FREE
PSAT Writing Practice Tests

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Free PSAT Writing Diagnostic Tests

Take the Varsity Learning Tools free diagnostic test for PSAT Writing to determine which academic concepts you understand and which ones require your ongoing attention. Each PSAT Writing problem is tagged down to the core, underlying concept that is being tested. The PSAT Writing diagnostic test results highlight how you performed on each area of the test. You can then utilize the results to create a personalized study plan that is based on your particular area of need.

PSAT Writing Diagnostic Test 1

Questions: 60
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 hrs 27 mins

PSAT Writing Diagnostic Test 2

Questions: 60
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 hrs 14 mins

PSAT Writing Diagnostic Test 3

Questions: 60
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 11 hrs 59 mins

PSAT Writing Diagnostic Test 4

Questions: 60
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 hrs 54 mins

PSAT Writing Diagnostic Test 5

Questions: 60
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 hrs 34 mins

PSAT Writing Diagnostic Test 6

Questions: 60
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 58 mins

Are you getting ready to take the PSAT/NMSQT and are not sure what sorts of questions you can expect to find on the Writing Skills section? Many students encounter this exact same difficulty and let it delay or misfocus their studying for this section. Indeed, while “Writing Skills” may suggest that you should prepare yourself to write an essay, there is no essay component of the PSAT. So, what kinds of questions are asked on this section? Let’s find out.

The first type of question featured on the PSAT’s Writing Skills section is Identifying Sentence Errors. Of the section’s thirty-nine questions, fourteen are Identifying Sentence Errors questions. The aim of this question type is to find the error contained in a sentence that has four parts underlined. These four parts are associated with answer choices A–D. If you can identify an error in one of these underlined sections, that is the answer choice you want to pick. A fifth option is also provided: “No error.” Not all of the given sentences contain errors, and if you think the sentence is grammatically correct as written, you should pick the “No error” option. To study for this section, you should brush up on your knowledge of grammar, but as if you’re going to be expected to spout grammatical rules or make corrections to sentences. That’s the trick to this section—you don’t actually have to know what to do to correct a sentence’s error; you just have to be able to pick out one as being an error.

The second type of question that appears on the PSAT’s Writing Skills section is Improving Sentences. About 20 of the section’s 38 questions are of this type. This is the type of question that does ask you to correct an error, but on the plus side, it doesn’t make you look for the error—only one part of the given sentence is underlined, and each of the answer choices provide a different way to rewrite the underlined part of the sentence. It’s good to be aware that there is an option equivalent to the “No error” option found in Identifying Sentence Error questions; one of the answer choices simply replicates the given part of the sentence, exactly as it is written in the question. Pick this one if the sentence is correct as written; it won’t be identified as being any different from the other answer choices, though, so read carefully!

The final kind of question that the PSAT’s Writing Skills section includes is Improving Paragraphs. While only five of the section’s thirty-eight questions are of this type, this can be the most challenging type of question for many test takers, because it asks you to apply your ability to pick the best rewrite of a certain bit of prose, just like the Improving Sentences questions, but instead of focusing on part of a sentence, it works at a larger scale, on the level of paragraphs that are provided with the questions. Don’t worry, though—you won’t be expected to rewrite an entire paragraph! You also won’t be asked to interpret the information the paragraph provides; that’s what the PSAT’s Reading Comprehension section asks you to do. Rather, Improving Paragraphs questions will ask you about pinpointed revisions to paragraphs, such as where a specific sentence might be inserted in or omitted from the paragraph at hand. So, when tackling these types of questions, make sure to take your time so that you can get a good sense of how the paragraph is constructed; skimming the first sentence is highly unlikely to give you enough information to answer the question correctly.

Now that you know about each type of question you will encounter on the PSAT’s Writing Skills section, could you use some great free resources to help you study for the section? Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools website offers free PSAT/NMSQT Writing Skills Practice Tests that can help you master each kind of problem you’ll encounter on the exam! Taking a Practice Test is like taking a twelve-question quiz consisting of problems like the questions formatted like the ones you’ll be asked on the real PSAT/NMSQT. Full explanations are provided for each problem, so if you miss a question, you can figure out what sort of mistake you made and where in your reasoning you made it. Also, if you realize that you need to focus on practicing just one type of Writing Skills problem, you can do that too! Varsity Tutors’ Practice Test problems are organized by concept as well as in Practice Tests that draw from categories comprehensively, so you can study exactly what you need to study when it’s most convenient for you.

