How Many Respond to a Situation Questions Are in the PTE Exam?

Respond to a Situation is a Speaking task that Pearson added to PTE Academic, together with Summarize Group Discussion, for tests taken from 7 August 2025. You read and hear a short situation, have 10 seconds to prepare, then 40 seconds to speak once the microphone opens. Pearson scores it with partial credit on content, pronunciation and oral fluency, and calls content the most critical part of this task.

Pearson also warns that memorised responses do not cover the main points of the situation and score very low, and that repeated ideas, self-corrections and hesitations use up the 40 seconds. The full task breakdown, a flexible answer framework and two sample answers are on the PTE Respond to a Situation strategy page, which is the best place to learn the format itself.

Each item is short: about a minute from reading the prompt to the end of your recording. Whether you get two or four, the total speaking time is small compared with the rest of the test. What does change with more items is fatigue and repetition. Learners who rely on one memorised opening often sound fine on the first item and then start reusing the same sentences, which is exactly what Pearson says scores low on content.

So prepare for consistency, not for a number. If you can deliver three different, situation-specific answers in a row at the same quality, the real count stops mattering.

Ten seconds is not enough to plan sentences, so plan three slots instead. Who am I speaking to, and how formal should I be? What is the problem or situation? What do I need to ask for or offer? Pearson's own tips point the same way: speak in the first person, make the request early, add the relevant details from the prompt, and stay consistent with it.

Then speak to the person, not about them. "Hi Mia, I'm calling because I can't make Thursday's shift" scores on content. "I would tell my manager that I cannot attend" describes the answer instead of giving it.

• Who: name or role, and the register it needs (friend, tutor, manager, stranger).
• Problem: the one or two facts from the prompt you must mention, such as a date, place or object.
• Ask or offer: the request or solution, said in the first half of your answer.

Write three short situations of your own, each with a different listener: one friend, one teacher or tutor, one stranger or customer-service person. Keep each under 60 words, like the real prompts. For example: your flatmate used your parking spot again; your tutor marked an assignment late but you submitted on time; a shop sent you the wrong size.

Set a timer for 10 seconds, scan who, problem, ask, then record 40 seconds. Do all three back to back without pausing between them, because that is the pressure the exam adds. Listen to the recordings afterwards and check them against the table below. Repeat with three new situations every few days rather than polishing the same three, since new prompts are what stop you from drifting into a script.

The prompt is also heard, not only read, so catching names, dates and times on first listening matters. If you often lose exact details from audio, a short daily dictation habit such as free PTE WFD practice trains you to hold exact words in short-term memory. That is a listening skill, not a Speaking task, so treat it as support, not as Respond to a Situation practice.

Summarize Group Discussion arrived at the same time and has a different job: you summarise what several speakers said rather than act in a situation. If you are planning your speaking practice around the two newer tasks, the PTE Summarize Group Discussion strategy page covers that format.