The four subtests, and why they are four

Four codes, four registrations, four passes. A candidate who fails Mathematics and passes the other three retakes Mathematics alone, for USD 32.50, and keeps the three passes forever.

That structure is the single most useful thing to understand before you plan any of it.

The four at a glance

Competency and skill counts come from Section 82 of the Twenty-Eighth Edition of the competencies document, which Rule 6A-4.0021 incorporates by reference. They are the rule's own counts, not an estimate.

English Language Skills (826)

Three competencies: knowledge of language structure, knowledge of vocabulary application, and knowledge of standard English conventions. Nineteen skills between them, and twelve of those nineteen sit under conventions alone.

So this is a grammar, punctuation and usage subtest wearing a broader name. It also has the tightest clock on the test. Thirty questions in 40 minutes.

Reading (827)

Three competencies again: key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of information and ideas - all of them based on text selections. Seventeen skills, and eight of them are under key ideas and details.

Reading has the highest published cut of the three multiple choice subtests, at most 70 percent correct for a scaled 200, and the highest first-attempt pass rate, at 78 percent. Those two facts pull in opposite directions and both are true. The standard is higher and people clear it anyway.

Mathematics (828)

Four competencies: number sense, concepts and operations; geometry and measurement; algebraic thinking and the coordinate plane; and probability, statistics and data interpretation. Twenty-one skills, the most of any subtest, spread over 35 questions and 100 minutes.

Fourteen of those twenty-one skills sit under algebra and statistics together. An on-screen calculator and a reference sheet are supplied.

The essay (825)

One competency and 11 skills, one written response to a choice of one to four prompts, 50 minutes. At least two independent qualified raters score it at standardized scoring sessions and their scores are summed. The passing total is 6.

It also has the lowest first-attempt pass rate of the four, at 64 percent, and it is the one we cannot help you with directly. We teach the essay subtest in a chapter of its own and we do not mark essays. Several competitors do, and if written feedback is what you need, that is a real reason to look elsewhere for it.

Why the split matters more than the content

Because passing status is assessment-level. The Department's position is that where an examination has multiple subtests, you need passing scores on all of them to be recorded as having passed. One weak subtest holds up the whole requirement.

Run the four published first-attempt rates together and roughly a quarter of candidates clear all four the first time. That multiplication is ours and it assumes the four results are independent, which is a simplification - a strong reader is probably a strong writer. The compound first-attempt rate page shows the arithmetic and the corroboration.