To get a better idea of which skills you need to review, begin by taking a Full-Length PSAT Writing Skills Practice Test to help you get an overview of your current knowledge level. The fact that these tests simulate the actual exam can help you learn to modulate your test-taking speed so you can work to ensure you’ll have enough time to finish the real test. The results pages for the full-length tests offer all of the useful feedback provided by the concept-specific practice tests, including extensive explanations and links that provide concept-specific practice. The results of the complete practice tests can also help you refine your PSAT study plan by revealing which topics need some review. Once you’ve had the opportunity to review, you can gauge your progress by taking another Full-Length PSAT Writing Skills Practice Test.

By familiarizing yourself with the three types of PSAT Writing Skills problems before test day, you’ll be able to focus not on the details of how each question is asked, but instead on figuring out the correct answer!
 

Free PSAT Writing Practice Tests

Our completely free PSAT Writing practice tests are the perfect way to brush up your skills. Take one of our many PSAT Writing practice tests for a run-through of commonly asked questions. You will receive incredibly detailed scoring results at the end of your PSAT Writing practice test to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Pick one of our PSAT Writing practice tests now and begin!

Practice Tests by Concept

Graphics practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 mins

Graph interpretation practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 27 mins

Table interpretation practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins

Identifying sentence errors practice test

Questions: 40
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 hrs 55 mins

Identifying other errors or no error practice test

Questions: 15
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 hrs 32 mins

Identifying no error questions practice test

Questions: 14
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins

Identifying other errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 52 secs

Modifiers practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 38 mins

Identifying phrase, clause, and sentence errors practice test

Questions: 36
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 hrs 8 mins

Identifying appositive and interrupting phrase errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 49 secs

Identifying appositive errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 44 secs

Identifying interrupting phrase errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 6 secs

Identifying conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 13
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 hrs 22 mins

Identifying correlative conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 37 secs

Identifying other conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 9
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins

Identifying subordinate conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 10
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins

Identifying modifier placement errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 19 secs

Identifying dangling modifier errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 26 secs

Identifying misplaced or interrupting modifier errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 25 secs

Identifying other phrase, clause, and sentence errors practice test

Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 14 mins

Identifying ambiguity and redundancy errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 51 secs

Identifying other phrase, clause, and sentence errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 26 secs

Identifying parallel structure errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins

Identifying sentence fragment and sentence combination errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins

Identifying punctuation errors practice test

Questions: 16
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 19 mins

Identifying punctuation errors: commas practice test

Questions: 16
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 mins

Identifying punctuation errors: comma splices practice test

Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 15 secs

Identifying punctuation errors: commas for dependent clauses practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 20 secs

Identifying punctuation errors: commas for introductory or interrupting phrases practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 9 mins

Identifying punctuation errors: commas in lists practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 hrs 7 mins

Identifying punctuation errors: other commas practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 11 secs

Identifying punctuation errors: other punctuation practice test

Questions: 20
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 mins

Identifying apostrophe errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 53 secs

Identifying other punctuation errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 10 secs

Identifying quotation mark errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 24 secs

Identifying semicolon errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 51 secs

Identifying word usage errors practice test

Questions: 40
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 d 4 hrs

Identifying agreement errors practice test

Questions: 24
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 22 secs

Identifying modifier-word modified agreement errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 22 secs

Identifying noun-noun agreement errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 1 secs

Identifying pronoun-antecedent agreement errors practice test

Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 36 secs

Identifying subject-verb agreement errors practice test

Questions: 13
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 mins

Identifying usage errors practice test

Questions: 39
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 31 mins

Identifying adjective and adverb errors practice test

Questions: 12
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 21 mins

Identifying comparative and superlative errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 mins

Identifying other adjective and adverb errors practice test

Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 50 secs

Identifying other usage errors practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 11 mins

Identifying conventional and idiomatic usage errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 mins

Identifying errors involving commonly confused words practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 22 secs

Identifying preposition errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 9 mins

Identifying pronoun errors practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 1 secs

Identifying pronoun errors: ambiguity practice test

Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 19 secs

Identifying pronoun errors: case practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins

Identifying pronoun errors: inconsistent usage practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 mins

Identifying pronoun errors: incorrect usage practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 27 secs

Identifying verb errors practice test

Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 20 mins

Identifying other verb usage errors practice test

Questions: 11
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 20 secs

Identifying verb mood errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 secs

Identifying verb tense errors practice test

Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 39 secs

Improving paragraphs practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 41 secs

