Should I Study for Praxis 5001, 5205 and 5903, or Both? A Teacher Explains
The steam from our oat milk lattes was fogging up the kitchen window when Lila pushed her laptop across the table toward me. Her 4-year-old’s crayon drawing of a purple cat was taped to the back of the screen, and a half-eaten blueberry muffin sat forgotten next to the keyboard. She’s a para at my elementary school, working toward her teaching license, and she’d come to me with the same question I’ve gotten a dozen times over the last three years: should she study for Praxis 5001, 5205 and 5903, or both?
“TikTok says the two-test route is easier because I only study reading and math, not four whole subjects,” she said, stirring her latte so hard it spilled over the edge of the cup. “But another person said 5001 is cheaper and I only have to take one day off work. I don’t have time to study for both, and I can’t afford to pay for two tests if I don’t have to.”
I nodded, because I remembered being in her spot. When I got my first teaching license 12 years ago, I took 5001, and I made the stupid mistake of blowing off social studies and science review. I figured I’d picked up enough from student teaching to get by. I failed by 8 points, had to reschedule, pay another fee, and take another day off work to cram all that forgotten content I’d skipped. I knew exactly how overwhelming this choice feels when you’re already juggling work, family, and tuition bills.
For anyone who hasn’t navigated elementary education Praxis requirements lately, the basics are simple: ETS, the company that makes the tests, offers two common paths to meet most states’ multiple subject requirements. Praxis 5001 is a single exam that covers four core areas: reading and language arts, math, social studies, and science. 5205 and 5903 are two separate exams, one for elementary reading/language arts and one for elementary math, and most states and licensure programs accept these two in place of the full 5001. That’s where the confusion comes in—when both options are allowed, how do you pick?
First, I pulled up her state’s department of education website on my phone right there at the table, and had her confirm what her program actually accepted. So many people make their choice based on random social media takes, and I’ve seen half a dozen people pick the wrong set of tests entirely because their state didn’t accept the combo they studied for. It takes 15 minutes to pull up the official licensure requirements, and if you can’t find it, shoot a quick email to your program’s advisor. That small first step saves hundreds of dollars and months of wasted time. Lila’s state and online licensure program did accept both, so we moved forward.
Next, we talked about cost. Lila was paying for everything out of pocket, between daycare tuition and her program fees. 5001 costs around $130 total. 5205 and 5903 are each around $130, so that’s $260 total before you add in study materials, gas to the test center, and a half day off work for each exam. That’s a huge difference for most aspiring teachers, who are almost always living paycheck to paycheck. For someone on a tight budget, that alone can be enough to nudge you toward 5001.
Then we walked through what she actually knew, and how much time she had to study. Lila’s worked as a 2nd grade para for five years. She leads small group reading and math every single day. She hadn’t taken a science or social studies content class since she got her associate’s degree seven years ago. When I joked and asked her to name the three branches of government, she laughed and said “Executive, legislative, and… grocery?” She only had two hours a night, three nights a week, to study after her kid went to bed and before she had to sleep for a 7 a.m. work start time. Cramming four subjects into that time would mean cutting corners somewhere, which is exactly what I did that first time I tested.
Lila then asked the big follow up: should she study for both, just in case she failed one? I told her that’s almost never worth it. Studying for both means doubling your study load, spreading your focus thin, and you’re far more likely to do poorly on both than you are to have a safety net. The only time taking both makes sense is if you already took one, failed a section, and your state lets you substitute the other test to make up your score. I had a colleague who took 5001, passed everything but math, and she was able to take just 5903 to meet the requirement instead of retaking the whole 5001. That saved her from studying all four subjects again, so that made sense. But studying for both from the start? It’s just unnecessary stress.
Lila ended up going with the two-test route. She bought used $20 study guides for each test, blocked out her study nights on the fridge calendar, and got to work. Two months later, she texted me a screenshot of passing scores for both. She paid more up front, but she passed the first time, which saved her the stress and cost of retesting. A few months after that, a recent college grad I mentor named Mia asked me the same question. She’d just finished all her elementary content classes, still had all her science and social studies notes fresh, was on a tight budget, and had a full month of winter break to study. She went with 5001, passed on the first try, saved $130, and that worked perfectly for her.
I still get this question at least once a semester from new teachers working through their license. There’s no universal “easier” option, which is the frustrating part most social media posts leave out. The right choice depends on your bank account, your schedule, and what you actually remember from your college classes. Last week, Lila came back to the school to drop off her contract for the 2nd grade teaching job she starts this fall. Her kid ran through the hallway chasing a butterfly, and she told me she still thinks about how stressed she was that night we looked at the Praxis website together. For her, the extra cost was worth passing the first time. It’s not a one-size-fits-all answer, but it’s the answer that fit her life.
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