TExES 233 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass

Understanding the TExES 233 Passing Score

If you're prepping for the TExES History 7-12 (233) exam, the number that matters most is 240. That's the scaled score you need to reach on a 100-300 point scale to pass and move forward with Texas certification. It sounds simple, but the way that number is calculated - and what it actually requires of you content-wise - is where most candidates get confused.

The TExES 233 is developed and administered by Pearson (Evaluation Systems) on behalf of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the State Board for Educator Certification. It's delivered as a computer-administered test (CAT) at Pearson VUE centers, and every scaled score reported back to you is a direct translation of your performance on the exam's scored selected-response items. Understanding how that translation works is the fastest way to stop guessing about "how many questions" you need right and start studying with intention.

How the 100-300 Scaled Score Actually Works

The TExES 233 reports results on a 100-300 scaled score range, and 240 is the line between pass and fail. This scale isn't the same as a percentage - it's a converted score based on the difficulty and weighting of the specific items you answered. Two candidates who get the same number of raw questions correct on different test forms could see slightly different scaled scores, because the conversion accounts for item difficulty across form versions.

Here's what candidates often miss: the exam contains 100 selected-response questions, but some of those are unscored field-test items. Field-test questions are mixed in to gather data for future exam forms, and they look identical to scored questions - you won't be able to tell them apart during the test. Only the scored questions count toward your final scaled score, which means you should treat every single question on the screen as if it counts, because you genuinely cannot identify which ones don't.

For a full breakdown of how each content area is structured and weighted, the TExES 233 Exam Domains 2026 guide walks through all four domains in detail - essential reading before you build a scoring strategy.

The Raw Score Math: 80 Points, 48 to Pass

Under 19 TAC 151.1001, the TExES 233 carries 80 total points, with an average raw cut score of 48. That raw score is then converted into the 100-300 scaled score you actually see on your report, with 240 representing the passing threshold. The 48-point average cut score gives you a rough sense of the margin: you're not chasing perfection, but you also don't have significant room for a bad domain.

Because the raw-to-scaled conversion is done per test form, the exact number of raw points needed to hit 240 can shift slightly between administrations. Don't try to reverse-engineer an exact "number of questions you can miss" - instead, aim to build broad, reliable competency across all four domains so that even a rough day on one topic doesn't sink your overall performance.

How Domain Weights Affect Your Score

The TExES 233 isn't evenly distributed across content - some domains carry far more weight than others, and your study time should reflect that. The four domains break down as follows:

Because Domain II alone accounts for more than a third of the exam, weak U.S. History content knowledge can cost you more scaled-score ground than a weak spot in any other domain. That domain spans exploration and colonization, the Revolutionary era, westward expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the rise of the United States as a world power, and developments from 1877 to the present - plus the geography, government, citizenship, economics, and science and technology strands woven through U.S. history. If you only have time to deep-review one domain before test day, this is the one.

Domain I, World History, at 30%, and Domain III, Texas History, at 20%, together make up half the exam and can't be neglected even while you prioritize Domain II. Domain IV, Foundations, Skills, Research and Instruction, is the smallest slice at 14%, but since the exam has no minimum per-domain passing threshold reported to candidates, every scored point across all four domains contributes equally to your overall 240. For a competency-by-competency breakdown aligned to the 2019 History 7-12 framework's 22 competencies and History 7-12 Standards I-X, see the full domains guide.

What the Pass Rate Data Tells You About the Cut Score

TEA statewide data for the 2024-2025 program year shows a 63% first-attempt pass rate and a 69% best-attempt pass rate, based on 686 candidates. That gap between first-attempt and best-attempt numbers tells you something important: a meaningful share of candidates who initially fall short of 240 do pass on a subsequent attempt. This is one of the harder social studies content exams in the TExES system, which makes disciplined preparation - not just familiarity with the material - the deciding factor.

If you want a deeper statistical breakdown of what these numbers mean for your own odds, the TExES 233 Pass Rate 2026 article unpacks the data further, and the difficulty guide puts that pass rate in context against the exam's structure and content depth.

Registration, Retakes, and When Scores Post

Knowing the mechanics around your score matters almost as much as knowing the content. Here's what to expect operationally:

• Exam fee: $116, with no member or non-member pricing tiers.
• Test length: A 5-hour appointment - 15 minutes for the CAT tutorial and compliance agreement, plus 4 hours 45 minutes of actual testing time.
• Score release: Scores post at 10:00 p.m. Central on the published score report date and flow automatically into ECOS, so you don't need to request anything manually.
• Retake rules: You get five attempts total, with a mandatory 30-day wait between attempts. Beyond five attempts, you need a TEA test-limit waiver.
• Registration validity: Your registration is valid for 170 days, and if you withdraw, you're refunded the exam fee minus $25.
• Eligibility: You must be approved to test by an educator preparation program or by TEA before you can register.

Remember also that a first Texas classroom certificate requires passing the PPR EC-12 (160) pedagogy exam in addition to the TExES 233 content exam - so your 240 on this test is one piece of a larger certification pathway, not the whole picture. For the complete eligibility checklist, see TExES 233 Requirements 2026, and for a full cost breakdown across your entire certification journey, check the certification cost guide.

A Scoring-Focused Study Plan

Since Domain II carries more weight than any other section, your prep schedule should mirror that imbalance rather than splitting time evenly across all four domains. A simple way to do this: allocate roughly a third of your total study hours to U.S. History, a quarter to World History, a fifth to Texas History, and the remainder to Foundations, Skills, Research and Instruction - then use spaced review sessions in the final weeks to reinforce whichever domain feels weakest on practice items.

Running full-length, timed practice sessions that mimic the 4-hour-45-minute testing window is one of the most reliable ways to build stamina and pacing before your real appointment - you can find a complete walkthrough of this and other prep tactics in the TExES 233 Study Guide 2026. If you want to test your readiness against realistic item formats before committing to a registration date, practicing on our TExES 233 practice test platform gives you a sense of where your scaled score is likely to land.

For a fast, one-page reference to keep the highest-yield facts in front of you during final review, the TExES 233 Cheat Sheet 2026 is built specifically around the domains and weights covered here.

Frequently Asked Questions