PTE Core · Part 3 · Listening + Writing
PTE Core Listening: Fill in the Blanks
Two or three recordings, each heard once, with a transcript on screen that has words missing. You type the missing words as you hear them. One point per word, and only a correctly spelled word counts, so it tests your typing and your spelling as much as your ear.
- Questions in the test
- 2–3
- Time
- shares the listening clock
- Scoring
- Partial credit per correctly spelled word
- Traits scored
- Each correct word
140 real Listening: Fill in the Blanks questions inside
A glimpse of the bank. The full prompt, audio and scoring open after you sign in.
- 1For many years the favorite horror story about {0} climate…
- 2My hero is Marie Curie. She was a Polish physicist and…
- 3A majority of U.S. high school students say they get {0} in…
What the task asks
A transcript appears on screen with several words replaced by empty boxes. After a short pause a recording of that transcript plays, once, at a natural pace. Your job is to type each missing word into its box as the speaker says it. The cursor can be moved between boxes with the mouse or the tab key, and you can keep typing and correcting after the audio ends, until you click Next. There is no item timer; the task shares the Part 3 listening clock with the other listening items.
The recordings are short pieces of everyday spoken English: a tour guide's introduction, a message from a school, an explanation of a process at work. The missing words are ordinary content words, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, chosen because they are easy to hear and easy to misspell. Plurals, past-tense endings, double letters and words that sound like other words are where the points go missing, not exotic vocabulary.
How it is scored
Scoring is partial credit, one point for each box filled with the correct word, correctly spelled. A word with a spelling error, however close, scores zero for that box. There is no negative marking. The task contributes to your Listening score, and because the words have to be written, to your Writing score as well.
| Trait | What is measured | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Each correct word | Whether the word typed in the box is the word the speaker said, spelled correctly. | 1 point per word, no negative marking |
The spelling rule is the one to respect. Recieve for receive and employes for employees both score the same as an empty box. The good news is that the words are common, which means the spellings are learnable, and that the time after the audio ends is yours for checking. A quick pass over every box, asking is this how that word is spelled, is the highest-value thirty seconds in the item.
How our practice scorer grades it
When you submit a transcript here it is marked automatically and exactly by that rule: one point per box containing the correct, correctly spelled word, nothing taken off for wrong or empty boxes. The answer is revealed the moment you submit, each box marked right or wrong with the correct word shown, and a short note on the ones you missed: whether it was a plural ending, a homophone, a dropped letter or a word you did not catch at all. Your running score across items is shown on the 10 to 90 scale with the CLB level beside it.
It is a practice estimate. The rule is the Pearson rule and the recordings are ours.
A worked example
Welcome to the (1) orientation session. Over the next hour we will walk through the building, and I will point out the fire (2) exits on each floor. Your access cards have already been (3) activated, so you can try them on any door as we go. If a card does not work, please tell me (4) immediately rather than waiting until the end.
Each of those four words is a common trap of a different kind. Orientation is long, and typists who try to finish it before the next sentence starts fall behind; the fix is to type orien, move on, and complete it after the audio ends. Exits is a plural, and the final s is quiet in fast speech; the grammar of the fire exits on each floor tells you it is there. Activated carries a past-tense ending that is barely voiced after been; again the grammar supplies it. Immediately is a spelling question, two ms, one t, -ely, and the kind of word to check letter by letter in the time after the recording.
A listener who typed orientation, exit, activate, immediatly heard every word correctly and scores 1 out of 4. That gap, between hearing and scoring, is what the task is designed to measure.
Five habits that raise the score
- Type the first few letters and move on. Enough to remember the word, not the whole thing. Finish the words after the audio ends.
- Keep your eyes moving with the speaker. Read along with the transcript so you know where the next box is before the word arrives.
- Use the grammar to restore endings. The fire ___ on each floor needs a plural. Have been ___ needs a past participle. Add the s or the ed even if you did not hear it.
- Check every box for spelling before Next. Double letters, ie and ei, silent letters. The audio is gone; the spelling is still yours to fix.
- Never leave a box empty. If you missed the word, the sentence around the box usually leaves only a few possibilities. A sensible guess with the right grammar sometimes scores; a blank never does.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Typing full words in real time and falling behind. One long word costs you the next two boxes.
- Freezing on a missed box. The speaker does not wait. Skip it and catch the next one; come back with the grammar afterwards.
- Dropping plural and past-tense endings. The most common spelling-rule loss in the task, and the most predictable.
- Writing on the noteboard instead of in the box. It doubles the work. Type directly.
- Clicking Next the moment the audio stops. The checking time is the point of the task. Use it.
Quick answers
How many Listening: Fill in the Blanks items are in PTE Core?
Two or three, in Part 3. See the exam guide for the order of the listening section.
Does spelling really have to be perfect?
Yes. The scoring unit is a correctly spelled word. A near miss scores the same as a blank.
Can I type after the recording ends?
Yes. You can edit any box until you click Next. That is when most of the spelling points are won.
Which scores does this task affect?
Listening and Writing. It is one of three listening items that also feed Writing, along with Summarize Spoken Text and Write from Dictation.