DET Fill in the Blanks
A passage in which some words are partly spelled — the first letters are given and you type the rest. It tests vocabulary and spelling at once, and the given letters are a strong constraint if you use them.
Use both the letters and the context
- Read the whole sentence first — the word class is usually obvious from the grammar.
- Look at the letters given and the number of blanks.
- Say the sentence in your head with a candidate word; if the letters match, type it.
- Check the spelling, which is scored.
The number of missing letters is as much a clue as the letters themselves, and candidates routinely ignore it.
If you cannot get it
- Type the most plausible completion rather than leaving it. There is no penalty.
- Common words are more likely than rare ones — the test is placing you, not testing obscurity.
- Move on at a steady pace; there are only a handful of these.
Spelling counts here as it does nowhere else on the reading side. A right word spelled wrong scores nothing.
Fill in the Blanks — FAQs
2 questions
Part of the word is shown and the rest is typed, which narrows the possibilities considerably.
No. Always type something.
More adaptive question types
Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.