PTE · Respond to a Situation

Music Tuition and Practice: PTE Respond to a Situation practice questions

5 original Respond to a Situation questions. Question 1 is free to record, play back and compare with a sample answer right here; log in free to practise the rest in the BandLadder app.
  • 5 questions
  • Question 1 free, no login
  • PTE Academic and PTE Core
1

Rescheduling a Violin Tutorial

Free to try, no login

Read and listen to the situation below. You have 10 seconds to prepare (20 in PTE Core), then 40 seconds to say what you would say. Answer as fully as you can.

You are taking university violin lessons, but you have a mandatory lab session next Tuesday afternoon at three o'clock that clashes with your scheduled tutorial. You need to ask your music tutor if you can move the lesson to Thursday morning instead. What would you say to your tutor?

Which test are you taking?

Your recording stays in this browser: it is not uploaded or stored.

Questions 2–5

Read and listen to the situation below. You have 10 seconds to prepare (20 in PTE Core), then 40 seconds to say what you would say. Answer as fully as you can.

Read them here; log in to answer and check them.

2

Negotiating Practice Room Noise

You live in student accommodation and your flatmate is preparing for a practical cello examination. They have been practising late into the night, which prevents you from sleeping before your early lectures. You want to ask them politely to finish their practice by nine in the evening. What would you say?

3

Declining Child Piano Lessons

A colleague has asked whether you could give private piano lessons to their eight-year-old daughter on weekends. You need to decline because your final-year dissertation workload is too heavy, but you want to recommend another student who teaches beginners. What would you say to your colleague?

4

Borrowing Department Sheet Music

You are preparing for your end-of-term vocal assessment and need to borrow an original vocal score from the music department librarian. You need the score for two weeks, but standard loans are only for three days. You must explain your assessment deadline and request an extension. What would you say?

5

Reporting Damaged Practice Piano

You have just rented a university practice room to rehearse your jazz chords, but you discovered that three keys in the middle octave of the upright piano are sticking badly. You need to report this issue immediately to the music centre administrator and request an alternative room. What would you say?

Want to answer the other 4?

Log in to practise Respond to a Situation in the BandLadder app: the full question bank, with an AI score from BandLadder AI for content, pronunciation and oral fluency on a free account.

Ready for the whole test?

Take a full PTE mock with every question type, the real timings and a score on Pearson's 10–90 scale the moment you finish.

Try a free PTE mock →

Keep practising

More Respond to a Situation sets

Practise every PTE question type

  • ✓Full question bank for every type
  • ✓Instant scoring, marked the way Pearson does
  • ✓BandLadder AI scoring for speaking and writing
Practise in the app

Free account · no card

© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy

Log in to practise all 5