Reading
Fill in the Blanks (dropdown)
A passage has gaps, and each gap is a drop-down of possible words. You choose the word that fits the meaning and the grammar.
- Reading
- Items on a test
- About 5–6
- Passage
- Up to about 200 words
- How you answer
- One word from each drop-down
- 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
On the test this item is labelled Reading & Writing: Fill in the blanks. The name refers to the demand: the word has to be the right meaning and the right grammar, not a word you drag from a shared box. That drag-and-drop item is a different task.
The reading section has one timer of 23–30 minutes for every reading item. There is no separate clock for this task.
How scoring works
Each correctly completed blank scores 1. Blanks you miss score 0 for that gap, and partial credit applies, so one wrong gap does not cancel the others. There is no negative marking.
The current test-taker score guide records these points under Reading.
Timings and scoring follow Pearson’s published format for Reading.
Tips that match the task
- 1
Skim the passage once for the topic before you open the menus. A word that fits the sentence and fights the paragraph is usually wrong.
- 2
Read the words immediately before and after the gap. Collocations such as “gain access to” eliminate most of the list.
- 3
Decide the part of speech the gap needs, then ignore options that cannot play that role.
- 4
When two options are the same part of speech, choose the one that matches the writer’s meaning, not the one you have seen more often.
- 5
Change an answer if a later sentence makes it impossible. The drop-down lets you reselect.
- 6
Do not spend the section’s remaining minutes polishing the last gap if several items are still ahead. A blank left empty is one missed point, not a penalty.
Common mistakes
- Treating this like the drag-and-drop blanks and expecting one shared word bank. Each gap has its own list.
- Picking a word because it is on the topic, without checking the grammar around the gap.
- Ignoring words such as prepositions that the chosen word has to fit (“access to”, not “access for”).
- Changing a correct early answer to match a guess later in the paragraph.
- Leaving gaps empty when you could eliminate two of the four options.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the two reading Fill in the Blanks tasks?
The drop-down item, often called Reading & Writing Fill in the Blanks, gives each gap its own list of words. The drag-and-drop item gives one box of words for the whole passage, with more words than gaps. They are scored separately.
Is there negative marking?
No. Each correct blank scores 1 and each incorrect blank scores 0. Partial credit applies, so answer every gap you can narrow down.
Does this item affect Writing?
The current score guide lists the points under Reading: one point for each correctly completed blank. The task is still the one labelled Reading & Writing: Fill in the blanks, because grammar and word choice are how you find that word.
Practise Fill in the Blanks (dropdown) on a real question
Open a free practice question in the LearnPTE app and try this task with instant feedback.