How to Make a Listening Gap-Fill Test (IELTS-Style, Auto-Marked)

If you teach English, you know the routine: play the recording, students write on paper, then you go through every blank deciding whether "24 April" and "24th April" both count. Thirty students with ten gaps each is three hundred answers to mark. This guide shows how to make a listening gap-fill test online instead, where students type straight into the gaps next to the audio and every gap is marked automatically.

Quick answer: To make a listening gap-fill test on rayQuiz, open a passage with :::passage, add * Skill: LISTENING and an audio link, paste your notes, and write each answer inside [[ ]] where the gap should go. Every gap becomes its own 1-point question. Prefer not to type syntax? Insert the ready-made "IELTS Listening" template, or select words in the passage dialog and press Make it a gap.

What a listening gap-fill is

It's the familiar notes completion or form completion task from IELTS Listening: students see a set of notes or a form with missing details, listen to a recording, and fill in the blanks. It works for general English classes as well as exam prep because it trains listening for specific information: names, numbers, dates and places.

On rayQuiz, students see those notes with the audio player above, which stays with them as they scroll. They type into each gap and press Enter to jump to the next one.

Method 1: Write answers in [[ ]] inside the notes

This is the fastest route if you already have the notes or a transcript. In the editor, type:

:::passage
# PART 1: Questions 1-4
* Skill: LISTENING
* Audio: https://example.com/part1.mp3
* Max words: 2
* Instructions: Complete the notes. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Transport survey
- Name: Sadie Jones
- Postcode: [[DW30 7YZ]]
- Date of bus journey: [[24th April|24 April]]
- Reason for trip: shopping and visit to the [[dentist]]
- Travelled by bus because cost of [[parking]] too high
:::
:::endpassage

What each line does:

• :::passage opens a part, ::: closes the content, and :::endpassage ends the part.
• * Skill: LISTENING tags the part as listening.
• * Audio: is the link to the audio file, and it must start with https://.
• * Max words: 2 is the word-limit hint for each gap.
• [[answer]] turns the text inside into a gap. Accept more than one spelling by separating them with |, for example [[24th April|24 April]].

Switch to Split view to see exactly what students will see, with each gap and its answer shown so you can check them.

Method 2: Insert the template

Can't remember the syntax? Press Syntax (or Alt + H), find the template labelled IELTS Listening (a gap-fill passage for notes and form completion) and press Insert into quiz. The same skeleton as above appears, and you just replace the content and the audio link.

Method 3: Select and press "Make it a gap"

If you'd rather click than type symbols:

1. Press the pencil on the passage card to open the passage dialog.
2. Paste your notes into the content box.
3. Select the words that should become a gap and press Make it a gap. Repeat for each gap.
4. Set Max words per gap, for example 1 for "ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER".

Right below is a preview ("Learners will see ... gaps like this"). The number on each gap is its question number in the test, continuing from the questions before it.

Adding the audio

The passage dialog has a Part audio (listening) field. There are two ways to fill it:

• Paste a link to an audio file (mp3 or wav) hosted elsewhere; it must start with https://. You can add a label such as "Track 1" to keep things organised, and play it right there to check the link works.
• Generate audio from script (AI): write the script one line per turn using S1:, S2: and N: (N is the narrator), and add @pause 10 for ten seconds of silence. Save the quiz first, then generate; the audio link fills in automatically when it's ready.

If you only need sound on a single standalone question rather than a whole part, the add-question form has an audio button for uploading a file directly.

Part settings for a realistic test

Each part has its own Part settings:

• Play limit: how many times the audio can be played. Leave it empty for unlimited. Be generous for practice; set it to one for a mock exam, as in real IELTS.
• Duration (minutes): a time limit just for this part; leave it empty to use the test's overall time.
• Gate next part: students must finish this part before moving to the next.
• Allow going back within this part: turn it off to make students move forward only.

For a multi-part test, make each passage a part, title them "Part 1", "Part 2" and so on, and give each its own audio.

How marking works

• Every gap is marked on its own, so each correct gap earns its point.
• Capital letters and extra spaces are ignored. "Dentist" and "dentist" are both right.
• Spelling must be exact, just like the real IELTS. That's why it pays to list every acceptable spelling with |.
• Going over the word limit turns the gap's border amber as a reminder. Numbers like 24 or a postcode don't count as words.

After submitting, wrong gaps are crossed out with the right answer beside them, so students can correct themselves straight away.

Tips for writing a good listening gap-fill

• Keep gaps in the order of the recording. The answer for gap 3 should come after gap 2 in the audio.
• Use words students actually hear, rather than asking them to change the word form.
• Build in natural distractors, as IELTS does: a speaker gives one detail and then corrects it ("the 14th, sorry, the 15th"). It's the best training for careful listening.
• Gap names, numbers, dates and concrete nouns. Avoid gapping vague words that could be phrased several ways.
• Aim for about 10 gaps per part, mirroring IELTS Listening's four parts and 40 questions.
• State the word limit clearly in the instructions and in the max words setting, so students practise reading the task.

Older tests with many blanks in one question

If an older test has a fill-in question with several [[ ]], the editor flags it and offers Convert to gap-fill passage. One click turns each blank into its own question, marked separately. If your material lives in Word, you can import the Word document first and then adjust it.

FAQ

Can students do it on a phone? Yes. The audio and gaps fit neatly on a phone screen, and Enter moves to the next gap.

Can one gap accept several answers? Yes. Separate them with |, for example [[tenth|10th]].

Can I use the same format for reading? Yes. Leave out the Skill: LISTENING line and the audio, and the passage with [[ ]] works as a regular gap-fill.

See each step with screenshots in the guide to building a listening gap-fill, and send students the guide to filling in the gaps before their first try.