United States
Hong KongThe total cost of passing, with the working shown
USD 130 buys all four subtests at USD 32.50 each. A retake is a fresh USD 32.50 and 37.2% of candidates need at least one, so the realistic figure for a first-time candidate is USD 162.50. The floor is USD 0 if a qualifying SAT, ACT, GRE or CLT score covers you.
This is arithmetic rather than opinion, so here's all of it.
The published fees
| Registration | Fee |
|---|---|
| Single subtest | USD 32.50 |
| Two subtests | USD 65 |
| Three subtests | USD 97.50 |
| Full battery, all four | USD 130 |
| Retake of a failed subtest | USD 32.50, a fresh single-subtest registration |
From the fee schedule in Rule 6A-4.0021(4)(b), in force since 22 April 2019. It's linear: four singles come to exactly the battery price, so there's nothing to optimize by bundling. Note the last row. You retake only the subtest you failed, never the whole test, which is the single most important thing about how this examination is priced.
Four scenarios
| Situation | Registration cost | How it's built |
|---|---|---|
| A qualifying SAT, ACT, GRE or CLT score covers all four subtests | USD 0 | Rule 6A-4.0021(12), no registration at all |
| One qualifying score covers Mathematics only | USD 97.50 | Three-subtest registration |
| Clean pass, all four at the first attempt | USD 130 | Full battery |
| All four, then one retake | USD 162.50 | 130 plus a fresh 32.50 |
That last figure is ours, by addition. The two inputs are the Department's.
Which scenario is normal
The fourth one, roughly. FLDOE's 2025 report says 37.2% of candidates retake at least one subtest, and the published first-attempt pass rates are 64% for the essay, 68% for English Language Skills, 78% for Reading and 71% for Mathematics. Multiply those four and roughly a quarter of candidates clear everything at the first attempt, which is our multiplication rather than an FLDOE figure.
So budget USD 162.50 and be pleased if you spend USD 130.
The average, and why it's lower than you'd expect
Here's a piece of arithmetic worth doing. In 2025 the Department recorded 34,252 General Knowledge subtest administrations from 10,120 unique examinees. Divide one by the other and the average candidate generates 3.38 subtest sittings.
At USD 32.50 a sitting that's USD 109.85 of registration fees per candidate, which is below the price of the full battery. Ours, by division and multiplication, from two published figures.
Read it carefully, because it isn't a discount. It's below 4 sittings per person for reasons that have nothing to do with anyone paying less: some candidates use an alternative score for part of the test and register only the rest, some sit a subtest and never come back, and some spread their four subtests across a calendar boundary. The average is a fact about the population, not about your bill. Yours will be USD 130 or more.
USD 32.50 is a quarter of the battery price and it feels disposable. The actual price of a failed subtest is 30 days before you may sit it again, and if it was the essay, about four weeks to find out you failed and another four weeks to find out you passed. A retake can cost you two months of a certification timeline for the price of a large pizza, which is exactly why people sit before they're ready.
What's not in the fee
- Getting to a Pearson test center, and the day or half-day it takes. Multiply by the number of appointments if you're splitting the subtests
- Study material, which is genuinely optional. Section 82, the Test Structure document and the Maximum Percentages table are free and they're the specification
- Essay marking, if you want a person to read one, which nothing in the fee covers and which we don't sell
- The certification application itself, which is a separate process with its own requirements and is outside what this page can source
Our own product is USD 79 for 12 months. Against a USD 130 registration and a USD 32.50 retake exposure, that's a material line rather than a rounding error, and it should be judged as one.
The one number that changes everything
Zero. If your SAT, ACT, GRE or CLT score qualifies, this test costs you nothing at all. The cutoffs are 1 July 2015 for the GRE and 1 March 2016 for the rest, and an SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score of 560 covers three of the four subtests on its own. Check that before you budget for anything else.
Common questions
How much does the FTCE General Knowledge Test cost in total?
USD 130 for the full battery of four subtests, at USD 32.50 each. Because 37.2% of candidates retake at least one subtest at a fresh USD 32.50, a realistic budget for a first-time candidate is USD 162.50, which is our addition of the Department's two figures.
What does an FTCE retake cost?
USD 32.50. A retake is a fresh single-subtest registration and you retake only the subtest you failed. You can't sit it again until at least 30 days have elapsed since the previous administration of that subtest.
Is it cheaper to register all four subtests together?
No. Single subtest USD 32.50, two USD 65, three USD 97.50 and the full battery USD 130. Four singles cost exactly the battery price, so there's no bundle discount to chase.
What is the average candidate's registration spend?
About USD 109.85, from 3.38 subtest sittings per unique examinee at USD 32.50 each. That's our arithmetic on the Department's 34,252 administrations and 10,120 unique examinees, and it's below the battery price because not everyone sits all four.
Can this test cost nothing?
Yes. Rule 6A-4.0021(12) accepts qualifying GRE, SAT, ACT or CLT scores subtest by subtest, so a score report you already hold can satisfy the requirement for USD 0. GRE administrations count from 1 July 2015 and the others from 1 March 2016.