Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank in the following sentence:-
By the end of next April, you _____ out of school.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → will have graduated
Future perfect tense:
- Form: will have + past participle.
- Use: an action that will be complete before a given point in the future.
- This sentence: "By the end of next April" names that point. The graduation will be over by then, so "you will have graduated out of school".
- Complete sentence: By the end of next April, you will have graduated out of school.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: have graduated — Incorrect.
- The present perfect links a past action to the present.
- It cannot be used with a future time such as "next April".
Example: She has graduated and is now looking for a job.
Option 2: graduate — Incorrect.
- The simple present is used for habits and general truths, or for timetabled events.
- With "by the end of next April" it does not show completion before that time.
Example: Most students graduate at the age of twenty-one.
Option 4: will be graduate — Incorrect. This form is ungrammatical: after "will be" English needs a noun with an article ("a graduate") or an -ing form ("will be graduating").
Example: Next year my sister will be a graduate.
Contrast: will have graduated (future perfect) is finished before a future point ("by the end of next April"). Have graduated (present perfect) links a past action to now and cannot take a future time.
Note: In the original NTA paper, Option 1 read "will graduate". NTA accepted this option as a correct answer as well. To leave only one correct answer and avoid confusion for students, it has been changed here to "have graduated".
Advice for the exam: In the real exam, mark the answer that is grammatically or factually correct. If NTA’s provisional answer key marks a different option, challenge it during the answer-key challenge window and give the reason in one or two lines.