Should I Study for Praxis 5001 or 5205 and 5903? A Current Elementary Teacher Breaks It Down
The rain streaked the coffee shop window on Tuesday, and Lila’s oat milk latte had gone lukewarm while she refreshed the ETS Praxis website for the third time in five minutes. She’s my former student teacher, a senior finishing up her elementary education degree, and she’d come to me after her advisor dropped a confusing choice in her lap: she could study for and take the single 5001 Multi-Subject Elementary Education exam, or take the two separate 5205 Reading and 5903 Mathematics exams, and she wasn’t sure if she should even bother signing up for both just in case. I slid my half-empty drip coffee across the table and leaned back – I’d had the exact same panic attack sitting where she was eight years ago, back when I paid my rent with babysitting shifts and counted every dollar for exam fees.
Her laptop had a chipped edge and an orange cat sticker on the back, her tattered Praxis study guide had a coffee stain blurring the page on fractions, and she kept picking at the loose thread on her university hoodie while she talked. “I don’t get why there are two options anyway,” she said. “Why can’t they just make one test for elementary ed?”
I explained that when ETS redesigned the elementary Praxis a few years back, they split out core content areas to align with common endorsement requirements. That’s how we ended up with two separate paths, and which one you pick depends entirely on your situation. We started walking through hers. First, she told me she wants to get a K-12 reading endorsement within three years of graduating, because most 2nd grade positions at our district’s Title I schools pay a small stipend for endorsed teachers. I asked her how she handles long tests. She admitted she zones out and gets anxious after about two hours, and math already makes her nervous enough. Her roommate had taken 5001 the semester before, aced social studies, science, and reading, but missed the passing score on math by three points. She had to pay the full $130 fee again to retake the entire exam, even though she didn’t need to retake the other three sections. That sold her pretty quick on what might work for her, but we still walked through when 5001 makes sense.
My cousin took 5001 a couple of years ago, and it was perfect for her. She needed to get her license in six weeks to take a last-minute long-term substitute position that turned into a full-time job. She tests well, can cram four subjects into a month, and sits through four-hour exams no problem. She paid $130, passed on her first try, and was done. If you don’t need any extra endorsements down the line, you’re comfortable with long test days, and you need to wrap up your licensing requirements fast, 5001 is totally fine. It also works well if you like having all your studying wrapped up in one study guide and one test day, instead of spreading exams out over a couple of months.
The big question Lila asked, the one most people ask first, is whether she should sign up for both just to have a backup. “What if I fail the single exam? Wouldn’t it be safer to have the other option ready?” I told her that almost never makes sense. Right now, 5001 is $130, and 5205 and 5903 are $130 each – that’s $390 total if you sign up for all three, which is a month of groceries or two months of gas for most college students working part-time. The only time taking both makes any sense is if you already took 5001, failed one or two sections, and don’t want to retake the whole exam again. In that case, you can take just the separate 5205 or 5903 to cover the content you missed, instead of paying to retake everything. That’s it. Any other time, it’s just a waste of money you could be putting toward your first classroom supplies.
By the end of our coffee, we’d landed on three quick checks anyone can do to pick the right path for them, no endless scrolling required. First, pull up your state department of education’s official license page, not a Reddit thread or a 15-second TikTok. Double check that what you’re picking counts for your initial license, and check if any endorsement you think you might want in the next five years requires separate exams. In our state, 5205 counts for a reading endorsement, but the reading section of 5001 doesn’t. That’s a detail most people miss until they’re ready to apply for that endorsement two years down the line. Second, be honest about how you test and how much time you have. If you can cram four subjects, handle a four-hour test day, and need to get done fast, go with 5001. If you get test fatigue, struggle with one subject more than the others, or want to focus on one content area at a time, split it into 5205 and 5903. For people like Lila, that also means you don’t have to spend weeks studying social studies and science that you already passed your college content classes for, which frees up more time for the content you actually need to work on. Third, count your cash. 5001 is half the cost upfront. If money’s tight and you’re confident you’ll pass, that’s a big plus. If you can spread the cost out over a couple of paychecks, the split option saves you money if you have to retake one section.
Lila decided to go with 5205 and 5903. She could pay for one exam at a time with her nannying checks, study math for two weeks, take it, then move on to reading, which fits her schedule way better than cramming all four subjects into her free time between student teaching and evening shifts.
I texted with Lila last week. She took 5903 a month ago, got her passing score last Tuesday, and she’s spending this week going over reading comprehension frameworks for 5205 next Saturday. She still worries she’ll mix up phonemic awareness and phonics on test day, but she says it’s way less stress than the all-in-one test would’ve been. I get this question at least twice a semester from student teachers and people switching careers into elementary education, and there’s never a one-size-fits-all answer. What works for one person with a tight timeline and extra testing stamina doesn’t work for someone else with anxiety and plans to add an endorsement down the line. For right now, Lila’s plan is working for her, and that’s all that matters.
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