PTE Respond to a Situation practice
PTE new question types: SGD and Respond to a Situation · PTE Academic exam format
What the task is
New in PTE Academic from 7 August 2025, and 2–3 of them appear in the Speaking part.
You read and hear a short everyday situation: at university, at work, where you live. You get about 10 seconds to prepare and 40 seconds to speak, as you would to the real person.
It is marked on appropriacy (is your tone and request right for that person?), content, pronunciation and oral fluency.
Timings follow our practice screen and widely published test guides; check Pearson's current test-taker handbook before your test.
Scoring example
Scored: · #RTS1-001
Question from our bank
You booked a group study room at the university library for this afternoon, but when you arrived another group was already using it and refused to leave. You have a presentation to rehearse in two hours. Speak to the librarian at the front desk: explain the problem and ask for an alternative room.
Sample answer we recorded / wrote for this example
Created by RealPTE for this example; not a student submission. Speaking audio is synthetic.
Hello, I booked a study room for this afternoon, but another group is using it and refuses to leave. My team has a presentation in hours and needs somewhere to rehearse. Could you check my booking and help us find a room? Thank you for your help.
Listen to the sample answer
Words recognised from the recording
Hello, I booked a study room for this afternoon, but another group is using it and refuses to leave. My team has a presentation in hours and needs somewhere to rehearse. Could you check my booking and help us find a room? Thank you for your help.
Actual scoring output
- Content
- 4 / 5 points
- Pronunciation estimate
- Not available
- Fluency estimate
- 5.0 / 5 points
- Covered point: booked study room for afternoon
- Covered point: another group using it
- Covered point: team has presentation
- Covered point: needs room to rehearse
- Covered point: asks librarian to help
Recognised words per minute: 191
This saved example uses local speech recognition and the real RealPTE scoring code. Live practice uses a different recognition service, so its transcript and estimates may differ. No pronunciation score was returned for this example.
These are practice estimates, not official Pearson scores. A synthetic voice does not measure a learner's speaking ability.
Compare the answer with the situation or discussion. Check the stated details and whether the request or summary is complete, then record your own answer.
Revised answer to practise (not scored)
Hi, sorry to bother you. I booked study room four for two o'clock today under my student number, but when I got there another group was already inside, and they said they weren't going to move. The trouble is, my team has a presentation in two hours and we really need somewhere to rehearse. Could you check the booking system and see if there's another room free, even a smaller one? If nothing's available, maybe you could ask the other group to leave? I'd really appreciate your help. Thanks so much.
Speak politely to the librarian, explain the occupied booking and the two-hour deadline, then ask for an alternative room. The saved model below makes that request explicit. This alternative has not been scored; pronunciation is unavailable.
A structure that fits in 40 seconds
- Open (about 5 s): greet the person and say why you are speaking to them.
- The problem (about 15 s): one or two sentences with the key details from the situation: what happened, when, why it matters.
- The request (about 15 s): ask clearly for what you need, and offer one alternative if it can't be done.
- Close (about 5 s): thank them politely.
Where marks are usually lost
- A memorised script that ignores the details in the situation: content and appropriacy drop.
- The wrong tone for the person: too casual with a lecturer, too stiff with a flatmate.
- Running out of time before the actual request.
- A long silence at the start: the recording keeps going, and hesitation costs fluency.
Worked example: Study Room Taken
The situation
Model answer
All Respond to a Situation questions (100)
Open the practice screenSee what other students get wrong on this task · RealPTE practice data