FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass

What "Passing" Actually Means

The FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) doesn't hand you a single overall score. It's structured as two independently administered, scored, and reported sections - a multiple-choice section and a written performance section - and Florida's Department of Education requires you to clear the passing bar on both before you're eligible for certification. There's no averaging, no combining points across sections, and no way for a strong multiple-choice score to compensate for a weak written response, or vice versa.

This design has real implications for how you prepare. If you're the type of candidate who reads well but struggles to write concise, evidence-based feedback under time pressure, you could ace the content knowledge portion and still fail the exam outright on the written performance section. The reverse is just as true. Before you build a study plan, you need to understand exactly what each section demands numerically, not just conceptually.

The Two-Section Scoring System

The exam is delivered as a computer-based test through Pearson Evaluation Systems (NES) on behalf of the Florida Department of Education, and it's built around a strict time and structure split:

• Multiple-choice section: approximately 60 questions, 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Written performance section: one extended response, 1 hour

Unused time from one section cannot be shifted to the other, and once you complete a section, you cannot go back into it. This matters for pacing more than most candidates realize - if you finish the multiple-choice section in 70 minutes, that extra 20 minutes is gone, not banked for your essay.

Since February 28, 2023, candidates have had flexibility in how they schedule these two sections. You can take them together in one appointment or split them across two separate testing sessions. If you fail only one section, you retake just that section - you're not forced to redo a section you already passed. For a deeper look at how these two sections fit into the exam's overall structure, the FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) Study Guide walks through pacing strategies for both formats.

Multiple-Choice: Hitting the 200 Mark

To pass the multiple-choice section, you need a scaled score of at least 200. This is not a raw percentage of questions answered correctly - it's a scaled score derived from your performance across the roughly 60 questions, which draw from all six exam domains in proportion to their assigned weights.

Because the scale isn't a simple raw-to-percentage conversion, it's not productive to obsess over "how many questions can I miss." What matters more is where your strengths and gaps fall relative to the domain weights, since heavier domains contribute more opportunities to earn (or lose) points.

Together, Domains 3 and 4 make up nearly half the multiple-choice section, which is exactly why candidates who narrowly study grammar rules or literary terms in isolation often underperform. The exam consistently pairs content knowledge with pedagogical judgment. For a full breakdown of all six domains and their subskills, see the FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) Exam Domains Guide.

Written Performance: The 5-of-8 Threshold

The written performance section requires at least 5 of 8 points to pass. This is equivalent to the 8-of-12 threshold used under the previous rubric before the section was redesigned effective January 2024, so if you've encountered older prep materials referencing a 12-point scale, know that they're describing an outdated format.

Under the current design, you're given a middle-grades student's argumentative essay along with a B.E.S.T.-aligned learning objective and rubric. Your task is to evaluate the student's writing against that objective, then supply meaningful feedback and a concrete course of action for the student's next steps. Two raters score your response holistically across three criteria:

• Completion - did you fully address the task as prompted?
• Application of content - did you correctly apply the learning objective and rubric to the student's actual writing?
• Support - is your feedback specific, evidence-based, and actionable rather than generic?

Your response should land in the 300 to 500 word target range, with a hard cap of 1,500 words. No reference materials are provided during this section, so you need to internalize the B.E.S.T. standards' expectations for argumentative writing before test day - you won't be able to look anything up mid-response.

Domain Weighting and Your Score

Since the multiple-choice section pulls questions proportionally from all six domains, understanding the weight distribution helps you decide where extra review time pays off most. Here's how the domains break down:

Notice that Domains 1 and 6 sit at the lower end at 12% each, but that doesn't mean they're safe to skip - they still represent roughly one in eight questions combined. A candidate who ignores lower-weighted domains entirely to over-study Domains 3 and 4 can end up leaving easy points on the table. The competencies underlying all six domains were revised by the State Board of Education in March 2022, so make sure any prep material you're using reflects that current framework rather than an older competency list.

Registration, Fees, and Retake Mechanics

Knowing the passing score is only half the picture - you also need to understand what it costs to attempt (or reattempt) each section. The exam fee is $150 if you take both sections together, or $75 per section if you take them separately. Retakes are charged at that same $75 per-section rate, so failing only the written performance section, for example, means you pay to retake just that piece rather than the entire exam.

If you do need to retake a section, there's a mandatory 31-calendar-day waiting period before your next attempt, though there's no cap on how many times you can retake a failed section. One important caveat: if you pass a section, you cannot retake it for three years - so if you're not confident in your multiple-choice preparation, it may be worth delaying that appointment rather than "banking" a weak pass you can't immediately improve on. A full cost breakdown, including verification and retake scenarios, is available in the FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) Certification Cost guide.

Score Reports and Verification

Score reports are typically released within four weeks of your test date. If you believe your score doesn't reflect your actual performance, you can request score verification for a $75 fee. Given that the written performance section is scored holistically by two separate raters, verification requests here involve a re-review of that holistic scoring rather than a simple re-tally, so it's worth requesting only when you have a specific reason to believe an error occurred.

If your testing timeline is tight - say, you're coordinating certification with a hiring deadline - build the four-week reporting window into your planning well before you register. Check current testing windows and appointment availability directly through the FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) Exam Dates guide so you're not caught off guard by scheduling constraints.

Building a Study Plan Around the Score Targets

Once you know you need 200 scaled points on multiple-choice and 5 of 8 points on the written response, your prep timeline should be built backward from those two distinct targets rather than treated as one undifferentiated block of "studying English content."

Notice this timeline doesn't treat the written performance section as an afterthought crammed into the final days. Because it's independently scored and requires familiarity with B.E.S.T.-aligned rubrics under no-reference-material conditions, it needs dedicated, repeated practice - not just a review of essay-writing tips. Running full-length timed simulations through our practice test platform is one of the more reliable ways to gauge whether your pacing and content command would actually clear both thresholds on test day, not just in isolated topic drills.

It's also worth revisiting your eligibility documentation early, since certification approval depends on more than just the test score. The FTCE MGE 5-9 (014) Requirements guide covers the prerequisites you'll need lined up before or alongside your testing timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions