What happens on ParaPathways test day?

Where you can take it

You can test at home or at a test center. For both subtests together (5757), the fee is $75 at home and $59 at a test center.

Some test centers may charge additional proctoring fees, so the number on the fee list is not always the number you pay. Check the total with the center before you register rather than after.

A test center does not have to be a commercial testing site. Some school districts, regional offices of education and other agencies are participating test centers, and for those sites ETS tells you to contact the test center directly. If a district near you runs one, that is the address to write to.

The two subtests, timed separately

Reading & Writing (5758) is 51 questions in 85 minutes. Mathematics (5759) is 36 questions in 60 minutes. ETS splits the test into two separately timed subtests, so each one runs against its own clock rather than against a clock for the whole exam.

ETS does not publish whether the two subtests are sat together or on different dates, so take the arrangement from your own registration confirmation instead of from a general description of the exam. What the published rules do settle is the timing inside each subtest.

Practice each subtest against its own clock, so the time limit is one you have already met once. The subtest you have never run against a stopwatch is the one worth timing yourself on first.

At home: no breaks, and a clock that does not stop

The at-home test has no scheduled breaks, and your test clock does not stop. Plan for focus rather than for pauses, because there is no scheduled break to count on and the clock runs either way.

At home you can view your unofficial scores on screen. Those on-screen numbers are unofficial, so read them as a pointer to what to study next rather than as the result your state will read.

What a test center does not let into the room

At a test center, ETS lists the prohibited aids: calculators, watches, books, notes, rulers, dictionaries and translators. None of them goes into the room with you, and that list is the one to read before you pack rather than on the way there.

The calculator on that list is not a gap, because an on-screen four-function calculator is provided on the Mathematics subtest. The arithmetic you would have done on your own calculator is done on the screen instead. Our ParaPathways calculator page covers the provided calculator and the prohibited-aids list in more detail.

Asking for an accommodation before the test

Test accommodations are requested in advance, not decided on the day. They cover a disability, and they also cover a test taker whose primary language is not English.

For the language request, ETS has to receive the forms at least 3 weeks before the test date, which makes it an early decision rather than a last-minute one. Our ParaPathways in Spanish page covers that request end to end, including what the forms are and the extra testing time it can allow.

Frequently asked questions

What to do before the day

Take the free ParaPathways practice test first, so the subtest lengths and the time pressure are familiar before they count.

Our study book covers every skill on both subtests, in English and Spanish.