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How to answer fill-in-the-blank and dropdown questions

Some blanks you type (a word, a keyword, a value) and some you choose from a dropdown. Both are marked on exact correctness, so the method is about reading the sentence or code with each answer dropped in. From course notes

What it looks like in the real exam

From NESA material 2025 HSC: 2025 HSC exam, Q2 (two dropdowns on development approaches, 1 mark for both right), 2025 HSC exam, Q14 (dropdowns on data structures), 2025 HSC exam, Q15A (complete a data dictionary with dropdowns, 3 marks: ALL correct = 3, FIVE correct = 2, THREE correct = 1). 2025 sample: 2025 NESA sample exam, Q22A (complete a SQL query: SELECT Level, ??? FROM Students ??? BY Level, 2 marks).

Reasoned The stems of the 2025 online items and the MG answers for Q14/Q15a are images or unpublished, so I give the method and the published parts only.

Method

  1. Read the question, then the whole sentence, table or code before looking at a blank. From course notes
  2. Note the clues around each blank: the words before and after it, the column heading in a table, the data type in a data dictionary, the keyword that must pair with it (for example GROUP + BY). From course notes
  3. Dropdown: open it and read all the options before picking. Eliminate those that are the wrong kind of word (a noun where a verb is needed). Typed: write the exact word or code; spelling, quotes and capitals count in code. General advice
  4. Fill the easiest blanks first. They often reveal the harder ones (a COUNT in the SELECT line tells you the last line needs GROUP BY). General advice
  5. Read the completed sentence or code aloud in your head and check it makes sense and would run. From course notes
  6. Never leave a blank. Partial credit is usually by number of blanks correct (Q15a: 5 of 8 gets 2 marks). From NESA material

Worked example (2025 sample Q22a: complete the SQL)

2025 NESA sample exam, Q22A · 2 marks

A table Students(StudentID, FirstName, Surname, Attended, Level) tracks students at a coding club (12 rows; levels Beginner, Intermediate, Expert). Complete the SQL query to generate the number of students at each level: SELECT Level, ??? FROM Students ??? BY Level;

Official marking criteria

  • 2 marks: Correctly completes the SQL query.
  • 1 mark: Correctly selects at least TWO correct options.

Correct completed query (reasoned; the MG answer is an image)

SELECT Level, COUNT(StudentID)
FROM Students
GROUP BY Level;

Notes

REASONED (not copied): the MG answer is an image/table that could not be extracted. The dropdown option list is not extractable. COUNT(*) is also valid.

Open this question page · some of the NESA wording or answer is an image or is unpublished, as noted

  1. The question asks for “the number of students at each level”: the word number of means a count, “at each level” means group.
  2. Blank 1 is in the SELECT list beside Level: a calculated value, so COUNT(StudentID) (or COUNT(*)).
  3. Blank 2 comes before BY Level: the only clause that ends in BY and groups rows is GROUP. (ORDER BY would not count anything.)
  4. Read it: SELECT Level, COUNT(StudentID) FROM Students GROUP BY Level; ✓. See SQL GROUP BY and SQL aggregate functions (COUNT, SUM, AVG).

Common mistakes

  • From NESA material 2025 SQL marker feedback: “quotation marks around the data being searched” were forgotten, and AND/OR in the WHERE were misused. Text values need quotes: 'Pending'.
  • General advice Choosing a dropdown that is correct English but wrong for the context.
  • General advice Typing a near-miss: Group by is fine but Groupby is not; Print in Python needs a lowercase p.
  • General advice Changing a blank answer at the end without re-reading the whole line.

Time per mark

General advice About 1 minute per mark. A 3-mark data-dictionary dropdown table is about 4 to 5 minutes because you check each cell against the scenario. Average for the whole paper is 1.75 minutes per mark.

Practice (5 items, with answers)

Item 1 · 2025 sample Q22a (NESA)

Complete: SELECT Level, ______ FROM Students ______ BY Level; (count the students at each level)

Show the answer

Answer: COUNT(StudentID) (or COUNT(*)) and GROUP. From NESA material

Item 2 · 2025 HSC Q2 (NESA)

Two dropdowns about software development approaches. The NESA marking guidelines give the answers only: dropdown 1 and 2.

Show the answer

Answer: Dropdown 1: Waterfall. Dropdown 2: Agile. From NESA material (The sentence itself is unpublished.) Read Waterfall approach and Agile approach to see which phrases belong to which.

Item 3 · original: Python blanks

Complete so it prints 0 1 2 3 4: for i in ______(5): print(i, end=' '). What goes in the blank?

Show the answer

Answer: range (range(5) gives 0 to 4). Original practice

Item 4 · original: SQL blanks

Complete: SELECT Name FROM Students ______ Year = 12 ______ Name; (list Year 12 students in A–Z order)

Show the answer

Answer: WHERE and ORDER BY: SELECT Name FROM Students WHERE Year = 12 ORDER BY Name; returns Ava, Cleo, Dan (checked by running it). Original practice

Item 5 · original: pseudocode blanks

Complete: ______ Total < 100 … Total = Total + 10 … ______. The loop must test before running.

Show the answer

Answer: WHILE … ENDWHILE. Structural words come in pairs. Original practice

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