Praxis Core Study Guide: What's on the Reading, Writing, and Math Tests

What's on the Praxis Core? Three tests at a glance

Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators is three separate, computer-delivered ETS tests for people entering teacher preparation programs: Reading (5713), 56 questions in 85 minutes; Writing (5723), 40 selected-response questions and two 30-minute essays in 100 minutes; and Mathematics (5733), 56 questions in 90 minutes. You can register for them one at a time or as Core Combined (5752), which puts all three on one date. Each test is scored on its own, and your state or agency sets the passing score. So start by finding out which of the three your program or state still needs from you.

The question counts come from each test's Study Companion, and each test may include pretest questions that do not count toward your score. For Writing and Mathematics, ETS adds that the number of questions in a content category can vary from one form to another, so treat the category counts below as approximate, exactly as ETS labels them.

What does Praxis Core Reading (5713) test?

The Reading test has three content categories. ETS gives each one an approximate number of questions and an approximate share of the test.

The passages come in four shapes: paired passages of about 200 words in total with four to seven questions, single long passages of about 200 words with four to seven questions, short passages of about 100 words with two or three questions, and brief statements with a single question. Sources range from newspapers and journals to novels, online articles, and visuals such as graphs, maps, and floor plans.

The rule that matters most for study is one ETS states plainly: every question can be answered from the passage, and none needs outside knowledge of the topic. So the skill to practice is proof. For each answer you pick, point to the sentence that supports it, and reject any choice that adds a fact the passage never gives. That habit also guards against a tempting kind of wrong answer: a choice that may be true in real life but is not supported by the text. To see how that split shapes practice, see how full Praxis Core prep planned for launch divides its 442 Reading questions across these three categories.

What's on Praxis Core Writing (5723)?

Writing is the only Praxis Core test with essays, and it runs in three separately timed sections.

1. Selected-response, 40 questions in 40 minutes. ETS divides it into usage (spot the error, or recognize a sentence with none), sentence correction (choose the best way to restate a phrase), revision in context (strengthen a passage through editing), and research skills (judge sources, recognize the parts of a citation, choose a research strategy). ETS says you do not need formal grammar terminology.
2. Argumentative essay, 30 minutes. You take a position and support it with reasons and examples drawn from your own experience, observation, or reading.
3. Informative/explanatory essay, 30 minutes. You draw information from two provided sources to explain the important concerns in an issue, and you cite each source you use.

The two content categories are weighted 60/40, but not the way the question count suggests.

Most of the 40 selected-response questions sit in the 40% category, while the 60% category holds only 6 to 12 of them plus both essays. In other words, the grammar, usage, and research questions make up 40% of the Writing weight, and the essays deserve real practice time, not a last-day read-through.

According to ETS's score guide, each essay is rated on a six-point holistic scale for its overall quality, by a trained human reader and by e-rater, ETS's essay-scoring software. When the two ratings agree, they are added; when they differ by more than a set amount, another human scorer settles it. Your score report shows the selected-response points and the essay points separately, which helps you see which part to work on if you retest. For the selected-response skills, planned Praxis Core prep sets aside 316 Writing questions across the two categories.

What's on Praxis Core Math (5733)?

The Mathematics test has three content categories, and ETS publishes an approximate question count for each.

Number and Quantity covers fractions, decimals, ratios, percents, constant rates, place value, factors and primes, and unit conversion; ETS assumes basic knowledge of U.S. customary and metric units. The data category asks you to read graphs and tables, work with mean, median, and spread, judge scatterplots, tell correlation from causation, and compute simple probabilities. Algebra and Geometry runs from writing and solving linear equations to angles, similar figures, and the area and volume formulas.

The format differs from many school tests. Some questions ask for one answer from five choices, some ask you to select one or more answers, and some ask you to type a number or a fraction. You get an on-screen four-function calculator. For the skills list in detail, worked examples, and a preparation plan, read Praxis Core Math: what's tested and how to prepare.

Should you take the Praxis Core Combined test (5752)?

ETS's fees for Praxis Core, as checked on November 1, 2026, are $90 for one test, $180 for two tests registered together, $270 for three tests registered together, and $150 for Core Combined (5752). The Combined price is $120 less than three separate tests, but ETS sets a condition: you must take all three tests at the same time, on the same test date, and you register with code 5752.

That condition is the real decision. The three tests' published times add up to 275 minutes, or 4 hours and 35 minutes of testing, before check-in. Combined suits a candidate who needs all three and is ready in all three. If you have already met your requirement in one test, or one subject needs another month, register only for the tests you still need. Each test is scored separately, so a test you have already passed does not have to be retaken with the others.

ETS's Core test pages offer testing at home online or at a test center, and they carry a reminder worth following: make sure your certifying state accepts the test before you register. When you know which tests you are taking, full Praxis Core prep planned for launch organizes its questions by these three tests and eight content categories.

How is the Praxis Core scored, and what score do you need?

Each Praxis Core test reports a scaled score from 100 to 200, in steps of two points, according to ETS's score statistics. The scaled score adjusts for the difficulty of the form you took, so a raw count of correct answers does not translate into the same scaled score on every form.

ETS does not set a passing score. ETS says passing scores are set by the state or licensing agency, not by ETS, and that they vary by state. Look up the requirement for your state or agency on ETS's Passing Scores by State page, and confirm it with your teacher preparation program, which may have its own rules for how it uses Core scores.

A few score rules shape test day:

• Tests made up only of selected-response questions, such as Reading, offer an unofficial score at the end of the session. Tests with essays, such as Writing, show no unofficial score, because the essays must be rated first.
• Your score report lists the raw points you earned and the points available in each content category, which tells you where to focus next.
• Score reports include your highest score on each test taken in the past 10 years.
• To retest, wait at least 28 days after the previous test date. ETS cancels scores from a retest taken sooner and does not refund the fee.

If a retest is ahead, the free Praxis Core retake planner turns your category results into a schedule for those 28 or more days.

Which Praxis Core rules apply if you test in 2027?

ETS's bulletin, The Praxis Tests Information Bulletin 2026–2027, covers the testing year from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027, and it states that the Praxis program has no new assessments for that testing year. ETS's test pages still list Reading 5713, Writing 5723, Mathematics 5733, and Core Combined 5752, as checked on November 1, 2026. So for a test date through July 31, 2027, the tests and the 28-day retake rule described here are the ones the current bulletin sets, and its fees are the ones listed above. ETS notes that its fees, terms, and conditions are subject to change, so recheck the fee when you register, and read the next bulletin for a later test date.

How to build a Praxis Core study plan from this outline

Work from the requirement down, not from the outline up.

1. Confirm which tests you need. Check your state's requirement and your program's rules, and drop any test you have already passed.
2. Weight time inside each test by its categories. In Reading, the two 35% categories get the most time; in Math, Number and Quantity leads at 36%; in Writing, schedule timed essays alongside grammar.
3. Find your weak category with real questions. Try the 20 free Praxis Core practice questions, which cover all three tests, and note the category of each miss.
4. Put dates on it. The free Praxis Core study plan spreads your days across the tests you check and gives extra time to the category you name.

As your test date gets close, pace yourself the way the clock does: about 1.5 minutes per Reading question, 1 minute per Writing selected-response question, and about 1.6 minutes per Math question. For the terms and rules that are easiest to forget under time pressure, full Praxis Core prep at launch includes 450 flashcards sorted by content category.