United States
Hong KongCan you take one FTCE subtest at a time?
Yes. The four subtests are registered, sat and passed separately, and the rule's own fee schedule has a single-subtest registration at USD 32.50. Splitting them costs nothing extra, because the price per subtest is flat whether you buy one or all four. Each pass you collect is permanent.
Not only can you, the fee schedule is built for it. Florida prices a single subtest at exactly a quarter of the full battery, which tells you how the Department expects candidates to behave.
The four subtests, and what each one costs to sit alone
| Subtest | Code | Questions | Minutes | Alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 825 | One written response | 50 | USD 32.50 |
| English Language Skills | 826 | 30 | 40 | USD 32.50 |
| Reading | 827 | 30 | 55 | USD 32.50 |
| Mathematics | 828 | 35 | 100 | USD 32.50 |
Two subtests is USD 65, three is USD 97.50 and the full battery is USD 130. Flat, all the way along.
What splitting actually buys you
Time and attention. Sitting all four in one appointment means 245 minutes of testing plus a scheduled 15-minute break, and Mathematics comes at the end of it. Sitting one means you walk in having revised a single body of material, and you walk out knowing your result the same day for any of the three multiple-choice subtests.
It also means four trips to a test center. That is the real cost, and for a candidate an hour from the nearest Pearson center it may outweigh everything else on this page.
What splitting costs you
Momentum, mostly. Roughly two in five candidates retake at least one subtest, and a plan spread over six months has more places to stall than a plan aimed at one morning. We think the right compromise for most people is two appointments rather than four: pair the two language subtests, then take Mathematics and the essay when you are ready for them.
That is our opinion and not FLDOE guidance. The Department publishes nothing about which order works best, and we have no data of our own on it either.
Nothing you pass is ever at risk
A passing subtest score does not expire, and you cannot retake a subtest you have passed. So a pass collected in one sitting sits on your record while you work on the rest, however long that takes. There is no window to beat and no penalty for going slowly.
Common questions
Can you take one FTCE subtest at a time?
Yes. Each of the four subtests is registered, sat and passed separately, and the rule's fee schedule includes a single-subtest registration at USD 32.50. You can sit them in any order and over any period you like.
Is it more expensive to take the subtests separately?
No. The per-subtest price is flat at USD 32.50, so four single registrations cost the same USD 130 as booking the full battery. What you pay for by splitting is extra trips to the test center.
Which subtest should I sit first?
FLDOE publishes no guidance on order. Our suggestion is to pair English Language Skills with Reading, since the material overlaps, and to take Mathematics separately because it is the longest subtest at 100 minutes.
Do I have to finish all four within a time limit?
No. A passing subtest score does not expire, so there is no window inside which the set has to be completed. You do have one year from a registration to book the appointment it covers.
Can I sit two subtests and add the others later?
Yes. Two subtests is a USD 65 registration and the rest can be booked whenever you want, in any order. Passes you already hold stay on your record permanently and cannot be retaken, so nothing is at risk while you wait.