Reading
Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop)
You drag words from a box into the gaps. There are more words than gaps, so some words are distractors.
- Reading
- Items on a test
- About 4–5
- Passage
- Up to 80 words
- How you answer
- Drag words into gaps
- Section timer
- 23–30 minutes, shared
Item counts vary slightly by test form. The ranges follow Pearson’s PTE Academic test-taker score guide.
What this task asks
This is the reading Fill in the Blanks with a single word bank, not the drop-down item and not the listening item where you type. The passage is short, up to 80 words. You will not use every word in the box.
You can drag a word back out of a gap or move it to another gap. The reading section timer covers this item along with the others.
How scoring works
Each correctly filled blank scores 1, with partial credit. A wrong word in one gap does not remove the points from the gaps you filled correctly. There is no negative marking.
The score guide lists this item under Reading only.
Timings and scoring follow Pearson’s published format for Reading.
Tips that match the task
- 1
Read the sentence with the gap and name the part of speech you need before you look at the box. Then discard words that cannot be that part of speech.
- 2
Use collocation. If the phrase wants “the general public”, “public” is a better candidate than a near-synonym that never sits in that phrase.
- 3
After a verb like “beginning to”, look for an infinitive. Pearson’s own tip walks through eliminating nouns and adjectives in exactly that situation.
- 4
Fill the gaps you are sure of first. Each one you place removes a distractor from the words that remain.
- 5
Read the finished sentence, not just the gap. A word can be the right part of speech and the wrong meaning.
- 6
Do not force every word in the box into a gap. Leftover words are part of the task.
Common mistakes
- Confusing this item with the drop-down blanks or with listening blanks, where you type and spelling counts.
- Choosing a synonym that does not collocate with the words around the gap.
- Leaving a gap empty when two words remain and one is grammatically impossible.
- Ignoring tense and number, so a plural verb is dropped next to a singular subject.
- Moving a correct word out at the end to use up a leftover distractor.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to use all the words?
No. There are more words than gaps. Some words are there to be left in the box.
How is drag-and-drop Fill in the Blanks scored?
One point for each correct gap, with partial credit, and a minimum of 0. It contributes to Reading. Spelling is not an issue because you move the given words rather than typing them.
How is this different from listening Fill in the Blanks?
In listening, you type the missing word and only a correct spelling scores. Here you drag a word that is already spelled, and the skill scored is Reading.
Practise Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop) on a real question
Open a free practice question in the LearnPTE app and try this task with instant feedback.