Analyzing, combining, and moving content practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 49 secs

Analyzing content practice test

Questions: 10
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 mins

Identifying sentence relationships practice test

Questions: 10
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins

Separating, combining, or moving sentences practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 33 secs

Combining sentences practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 20 secs

Moving sentences practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 37 secs

Separating sentences practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 21 secs

Improving and correcting sentences practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 10 secs

Rewriting a sentence fragment practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 33 secs

Revising introductions and transitions in a sentence fragment practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 11 secs

Rewriting a single word practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 54 mins

Revising word choice, style, and tone practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 secs

Inserting or deleting content practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 16 secs

Deleting content practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 25 secs

Inserting content practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 28 secs

Improving sentences practice test

Questions: 13
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 mins

Correcting other errors and recognizing no errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 58 secs

Recognizing sentences that contain no errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 34 secs

Correcting phrase, clause, and sentence errors practice test

Questions: 19
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 25 mins

Correcting appositive and interrupting phrase errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 50 secs

Correcting appositive errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 24 secs

Correcting interrupting phrase errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 50 secs

Correcting conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 6 secs

Correcting correlative conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 57 secs

Correcting other conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 43 secs

Correcting subordinating conjunction errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 11 secs

Correcting modifier placement errors practice test

Questions: 7
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 24 secs

Correcting ambiguous modifier errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 38 secs

Correcting dangling modifier errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 32 secs

Correcting misplaced or interrupting modifier errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 27 secs

Correcting other phrase, clause, and sentence errors practice test

Questions: 11
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 0 secs

Correcting ambiguity and redundancy errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 14 secs

Correcting other phrase, clause, and sentence errors practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 57 secs

Correcting parallel structure errors practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 30 secs

Correcting sentence fragment and sentence combination errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 11 secs

Correcting punctuation errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 18 secs

Correcting punctuation errors: commas practice test

Questions: 40
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 7 mins

Correcting punctuation errors: comma splices practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 10 secs

Correcting punctuation errors: commas for dependent clauses practice test

Questions: 13
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 16 mins

Correcting punctuation errors: commas for introductory or interrupting phrases practice test

Questions: 40
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 mins

Correcting punctuation errors: commas in lists practice test

Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 49 secs

Correcting punctuation errors: other commas practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 10 secs

Correcting punctuation errors: other punctuation practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 25 secs

Correcting apostrophe errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 17 secs

Correcting colon errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 28 secs

Correcting other punctuation errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 13 secs

Correcting quotation mark errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 23 secs

Correcting semicolon errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 secs

Correcting word usage errors practice test

Questions: 21
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 hrs 51 mins

Correcting agreement errors practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 51 secs

Correcting modifier-word modified agreement errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 14 secs

Correcting noun-noun agreement errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 43 secs

Correcting pronoun-antecedent agreement errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 1 secs

Correcting subject-verb agreement errors practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 25 secs

Correcting usage errors practice test

Questions: 15
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 3 mins

Correcting adjective and adverb errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 35 secs

Correcting comparative and superlative errors practice test

Questions: 11
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 5 mins

Correcting other adjective and adverb errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 33 secs

Correcting other usage errors practice test

Questions: 6
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 13 secs

Correcting conventional and idiomatic usage errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 24 secs

Correcting errors involving commonly confused words practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 13 secs

Correcting preposition errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 29 mins

Correcting pronoun errors practice test

Questions: 4
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 28 secs

Correcting pronoun errors: ambiguity practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 21 secs

Correcting pronoun errors: case practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 14 secs

Correcting pronoun errors: inconsistent usage practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 24 secs

Correcting pronoun errors: incorrect usage practice test

Questions: 40
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 4 mins

Correcting verb errors practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 12 secs

Correcting other verb errors practice test

Questions: 40
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 31 mins

Correcting verb mood errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 18 secs

Correcting verb tense errors practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 55 secs

Correcting verb voice errors practice test

Questions: 1
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 15 secs

Rhetoric: sentences & paragraphs practice test

Questions: 10
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 8 mins

Adding & deleting sentences practice test

Questions: 3
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 18 secs

Author's intent practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 42 secs

Ordering sentences practice test

Questions: 2
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 7 secs

Rhetoric: words & phrases practice test

Questions: 10
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 45 secs

Diction practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 1 mins 32 secs

Organization words practice test

Questions: 5
Test Difficulty:
Average Time Spent: 2 mins 50 secs
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