United States
Hong KongThe FTCE for recent education graduates: check your SAT score first
Check your college admissions scores before you pay anything. Rule 6A-4.0021(12) accepts SAT, ACT and CLT results from 1 March 2016 onward, subtest by subtest, and a recent graduate's scores usually clear that cutoff. An SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing 560 covers three of the four subtests.
This is the one group for whom the alternative-score route is usually live, and the one group least likely to have been told about it. If you finished high school after early 2016, your admissions test scores are inside the window.
The thresholds, and what each one covers
| Subtest | SAT | ACT |
|---|---|---|
| Essay (825) | Evidence-Based Reading & Writing 560 | English 22 |
| English Language Skills (826) | Evidence-Based Reading & Writing 560 | English 22 |
| Reading (827) | Evidence-Based Reading & Writing 560 | Reading 23 |
| Mathematics (828) | Mathematics 540 | Mathematics 22 |
Note the shape of the SAT column. A single Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score of 560 appears against three of the four subtests, so one number on an old score report can take three quarters of this test off your plate. The GRE and CLT routes work the same way with their own thresholds, and the full table lives with the licensing detail.
SAT, ACT and CLT administrations count from 1 March 2016 onward. GRE administrations count from 1 July 2015 onward. A score below the cutoff date does not qualify regardless of how high it was, and the Department decides whether a particular score satisfies the requirement, not us.
So the first task is not studying. It is finding your score report. If it covers all four subtests you have saved $130 and several weeks.
If it only covers some of them, that is still worth having
The requirement is satisfied subtest by subtest, which fits the way the examination is registered. A graduate whose SAT verbal score qualifies but whose math does not sits Mathematics alone for $32.50 instead of the full battery at $130.
That also changes what you should study. One subtest, four competencies, 21 skills, 100 minutes on the day. A far smaller job than preparing for everything.
If you are in a preparation program, watch the essay lag
Programs generally want the General Knowledge requirement evidenced by a deadline, and the natural response is to book all four subtests at once and be done. There is a catch in the timing.
- Multiple-choice results
- Scored immediately at the test center
- Essay result
- About four weeks, scored by two raters
- Retake wait
- 30 days from the previous administration
- Essay first-attempt pass rate
- 64%
Three of your four results arrive the same afternoon. The fourth takes about a month, and it is the one most likely to be a fail. If your program deadline is six weeks away, sitting the essay in week five is cutting it fine even if you pass. Sit the essay early and the rest whenever.
What being a recent graduate does and does not buy you
It helps on Reading. That subtest passes 78% of first-time candidates, the highest of the four, and reading academic prose under time pressure is something you have been doing continuously for four years.
It helps less than you would expect on English Language Skills, which passes 68%. Twelve of that subtest's 19 skills sit under standard English conventions, and conventions is the part of English that a degree does not drill. Nobody has marked your commas since middle school.
One opinion: the recent-graduate advantage on this test is real but narrow, and it is concentrated entirely in Reading. The published gap between 78% and 68% is our evidence for that, and it is a gap in outcomes rather than a study of who took each subtest, so treat it as suggestive.
One thing we are not
Sitonce is not a Florida-approved teacher preparation program and cannot satisfy any part of a certification route that requires one. Approval has a specific meaning here. We sell practice for an examination; your program is a separate thing and nothing we do substitutes for it.
Common questions
Can my SAT score replace the FTCE General Knowledge Test?
It can satisfy the requirement subtest by subtest if the administration was on or after 1 March 2016. Rule 6A-4.0021(12) lists Evidence-Based Reading and Writing 560 against the essay, English Language Skills and Reading, and Mathematics 540 against the Mathematics subtest.
What ACT scores satisfy the FTCE general knowledge requirement?
English 22 for the essay and English Language Skills, Reading 23 for Reading, and Mathematics 22 for Mathematics. The administration has to be on or after 1 March 2016, and FLDOE decides whether a particular score qualifies.
Do I still have to take the FTCE if my scores only cover some subtests?
You sit only the subtests your scores do not cover, at $32.50 each. The requirement is satisfied subtest by subtest, which lines up with how the examination is registered and passed.
How long does it take to get FTCE results?
The three multiple-choice subtests are scored immediately at the test center. The essay is rated by two people at a scoring session and takes about four weeks, so plan around that gap if you have a program deadline.
Which subtest do recent graduates find hardest?
The essay, at 64% first-attempt, then English Language Skills at 68%. Reading is the friendliest at 78%, which is the one place a recent degree plausibly helps, since conventions and timed essay writing are not things a degree rehearses.