What Is FTCE ENG 013 Certification?

What FTCE ENG 013 Actually Certifies

FTCE English 6-12 (013) is the Florida Teacher Certification Examination subject-area test that verifies a candidate's readiness to teach English Language Arts to secondary students in grades 6 through 12. It is administered under Florida Department of Education (FDOE) rules - specifically Rule 6A-4.0021 F.A.C. and Section 1012.56, Florida Statutes - and it is developed and delivered by the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson through computer-based testing at Pearson VUE test centers.

This is not a generic "English teacher" credential you can earn through any state; it is Florida-specific and tied directly to the state's certification pipeline for public school English teachers. If your goal is to add an English 6-12 endorsement to a Florida teaching certificate, FTCE ENG 013 is the subject-area exam FDOE requires you to pass. For a plain-language breakdown of what the acronym covers and how it differs from similarly named credentials elsewhere, see our companion piece on what FTCE ENG 013 is.

Who Takes This Exam and Why

Because Florida imposes no prerequisites and no eligibility screening for registration, anyone can sign up and sit for FTCE ENG 013 - including candidates who are still finishing coursework, career-changers pursuing alternative certification, and out-of-state teachers seeking Florida reciprocity. School districts, charter networks, and private schools seeking state-certified English faculty use a passing score as documented proof of subject-matter competency when hiring for middle and high school English positions. If you're mapping out how this credential fits into an actual teaching career, our guides on FTCE ENG 013 jobs and salary outcomes tied to the certification go into more detail, and our requirements breakdown covers how the exam fits alongside degree and program requirements for full certification.

Exam Format: Two Independent Sections

FTCE ENG 013 is split into two sections that have been administered, scored, and reported independently since January 1, 2015. That structure matters practically: if you fail only one section, you retake only that section - you do not have to redo a section you already passed.

• Multiple-Choice Section: approximately 60 scored multiple-choice questions in 1 hour 30 minutes. Forms may include unscored field-test items mixed in, which don't count toward your score but are indistinguishable from scored questions on-screen.
• Written Performance Section: one essay task, completed in 1 hour.

Combined, total seated testing time is 2 hours 30 minutes. Testing is offered Monday through Saturday at Pearson VUE centers, giving candidates considerably more scheduling flexibility than exams limited to weekday-only windows. For a full walkthrough of scheduling logistics, testing windows, and how far in advance to book a seat, check the exam dates guide.

The Eight Content Domains

FTCE ENG 013 organizes its content into eight domains. Domains 1 through 7 are tested through the multiple-choice section; Domain 8 is entirely covered by the written performance essay.

For a deeper breakdown of exactly what question types and sub-skills appear under each competency, see the full exam domains guide, and if you're trying to gauge overall difficulty before committing to a study timeline, our difficulty guide walks through what makes each section challenging.

Registration, Fees, and Testing Locations

Registration for FTCE ENG 013 costs $150 to sit for both sections in one appointment, or $75 to sit for a single section - and that pricing is identical whether it's your first attempt or a retake. There's no separate "retake surcharge." Testing happens at Pearson VUE centers Monday through Saturday, which - combined with the 45 Florida sites, 284 out-of-state sites, and 91 military/DoD-only sites available in 2025 - gives candidates a wide window to schedule around work or coursework.

Fee waivers exist but apply only to initial attempts, not retakes. They're available to active-duty military members, honorably discharged veterans and their spouses or surviving spouses under the Don Hahnfeldt Act, and to retired first responders. For a complete cost breakdown including waiver eligibility details and what happens if you need both sections vs. just one, see the certification cost guide.

How Scoring and Passing Actually Work

Passing FTCE ENG 013 requires clearing two separate thresholds, one per section:

• Multiple-Choice Section: a scaled score of at least 200.
• Written Performance Section: at least 5 out of 8 total points on the rubric.

The 5-out-of-8 written performance standard took effect January 1, 2025, replacing a previous 8-out-of-12 rubric. The essay is scored holistically by two independent raters, each applying a 1-to-4 scale, so the two scores combine for a maximum of 8 points. FDOE also publishes 67 percent as the maximum percentage of correct answers needed to pass a multiple-choice form (a figure updated February 2, 2026) - but because forms are equated for difficulty, a harder form can require fewer correct answers to hit the same scaled score of 200.

Score reporting timing differs by section: multiple-choice results appear at the test center immediately, with the comprehensive score report following about two weeks later; essay scores take roughly four weeks to release since human raters have to score each response. For the exact numeric targets and what they mean in practice, see the dedicated passing score guide, and for how these standards translate into real outcomes, our pass rate analysis covers the official 2025 and 2022-2025 data in detail.

Retake Rules and Score Validity Windows

There is no cap on the total number of attempts you can make at FTCE ENG 013, but timing rules govern when you can retest:

• A failed test, subtest, or section can be retaken after 31 calendar days.
• A passed test, subtest, or section cannot be retaken for three years.
• Violating either window invalidates the new score, and no score report is issued for that attempt.

Once you pass, that score remains usable for certification applications submitted within 10 years of the test date, and the score report itself stays accessible in your candidate account for five years. Since the two sections are scored independently, you can pass one, fail the other, and only worry about the failed section's 31-day retake window going forward - no need to retest the section you already cleared.

Mapping a Study Plan to the Domain Weights

Because Domain 2 (communication skills, techniques, and processes) carries the heaviest multiple-choice weight at 18 percent, followed by Domain 4 (literary and informational texts) at 17 percent, an efficient study sequence front-loads those two areas before moving to the smaller-weighted domains and finally isolating essay practice for Domain 8.

Generic study techniques like spaced repetition or timed practice blocks only help if they're applied to the right content in the right order - spending equal time on Domain 5 (10%) and Domain 2 (18%) wastes preparation hours. For a fully sequenced study plan built around these exact weightings, see the FTCE ENG 013 study guide. You can also run full-length timed practice sets on our practice test platform to simulate both the multiple-choice pacing and the essay time constraint before test day.

Frequently Asked Questions