Describe a difficult decision you made
Describe a difficult decision you made
You should say:
- what the decision was
- when you had to make it
- what your options were
and explain why this decision was difficult for you
Practise this card
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- what the decision was
- when you had to make it
- what your options were
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How to approach this cue card
This card tests whether you can explain reasoning and weigh up alternatives in the past tense, not just narrate events. The examiner is listening for language of comparison and consequence — “on one hand,” “the trouble was,” “in the end” — because that is what genuinely difficult decisions sound like when someone describes them.
Pick a decision with two real, competing options rather than an obvious choice, since a decision with no real downside on either side is hard to make sound difficult. Choosing between two university offers, whether to change career direction, or whether to move away from family are all common, believable choices that naturally involve trade-offs.
Spend the opening explaining what the decision was and roughly when you faced it, the middle laying out your options side by side, and the final section on why it was hard — which usually means naming what you were afraid of losing whichever way you chose, since that is exactly what the “explain” line wants you to unpack.
Vocabulary that lifts this answer
These phrases describe weighing options and consequence more naturally than “it was difficult to choose.”
| Word or phrase | What it means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| weigh up the options | consider the pros and cons carefully | I spent a week weighing up the options before deciding. |
| on the one hand / on the other | used to contrast two sides of an issue | On the one hand it paid better, on the other it meant relocating. |
| a tough call | a difficult decision | It was a tough call, honestly, right up until the deadline. |
| torn between (two things) | unable to decide between two options | I was torn between staying close to home and taking the opportunity. |
| there was no easy answer | neither option was clearly better | There was no easy answer, since both choices had real downsides. |
| have second thoughts | begin to doubt a decision already made | I had second thoughts almost immediately after signing. |
| in hindsight | looking back with the benefit of knowing what happened | In hindsight, I think I made the right call. |
| a leap of faith | a decision made despite uncertainty | Taking the job abroad felt like a leap of faith. |
| come to a decision | finally decide, often after deliberation | I finally came to a decision the night before the deadline. |
| weigh heavily on someone | cause someone ongoing worry or stress | The decision weighed heavily on me for weeks beforehand. |
A one-minute plan
- decision: accept job offer abroad or stay near family
- when: last year, final year of studies
- options: better opportunity abroad vs proximity to ageing parents
- why hard: guilt about leaving, fear of missing out either way
Sample answer
This is one way to structure an answer on this topic — an example of organisation, not a fixed script to repeat.
The decision I want to talk about is whether to accept a job offer abroad or stay close to my family, which came up last year during my final year of studies. I had been applying for jobs in a few different countries almost as a formality, not really expecting anything to come of it, and then I unexpectedly received a strong offer from a company overseas. On the one hand, it was a genuinely good opportunity, better than anything available locally at the time. On the other, my parents are getting older, and I knew that if I left, I would not be able to see them regularly or help out if anything went wrong. There really was no easy answer here; whichever way I chose, I was going to give something up. I remember weighing up the options for almost two weeks, making lists, talking to friends, even having second thoughts the day after I initially decided to accept it. What made it so difficult, honestly, was the guilt — I felt like choosing my career meant choosing myself over my family, even though logically I knew that was not entirely fair to myself. In the end I did accept the offer, and in hindsight, I still think it was the right call, but it was without question the hardest decision I have had to make.
Common mistakes on this card
- Choosing a decision that was not actually difficult, leaving nothing genuine to say when explaining why it was hard.
- Describing only one option in detail and never explaining the alternative you were weighing it against.
- Overusing “difficult” and “hard” instead of the comparison language a real difficult decision naturally produces.
- Rushing through the reasoning and jumping straight to the outcome, which skips exactly what the card is asking about.
Part 3 questions that often follow
After your two-minute turn, the examiner usually moves into a related Part 3 discussion — these are the kinds of follow-up questions that commonly come up around this topic.
- Are people generally better at making decisions alone or with advice from others?
- Do you think younger people find it harder to make big decisions than older generations?
- How does having too many options make a decision more difficult?
- Is it better to make a quick decision or to take a long time weighing it up?
Frequently asked questions
Does the decision have to be a major life event?
No. A decision about a course, a job offer, moving city, or even ending a friendship all count, as long as you can clearly explain why choosing was genuinely difficult, not just a minor preference.
What if I regret the decision I want to talk about?
That is fine to mention honestly, but keep the focus on the bullet points rather than turning the whole answer into a story about regret, since the card is mainly asking about the decision-making process itself.
Can I describe a decision I made for someone else, like a family member?
It is safer to choose a decision you made for yourself, since the card asks what "you" decided, but you can certainly mention how it affected someone else as part of explaining why it was hard.
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