Achievable Praxis Core: Writing (5723)

Our Praxis Core: Writing course is currently in development and is a work-in-progress.

Getting started

6 min read

The basics

You’ve decided to become a teacher, and passing the Praxis Core exam is part of that journey. This guide walks you through what the Writing exam covers, how it’s structured, and what to expect on test day.

The Praxis Core exam aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts. It measures your academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Forty-six states use Praxis scores to help determine whether a candidate is qualified to become a teacher. However, some states require both the Praxis and state-issued tests, and the exam isn’t required in every state. Check your state’s requirements to make sure you’re preparing for the right test.

Not all states require the same passing score, but all require you to get at least 58% in Reading, 56% in Writing, and 52% in Math.

There are three parts to the test — Reading (5713), Writing (5723), and Math (5733). You can take each part separately, or take all three in one sitting by registering for the Praxis Core Combined Test (5752).

The writing test

The writing test is 100 minutes long and has three separately timed sections: a 40-minute selected-response section with 40 multiple-choice questions, and two 30-minute essays.

The selected-response questions are divided into four categories: word usage, sentence correction, revision-in-context, and research skills. You don’t need to know formal grammatical terminology — you just need to be able to recognize what’s right and what’s wrong.

The two essays test your ability to write effectively under time pressure. The argumentative essay asks you to support a position using your own experience, observations, or reading. The source-based essay — called the Informative/Explanatory essay in ETS’s official materials — asks you to read two short passages and explain why the concerns they raise matter, citing both sources along the way.

The exam’s content is weighted as follows:

Text Types, Purposes, and Production (both essays, plus a handful of selected-response questions) — 60%
Language and Research Skills for Writing (the bulk of the selected-response questions) — 40%

Each essay is scored holistically on a 6-point scale by a trained human reader. ETS also runs an automated scoring engine, called e-rater, alongside the human score to help keep scoring consistent.

Test anxiety

Test anxiety affects many people, including teachers. A little adrenaline can help you stay alert, but too much can make it harder to think clearly under pressure. That pressure is especially real on the essay portion, where a blank page and a ticking clock can make even confident writers freeze up.

It helps to remember two facts:

You can take the test as many times as you need to.
You can decide which set of scores to send.

On test day, treat the exam as another opportunity to apply what you’ve practiced. If you don’t get the score you hoped for, you can review what went wrong, adjust your study plan, and try again.

Best practices

Because this exam tests two different kinds of skill — grammar and mechanics on one hand and timed essay writing on the other — split your practice time between the two.

For the essay portion:

Outline before you write. Spend about ten percent of your allotted time (three to four minutes for a thirty-minute essay) organizing your ideas before you start writing. Writers who outline consistently score higher than those who don’t.
Stick to your outline. Don’t second-guess your ideas partway through just because you feel nervous.
Use formal diction. Avoid contractions, slang, and personal pronouns like “I” or “you” (unless the prompt asks about personal experience). Skip filler phrases like “I think” or “in my opinion” — the reader already knows the essay reflects your views.
Support your position. There’s no single “right answer” on either essay; what matters is that you back up your claims with specific reasons, examples, or evidence from the sources provided.

For the selected-response portion:

Don’t avoid selecting “No error.” Sentences that are already correct are a real answer choice, not a trap — don’t talk yourself into “fixing” something that isn’t broken.
Read the whole sentence. An error can hide anywhere in a long sentence, not just where your eye lands first.
Remember that sentence correction questions often reward the answer that’s clearest and most direct, not the one with the fanciest language.

Create a study plan

You can’t prepare for the Praxis without creating — and following! — a study plan.

Humans are creatures of habit. Think about it: how difficult is it to start a new diet or routine? The key is to take small, “bite-sized” steps. If you can allocate 20-30 minutes every day to studying, it will soon become part of your routine. As you get closer to your exam, allocate more time for your studies.

As you practice, watch for patterns in your errors and for question types that consistently challenge you. That information helps you pinpoint what to study next.

Make sure you read through the material, click “Complete” at the end of a chapter, and consistently do your assigned reviews. If you’re unsure about the process, review how to use the Achievable study program. Achievable is built to be “on the go” and easy to use on your phone. You can also turn the Achievable program into an app on your phone. The more accessible the program is, the more likely it is that you’ll do the work.

Final thoughts

The book’s final wrap-up includes more details about taking the Praxis Writing exam, including how to register, the cost, and test-taking options.

Feel free to explore this course at your own pace. Work through the course as prompted, starting with the textbook and continuing to practice problems and exams. Following the prompts with consistent, daily investment of time will yield great results. Remember, practice is key. With each question you tackle and each essay you draft, you’re building skills that go beyond the test and that will serve you well in in your career as a teacher. We’re here to help you succeed, and we’re excited to see all that you’ll achieve. Welcome again to the Achievable Praxis Writing Online Course!

