CSET-PE Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

Why There's No Official CSET-PE Pass Rate

If you've searched for a hard percentage - "X% of candidates pass CSET-PE Subtest II" - you've likely come up empty, and that's not an accident. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), which owns the CSET program, and Evaluation Systems, Pearson, which administers Subtests I (129), II (130), and III (131), do not release subtest-level pass rate statistics to the public the way some national certification bodies do. Anyone quoting a specific pass rate number for California Subject Examinations for Teachers: Physical Education is either guessing or confusing it with an entirely different credential that happens to share the acronym "CSET-PE."

That absence of a headline number is actually useful information. It means the smartest way to gauge your own odds isn't chasing a mythical percentage - it's understanding the scoring mechanics, the domain weighting, and the format quirks that determine whether a given candidate clears 220 or falls short. That's what this article breaks down.

How Scoring Actually Works

Each of the three subtests - Growth, Motor Development, and Motor Learning; Human Movement Science; and the combined domains tested in Subtest III - is scored independently, and each requires its own scaled score of 220 to pass. There's no averaging across subtests and no partial credit that carries over. Within a single subtest, the math breaks down like this:

• 70% of the score comes from multiple-choice questions - 40 per subtest on Subtests I and II, 40 on Subtest III as well.
• 30% of the score comes from constructed-response questions - two on Subtest I, two on Subtest II, and one on Subtest III.

That 70/30 split matters more than most candidates realize. It's tempting to assume the multiple-choice section is "the real test" and the constructed responses are an afterthought, but nearly a third of your scaled score rides on how well you can articulate, demonstrate, and - on Subtests I and III - physically perform a videotaped response. A candidate who crushes the multiple-choice section but phones in the constructed-response portion can still land below 220.

Subtest-by-Subtest Breakdown

Understanding the shape of each subtest helps you see where the scoring risk actually concentrates. For a deeper walkthrough of the content itself, see the CSET-PE Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.

Across all three subtests, candidates face 120 multiple-choice items and 5 constructed-response tasks in total. If you sit for the bundled test-center session, expect a five-hour appointment with the subtests administered back-to-back in order - a real endurance factor that a purely content-focused study plan can overlook.

How Domain Weighting Affects Your Odds

The seven content domains aren't evenly distributed across the three subtests, and two of them deserve outsized attention because of how concentrated they are:

The remaining five domains - Growth, Motor Development, and Motor Learning; The Science of Human Movement; The Sociology and Psychology of Human Movement; Assessment and Evaluation Principles; and Professional Foundations - fill out the rest of each subtest's multiple-choice pool and inform the constructed-response prompts. A candidate who under-prepares Domain 4 or Domain 7 is mathematically taking on more risk than one who spreads a similar amount of weakness across the other five domains, simply because of how concentrated the point value is. The full breakdown of what each domain actually covers is worth reading in the CSET-PE exam domains guide.

Retakes, Fees, and What Failure Really Costs

Because there's no published pass rate, it helps to think in terms of cost of failure rather than probability of failure. Registration runs $99 per subtest, or $297 to bundle all three. If you fail a subtest, you must wait 45 calendar days before retaking it - and you'll pay the $99 fee again for that subtest alone. There's no discount or credit for a repeat attempt.

This retake structure has a quiet but real strategic implication: bundling all three subtests to save on the combined $297 fee only makes sense if you're genuinely prepared across all seven domains. Rushing into the full bundle before you're ready on, say, Domain 4 or Domain 7 content can mean paying for a failed attempt and then paying again 45 days later for the retake. For a full accounting of fees, retake costs, and other expenses, see the CSET-PE Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

What Actually Drives Pass/Fail Outcomes

Without an official pass rate to lean on, it's worth being specific about the factors that plausibly separate candidates who clear 220 from those who don't, based on the exam's actual structure:

• Underestimating the constructed-response weight. At 30% of the score per subtest, and with Subtests I and III requiring a videotaped response, candidates who only drill multiple-choice questions leave a large chunk of points unaddressed.
• Treating all domains equally. Given that Movement Concepts and Forms and Integration of Concepts each hold 24 of 40 multiple-choice items on their subtests, spending equal study time across all seven domains is a mismatch with how the test is actually weighted.
• Misjudging exam length and pacing. Subtests I and III allow 1 hour 45 minutes each, while Subtest II allows 1 hour 30 minutes. In a bundled five-hour session, fatigue by the final subtest is a real factor that pure content review won't fix.
• Skipping video-response practice. The videotaped constructed-response components on Subtests I and III are unlike a typical written short-answer question - candidates need to rehearse demonstrating and narrating movement skills on camera, not just writing about them.

For a broader look at where candidates tend to struggle and why, see How Hard Is the CSET-PE Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026. And if you're still confirming that this is the right credential to pursue for your teaching path, the CSET-PE Requirements 2026 guide covers eligibility before you even schedule a subtest.

A Domain-Based Prep Timeline

Rather than a generic study calendar, allocate time in proportion to how the exam actually scores. Since Domain 4 and Domain 7 each control 24 of 40 multiple-choice points on their respective subtests, they deserve dedicated blocks rather than being folded into general review.

This sequencing intentionally saves Integration of Concepts for last, since it draws on everything studied earlier. For a more detailed content-first walkthrough of every domain, the CSET-PE Study Guide 2026 pairs well with this timeline, and running practice questions on our practice test platform throughout each phase gives you a concrete way to check whether your Domain 4 and Domain 7 prep is translating into actual scoring gains.

FAQ