United States
Hong KongWhy key ideas carries the Reading subtest
Eight of the 17 Reading skills sit under Knowledge of key ideas and details. Apportion the published 30 questions by skill count and that competency takes about 14, against nine for craft and structure and seven for integration. The 30 is FLDOE's. The split is ours.
FLDOE publishes one number for this subtest and one number only: 30 questions. Everything below that, on this site or anywhere else, is somebody's estimate.
Here is ours, with the working, because an estimate you cannot check is a guess with a confident voice.
The derivation
| Competency | Skills in the rule | Share of skills | Share of 30 questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Key ideas and details | 8 | 8 of 17 | about 14 |
| 2. Craft and structure | 5 | 5 of 17 | about 9 |
| 3. Integration of information and ideas | 4 | 4 of 17 | about 7 |
| Total | 17 | 17 of 17 | 30 |
One assumption carries it: that FLDOE weights a competency in proportion to the number of skills it states under it. The rule does not say that. It is a reasonable inference for a test assembled from a skills list, and it is the only method available from published documents.
The 30-question total is FLDOE's, from the Test Structure document effective 1 January 2026. The skill counts are the state's, from Section 82 of the Twenty-Eighth Edition. The 14, the nine and the seven are ours, and every page on this site that uses them says so.
Set the 14 against the pass mark
Reading passes at a scaled 200, which FLDOE publishes as at most 70% correct: 21 of 30, and the highest cut on the whole test. Rule 6A-4.0021(7)(c) gives the same figure from the other direction, stating 21 correct items as the equivalent raw score on the forms used at the last standard setting.
So you can drop nine questions and pass. On our split, Competency 1 alone is bigger than your entire margin for error. Get half of it wrong and you are finished before the other two competencies are counted.
This is the tightest of the three cuts
| Subtest | Questions | Published cut | About this many correct | Wrong answers you can afford |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Skills (826) | 30 | at most 63% | 19 | 11 |
| Reading (827) | 30 | at most 70% | 21 | 9 |
| Mathematics (828) | 35 | at most 63% | 22 | 13 |
Every one of those percentages is a published maximum rather than a fixed threshold, so a harder version of a subtest may require slightly fewer correct answers. The correct-answer figures are our arithmetic on those percentages, and two of the three are corroborated by the raw scores stated in the rule.
What it changes about revision
Spend your Reading time on Competency 1. It is the largest block on our estimate, and its eight skills are the ones that respond fastest to method: evidence location, inference discipline, and refusing to answer from outside knowledge.
Do not skip Competency 3. It is about seven questions on our split, which is most of your nine-question margin, and it contains the argument-evaluation skill that is the hardest thing on the subtest to build late.
What it changes about buying materials
Ask any prep product how its Reading coverage is weighted. If it gives the three competencies equal airtime, it has assumed three competencies means three equal parts, and the rule does not support that.
The same test applies to us. Our coverage is weighted by the arithmetic above, the arithmetic is ours, and if FLDOE ever publishes a real weighting that contradicts it, the published weighting wins and we rebuild. We also do not mark essays, and no readiness figure we publish covers the essay subtest.
The retake picture, honestly
Reading passed 78% of first-attempt candidates in 2025 and 86% at best attempt. That eight-point gain is the smallest of the four subtests, and it is the strongest argument on this page for changing method rather than simply booking again. A retake is USD 32.50, at least thirty days after your previous administration of that subtest.
Common questions
What is most heavily tested on the FTCE Reading subtest?
Knowledge of key ideas and details. Eight of the seventeen skills the rule states for this subtest sit under it, which on our apportionment is about 14 of the 30 published questions. Craft and structure and integration share the rest.
Is the per-competency split published?
No. FLDOE publishes 30 questions for the subtest and nothing below that. Our split apportions the 30 across the three competencies in proportion to the number of skills the rule states under each, and every page using it labels it as ours.
How many Reading questions can I get wrong?
About nine. A scaled 200 passes and FLDOE publishes that as at most 70% correct, which is 21 of 30, the highest cut on the test. Because the percentage is a maximum, a harder version may require slightly fewer correct answers.
Which competency should I revise first?
Competency 1, on our estimate the largest at about 14 questions, and the one whose skills respond fastest to technique. Leave enough time for Competency 3, because at about seven questions it is most of your nine-question margin for error.