Praxis practice tests are an important part of test preparation. How often should you plan to take them? We’re here to answer all your Praxis practice test questions!
Why Should You Take Praxis Practice Tests?
Practice tests help you with a lot of different goals. Here are a few:
- Learn what type of questions are on the exam.
- Figure out what areas you need to study more or see if your studying has prepared you enough.
- Practice test day time management.
- Learn from practice questions by studying the questions you got wrong or weren’t sure how to solve.
- Make the test less “scary” by taking away some of the fear of the unknown.
How Often Should You Take Praxis Practice Tests?
You should take Praxis practice tests as often as you are able. That will depend on how many tests you have available and how much time you have to study. It also depends on how “shaky” you feel on the content- you may take more practice tests for one subtest than another, for instance.
When I study, I try to take one practice test before I begin studying as a “pre-test.” That helps me figure out my areas of weakness. At around the halfway point in my studying (maybe two or three weeks in), I’ll take a second practice test to see how far I’ve come and what I need to study more. At this point, you could also take just practice tests for the individual Praxis Core subtests if you need to focus more in a particular area. Near the actual test day, maybe two days beforehand, I’ll take a full-length practice test to make sure I know how to manage my time on test day. That routine with studying spaced throughout works well for me, but your strategy may be a little different.
Where to Find Free Praxis Practice Tests
Unfortunately, the resources out there for free, full-length Praxis practice tests are pretty limited, but there are lots of resources for Praxis practice questions.
ETS offers free study companions for all of their tests, including the Praxis Core. These are not full-length tests, but they do have practice questions.
Praxis books available from your local library often contain practice tests or questions. Mike’s book reviews can point you in the right direction (some books are not good!).
The Magoosh Praxis blog has lots of posts with practice questions for different sections of the Praxis Core and different sub-areas of the Math, Writing, and Reading tests. Here are a few:
- Praxis Core Math: Statistics and Probability Questions, Part 1
- Praxis Core Math: Linear Equation Practice Questions
- How to Write an Argumentative Essay for the Praxis Core Writing
- Praxis Core Reading: Structure Practice Questions
- 6 Practice Questions for the Praxis Core
Where to Find Paid Praxis Practice Tests
So, Praxis practice tests are kind of one of those things where you get what you pay for. It is completely possible to study for the test with only the ETS materials and do well. However, if you want high quality, full-length tests to practice with, you often need to pay some amount.
One option is the ETS Interactive Practice Tests. For $20, you get 90-day access to one set of practice questions. The benefit is that these are about as legit as it gets, since it comes from the test creators. You can also get the practice tests for a wide variety of tests you need to study for. The downside is that it is only one set of questions in the same order every time, which has limited usefulness.
Another option is right here at Magoosh. Did you know we have a Praxis Core prep service chock-full of lessons and practice? It isn’t too expensive, either. You can take as many practice tests as you want like this:
First, choose Custom Practice and then:
- select a set of 56 Math questions and a time limit of 85 minutes
- select a set of 56 Reading questions and a time limit of 85 minutes
- select a set of 40 Writing questions and a time limit of 40 minutes
Then select “quiz mode” so the answers are hidden until the end.
This matches the Praxis test time limits and number of questions, plus it is computer-based, so it will feel very similar to your test day experience. Sweet!
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