United States
Hong KongFTCE General Knowledge pass rates, subtest by subtest
First-attempt pass rates in 2025 were 64% essay, 68% English Language Skills, 78% Reading and 71% Mathematics. Best-attempt rates were 79%, 83%, 86% and 83%. FLDOE publishes these four rows and no combined figure, because the four subtests are registered and passed separately.
This is the reference page for the numbers. Eight published figures, two columns, and a short account of what each column is counting. If you want the argument about what they add up to, that is the compound first-attempt page and not this one.
The 2025 rates
| Subtest | Code | First attempt | Best attempt | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 825 | 64% | 79% | 15 points |
| English Language Skills | 826 | 68% | 83% | 15 points |
| Reading | 827 | 78% | 86% | 8 points |
| Mathematics | 828 | 71% | 83% | 12 points |
Source is the FTCE/FELE 2025 Annual Administration and Technical Report. We verified these against the report on 5 September 2026.
What "first attempt" and "best attempt" are counting
First attempt is the share of candidates who passed the subtest the first time they sat it. Best attempt is the share who passed it at some point across every attempt they made. Both are per subtest, and both are per person rather than per sitting, which matters on a test where 25.4% of all administrations are retakes.
So the difference between the two columns is the retake effect, isolated. Essay and English Language Skills each gain 15 points from it. Reading gains 8.
Why the gaps are not the same size
A subtest with a low first-attempt rate has more room to improve, so some of the spread is arithmetic. But not all of it. Reading starts highest and gains least, which is consistent with reading comprehension being the hardest of the four to move in thirty days. Conventions and essay structure are learnable in a way that reading speed is not.
That is an interpretation, not a finding. FLDOE publishes the rates and no explanation of them, and we are reading the shape of two columns.
The pass rate is not the pass mark
- Pass mark
- Scaled score of 200, per subtest
- English Language Skills
- At most 63% correct, so at most 19 of 30
- Reading
- At most 70% correct, so at most 21 of 30
- Mathematics
- At most 63% correct, so at most 22 of 35
- Essay
- Two raters, scores summed, passing total 6
The percentages are FLDOE's published maximums, not fixed thresholds, and the conversions into question counts are ours. A harder version of a subtest may require slightly fewer correct answers, which is why every one of those rows says "at most".
There is no combined pass rate and you should be suspicious of one
If a site gives you a single FTCE General Knowledge pass rate, it has either quoted one subtest and dropped the label, or it has invented something. The department does not publish a combined figure. We do publish a derived one, we get it by multiplying the four first-attempt rates, and we say so every single time it appears.
One number that is worth putting next to the rates: 37.2% of General Knowledge candidates retook at least one subtest in 2025. That is a published figure, not a derived one, and it corroborates the picture the two columns paint. What that retake rate means for your money and your calendar is a separate question from what it means statistically.
How to use these numbers when you plan
- Plan against the weakest subtest, not the average. Your outcome is decided by the one you are worst at, because all four have to pass
- Do not treat 78% as reassurance. It is the friendliest of four rows and it applies to one of the four gates
- Read the improvement column as a budget line. Most candidates who come back pass, and coming back costs $32.50 and thirty days
Our opinion on the data, since we have spent a while in it: the most under-read row on this page is English Language Skills at 68%. It is the second-lowest first-attempt rate on the test and it belongs to the subtest people assume is free.
Common questions
What is the FTCE General Knowledge pass rate?
There is no single rate. FLDOE publishes one per subtest for 2025: 64% essay, 68% English Language Skills, 78% Reading and 71% Mathematics at first attempt. All four subtests have to be passed for the test as a whole to be passed.
What is the best-attempt pass rate for the FTCE?
79% for the essay, 83% for English Language Skills, 86% for Reading and 83% for Mathematics. Best attempt counts everyone who passed the subtest at any point across all their attempts, so the gap from first attempt is the retake effect.
Which subtest has the lowest pass rate?
The essay, at 64% at first attempt and 79% at best attempt. English Language Skills is next at 68% and 83%. Both gain 15 points from retakes, the largest improvement of the four subtests.
Where do these pass rates come from?
The FTCE/FELE 2025 Annual Administration and Technical Report, published by the Florida Department of Education. It reports pass rates by subtest and by attempt type, plus administration and examinee counts for every FTCE and FELE examination.
How many candidates retake a subtest?
37.2% of General Knowledge candidates retook at least one subtest in 2025. That was 3,760 people generating 8,717 retake administrations, which is 25.4% of all General Knowledge sittings that year.