Next | 1.1 Writing basics

Getting started

The basics

The Praxis Core exam aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts. It measures your academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Not all states require the same passing score, but all require you to get at least 58% in Reading, 56% in Writing, and 52% in Math.

The writing test

The writing test is 100 minutes long and has three separately timed sections: a 40-minute selected-response section with 40 multiple-choice questions, and two 30-minute essays.

The exam’s content is weighted as follows:

Text Types, Purposes, and Production (both essays, plus a handful of selected-response questions) — 60%
Language and Research Skills for Writing (the bulk of the selected-response questions) — 40%

Each essay is scored holistically on a 6-point scale by a trained human reader. ETS also runs an automated scoring engine, called e-rater, alongside the human score to help keep scoring consistent.

Test anxiety

It helps to remember two facts:

You can take the test as many times as you need to.
You can decide which set of scores to send.

On test day, treat the exam as another opportunity to apply what you’ve practiced. If you don’t get the score you hoped for, you can review what went wrong, adjust your study plan, and try again.

Best practices

Because this exam tests two different kinds of skill — grammar and mechanics on one hand and timed essay writing on the other — split your practice time between the two.

For the essay portion:

Outline before you write. Spend about ten percent of your allotted time (three to four minutes for a thirty-minute essay) organizing your ideas before you start writing. Writers who outline consistently score higher than those who don’t.
Stick to your outline. Don’t second-guess your ideas partway through just because you feel nervous.
Use formal diction. Avoid contractions, slang, and personal pronouns like “I” or “you” (unless the prompt asks about personal experience). Skip filler phrases like “I think” or “in my opinion” — the reader already knows the essay reflects your views.
Support your position. There’s no single “right answer” on either essay; what matters is that you back up your claims with specific reasons, examples, or evidence from the sources provided.

For the selected-response portion:

Don’t avoid selecting “No error.” Sentences that are already correct are a real answer choice, not a trap — don’t talk yourself into “fixing” something that isn’t broken.
Read the whole sentence. An error can hide anywhere in a long sentence, not just where your eye lands first.
Remember that sentence correction questions often reward the answer that’s clearest and most direct, not the one with the fanciest language.

Create a study plan

You can’t prepare for the Praxis without creating — and following! — a study plan.

As you practice, watch for patterns in your errors and for question types that consistently challenge you. That information helps you pinpoint what to study next.

Final thoughts

The book’s final wrap-up includes more details about taking the Praxis Writing exam, including how to register, the cost, and test-taking options.

The basics

The Praxis Core exam aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts. It measures your academic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Not all states require the same passing score, but all require you to get at least 58% in Reading, 56% in Writing, and 52% in Math.

The writing test

The writing test is 100 minutes long and has three separately timed sections: a 40-minute selected-response section with 40 multiple-choice questions, and two 30-minute essays.

The exam’s content is weighted as follows:

Text Types, Purposes, and Production (both essays, plus a handful of selected-response questions) — 60%
Language and Research Skills for Writing (the bulk of the selected-response questions) — 40%

Each essay is scored holistically on a 6-point scale by a trained human reader. ETS also runs an automated scoring engine, called e-rater, alongside the human score to help keep scoring consistent.

Test anxiety

It helps to remember two facts:

You can take the test as many times as you need to.
You can decide which set of scores to send.

On test day, treat the exam as another opportunity to apply what you’ve practiced. If you don’t get the score you hoped for, you can review what went wrong, adjust your study plan, and try again.

Best practices

Because this exam tests two different kinds of skill — grammar and mechanics on one hand and timed essay writing on the other — split your practice time between the two.

For the essay portion:

Outline before you write. Spend about ten percent of your allotted time (three to four minutes for a thirty-minute essay) organizing your ideas before you start writing. Writers who outline consistently score higher than those who don’t.
Stick to your outline. Don’t second-guess your ideas partway through just because you feel nervous.
Use formal diction. Avoid contractions, slang, and personal pronouns like “I” or “you” (unless the prompt asks about personal experience). Skip filler phrases like “I think” or “in my opinion” — the reader already knows the essay reflects your views.
Support your position. There’s no single “right answer” on either essay; what matters is that you back up your claims with specific reasons, examples, or evidence from the sources provided.

For the selected-response portion:

Don’t avoid selecting “No error.” Sentences that are already correct are a real answer choice, not a trap — don’t talk yourself into “fixing” something that isn’t broken.
Read the whole sentence. An error can hide anywhere in a long sentence, not just where your eye lands first.
Remember that sentence correction questions often reward the answer that’s clearest and most direct, not the one with the fanciest language.

Create a study plan

You can’t prepare for the Praxis without creating — and following! — a study plan.

As you practice, watch for patterns in your errors and for question types that consistently challenge you. That information helps you pinpoint what to study next.

Final thoughts

The book’s final wrap-up includes more details about taking the Praxis Writing exam, including how to register, the cost, and test-taking options.