Describe a difficult decision you once made
A full Band 9 model answer for this IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card, with the key vocabulary it uses, three Part 3 follow-up answers, and an examiner note on why it scores so highly.
Describe a difficult decision you once made.
You should say:
- what the decision was
- what the options were
- how you made up your mind
and explain whether you think you made the right decision.
You get 1 minute to prepare and should speak for 1-2 minutes. Try it yourself first, then compare with the model answer below.
Band 9 sample answer
A difficult decision I had to make was whether to take a safe, well-paid job straight after university or turn it down to pursue something far less certain that I actually cared about.
The options could not have been more different. On one hand, I had a firm offer from a reputable company — good salary, security, exactly the kind of role my family expected of me. On the other, I had the chance to join a small start-up doing work I found genuinely meaningful, but with a fraction of the pay and no guarantee it would even survive the year.
Making up my mind was agonising, and I went back and forth for weeks. I weighed up the pros and cons on paper, talked it through with people I trusted, and at one stage almost took the safe option purely to please everyone else. In the end, though, I asked myself a simple question — which decision I would regret more in ten years' time — and that cut through all the noise. I realised that financial security was something I could rebuild, whereas the opportunity in front of me might not come again.
Looking back, I am convinced I made the right call, even though it was a real struggle at the time. The start-up did eventually take off, but more importantly, the decision taught me to trust my own judgement rather than simply defaulting to the conventional, expected path. That lesson has served me far better than any salary would have.
Key vocabulary used
The collocations and idiomatic phrases above that lift the answer into Band 9 lexical resource.
- could not have been more different
- were complete opposites
- went back and forth
- kept changing my mind
- weighed up the pros and cons
- carefully considered the advantages and disadvantages
- cut through all the noise
- made the real issue clear
- made the right call
- made the correct decision
- defaulting to
- automatically choosing without questioning
Part 3 follow-up questions
The examiner develops the topic with more abstract discussion questions. Here is how a Band 9 candidate might answer.
Why do some people find it hard to make decisions?
Often it is a fear of regret — they worry so much about the option they did not choose that they become paralysed. Others struggle because there is simply too much information available now, which can make even small choices feel overwhelming. Personality plays a part too; some people are naturally more decisive than others.
Is it better to make decisions quickly or slowly?
It really depends on the stakes. For trivial, everyday choices, deliberating is a waste of energy and you are better off deciding quickly. But for major, life-shaping decisions, it is worth taking the time to gather information and reflect. The skill is recognising which kind of decision you are actually facing.
Should young people make their own decisions or follow their parents' advice?
Ideally a blend of both. Parents offer valuable experience and a perspective young people lack, so dismissing their advice outright would be unwise. At the same time, young people have to learn to own their choices and live with the consequences. So I would say listen carefully to advice, but make the final call yourself.
Why this is a Band 9 answer
Band 9 features: sophisticated framing of a dilemma, accurate conditional and perfect structures, idiomatic decision-making lexis, and a final reflection that directly answers whether the choice was right.
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