TX PACT 702 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass

What "240" Actually Means on the TX PACT 702 Scale

Every candidate asks the same question before test day: how many questions do I actually need to get right? For TX PACT: Essential Academic Skills (Subtest II: Writing) (702), the Texas Education Agency has set the passing score at 240, reported on a scaled score basis rather than as a raw percentage. That means the number you see on your score report isn't simply "questions correct divided by questions attempted." Selected-response items and the constructed-response composition are combined into a single scaled score for the subtest, and 240 is the line you must clear.

This matters for how you prepare. Because the score is scaled, you can't calculate in advance exactly how many multiple-choice items you're "allowed" to miss and still pass - the scaling accounts for question difficulty and the weight of the writing sample. What you can control is performance across both formats: the 36 selected-response questions and the single constructed-response item that together make up Subtest II's 1 hour 30 minute testing window.

How the Constructed Response Is Scored

The single highest-leverage item on Subtest II is the constructed-response composition. This is a 300 to 400 word writing sample scored holistically on a 4-point scale, and it's evaluated against six specific criteria:

• Purpose and Appropriateness
• Unity and Focus
• Development
• Organization
• Usage and Sentence Structure
• Grammar and Mechanical Conventions

Because this is holistic scoring, raters aren't checking boxes item by item - they're forming an overall impression of how well your composition demonstrates control across all six criteria at once. A response that is well-organized and on-topic but riddled with sentence-level errors will score lower than one that is clean and controlled even if slightly less elaborate. Understanding this trade-off is exactly why the constructed response deserves dedicated practice time, not last-minute improvisation. For a full breakdown of what each rubric criterion demands, see the TX PACT 702 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.

Where Your Points Actually Come From

Subtest II blends two very different question styles, and each rewards a different kind of preparation.

The selected-response items lean heavily on recognizing problems in sentence formation and applying grammar and mechanics rules correctly - skills you can drill with targeted item sets. The constructed response, by contrast, requires you to produce clean, organized writing on demand. Treating these as two separate skill sets to train - rather than one generic "writing exam" - is one of the biggest mindset shifts covered in the TX PACT 702 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

Mapping the Four Domains to the 240 Threshold

TX PACT 702 organizes its content into four domains. Since the passing score reflects performance across the entire subtest, no single domain guarantees or dooms your result - but some domains show up far more often in the selected-response section, while one domain exists almost entirely inside the constructed response.

For a deeper walkthrough of how these four domains interact and what proportion of study time each deserves, review the TX PACT 702 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas. If you're still weighing how demanding the exam feels relative to your own writing background, the How Hard Is the TX PACT 702 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down common trouble spots.

Field-Test Questions and Why They Don't Hurt You

One detail that eases test-day anxiety: TX PACT 702 exams may include unscored field-test questions mixed in among the scored items. These questions are being trialed for future forms of the exam and do not count toward your 240 scaled score in either direction. You won't be told which items are field-test questions, so the only reasonable strategy is to treat every question - selected-response and constructed-response alike - as if it counts, since you can't identify which ones don't.

What Happens If You Miss 240

Falling short of 240 on Subtest II doesn't necessarily mean starting completely over. The retake structure depends on how many of the three subtests (701, 702, 703) you failed:

• If you failed two or more subtests, you must retake the entire exam.
• If you failed only one subtest while passing the other two, you may retake that single subtest alone.
• Across all retakes, your best attempt on each subtest is the one that counts toward eligibility.

There's a mandatory 30-day wait between attempts, and candidates are capped at 5 total attempts before a TEA test-limit waiver becomes required. First-time candidates must register for all three subtests initially, which is worth knowing before you plan a retake budget. For the full eligibility picture - including the bachelor's degree requirement and GPA/credit-hour thresholds that trigger mandatory PACT testing - see TX PACT 702 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

Registration, Fees, and Retake Costs Tied to the 240 Threshold

Because retakes carry real cost, understanding the fee structure before you sit for Subtest II helps you plan realistically. Testing is administered by Evaluation Systems, a Pearson business, on behalf of the Texas Education Agency, with computer-administered testing available at Pearson VUE sites in Texas and nationwide by appointment year-round.

• $56 for one subtest in a single session
• $106 for all three subtests (701, 702, 703) together in a single session
• Additional fees are possible depending on registration circumstances

Score reports post at 10:00 p.m. Central on published score report dates, so plan your program-admission timeline with that posting schedule in mind rather than assuming same-day results. A detailed fee-by-fee breakdown, including how retake costs stack up, is covered in TX PACT 702 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and testing windows and appointment scheduling logistics are explained in TX PACT 702 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.

A Focused Prep Timeline Built Around the Score Requirement

Rather than studying generically, build your remaining prep weeks around the two things that most directly move your scaled score: sentence-level accuracy and constructed-response fluency.

Practicing under realistic timing conditions on our TX PACT 702 practice test platform is one of the fastest ways to see how your selected-response accuracy and composition timing hold up against the actual 90-minute constraint before test day.

Frequently Asked Questions