, a new date and an offer to email the note, and it never reads the situation back: the campus doctor "gave me a note", not "a note from the campus doctor".
Practising here
Feedback that shows how you handled the situation, not just a number
We mark what Pearson's rubric rewards — whether you achieved the goal, which details you used and whether your tone suited the listener — and show you each one.
The same clock as the exam
The situation is read aloud once, then ten seconds to prepare and a recording that runs for up to forty seconds.
Marked the way the exam marks it
You get a separate result for each thing we mark, not one number, so you can see which one is holding your score down.
How you handled the situation
After you speak, you see the goal marked as achieved, partly achieved or missed, each detail of the situation marked as covered or missed, and whether your tone suited the person you were talking to.
The off-topic rule, shown honestly
If an answer does not address the situation, it scores 0 and fluency is shown as not scored — as in the exam — rather than a fluency mark that would never count.
An example response for every situation
A full response written for that situation and fitted into forty seconds, so you can hear what using the details sounds like.
One tip you can use next time
A short piece of advice about how to approach the next situation — not your score again in different words.
Common questions
Respond to a Situation, answered
How long do I have to prepare and speak?
After the situation has been read aloud you have 10 seconds to prepare and up to 40 seconds to speak. The situation is played once, and here you can record your response only once.
Can I see the situation, or only hear it?
Both. The text is on screen while it is read aloud, so you can read along and look back at the details while you prepare.
Is a short answer enough if it does what the situation asks?
No. Pearson's score guide gives a response that achieves the goal with no elaboration or support one of the lowest Content bands. Use the details of the situation to explain and support what you say.
Does it matter who I am talking to?
Yes. Content includes whether your language suits the situation. The situation names the listener — a tutor or a manager expects a formal answer, a friend or a flatmate a friendly one.
What happens if my answer is off topic?
If Content scores 0, Pearson's score guide says the other traits are not scored and the item scores 0. Memorised or pre-prepared material counts as irrelevant.
How is Respond to a Situation scored?
By computer, on three things: Content, Oral Fluency and Pronunciation, and in the live test a person also reviews the Content mark. One situation is not pass or fail — you can earn part of the marks.
How do I practise Respond to a Situation here?
Sign in, open Respond to a Situation and record a real answer with the exam clock running. You see whether you achieved the goal, which details you used and missed, whether your tone suited the listener, an example response and one tip to use next time.
Try it with the real clock
Read one situation, hear it once, and record your answer. See whether you met the goal, which details you used, and take the tip into the next one.