PTE Respond to a Situation: Template and Sample Responses

Respond to a Situation asks you to speak as the person in the prompt. Do not summarise what happened. Identify who you are speaking to, what you need to achieve and how firm or polite the response should be.

Academic and Core timing

The task appears in both PTE Academic and PTE Core, but preparation time differs. Academic candidates have 10 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to speak. Core candidates have 20 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to speak. Both read and hear an everyday situation of up to 60 words. Pearson Academic format Pearson Core format

Extract four things

Write four cues:

role: student, customer, colleague or organiser
audience: friend, lecturer, manager or stranger
goal: request, refuse, explain, complain or resolve
must include: deadline, reason, proposed action and other prompt details

Then use a flexible sequence: appropriate opening, clear purpose, required details, practical close. The words must change with the situation.

Situation 1: speaking to a lecturer

Prompt: You are due to give a laboratory presentation tomorrow. Your assigned partner is ill and has sent you the data, but you cannot safely demonstrate the experiment alone. Explain the problem to your lecturer and request a suitable alternative.

Plan: student to lecturer; formal; explain illness and safety issue; request alternative.

Model response:

Excuse me, Dr Chen. My presentation partner is ill and cannot attend tomorrow. They have sent me all the data, so I can still explain our findings, but the experiment requires two people to demonstrate it safely. Could I present the results tomorrow and arrange the practical demonstration for another session, or use a recorded demonstration if that is acceptable? I wanted to let you know early and agree on the safest option.

The opening fits the power relationship. The answer covers the partner, available data and safety concern, then proposes two relevant alternatives. It speaks directly to the lecturer rather than describing what a student might say.

Situation 2: speaking to a neighbour

Prompt: Your neighbour has left a bicycle across the shared entrance twice this week. You need the entrance clear for a furniture delivery tomorrow morning. Ask them to move it and prevent the problem recurring.

Plan: neighbour to neighbour; polite but firm; move bicycle now; delivery tomorrow; agree future storage.

Model response:

Hi Sam, could you please move your bicycle away from the shared entrance this evening? I have a furniture delivery tomorrow morning, and the team needs a clear path through the doorway. The bicycle has blocked the entrance twice this week, so could we agree to keep it beside your storage area from now on? That would keep the entrance safe and accessible for both of us. Thanks for sorting it out tonight.

This response is less formal, but the request remains direct. It includes the deadline and future solution without attacking the neighbour.

Match tone to purpose

Politeness does not mean vagueness. “I need the corrected file by Thursday” may suit an urgent work request better than “Perhaps you might possibly send it sometime.” Conversely, an aggressive demand can be inappropriate when cooperation is needed.

Pearson’s Academic tips say strong responses cover the prompt’s main points, use first person and choose tone for the relationship and purpose. Memorised filler may miss the communication goal and score poorly. Pearson speaking tips, January 2026

Delivery checklist

Speak to the named person, not about the situation.
Include every essential constraint accurately.
State the action you want.
Use natural spoken sentences and contractions where appropriate.
Finish once the communication goal is complete.

Practise adapting the same four-part plan with the original situations above, then explore the Respond to a Situation practice. No fixed wording guarantees a score.

Turn prompt details into a coverage check

Convert each required detail into a one-word cue before speaking. For “explain the delay, apologise and propose a new time”, write delay, sorry, Friday. Touch each cue once in your answer.

A polished apology that never proposes a time is incomplete. A better response is: “I’m sorry the report is late. The data file arrived this morning, so I need one more day to check it. Could I send the final version by 3 pm Friday?” It covers cause, apology and solution without filler.