TX PACT 739 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

What the 240 Passing Score Tells You

When people search for a "pass rate" on the TX PACT 739, they're usually trying to answer a simpler question: how close is this to a coin flip? The Texas Education Agency (TEA) and Pearson don't release a public percentage of candidates who pass this specific pre-admission content test, so there's no official number to report here - and we won't manufacture one. What we do have is something more useful for planning purposes: the passing scaled score itself, which is 240.

That number is fixed and known in advance, unlike a percentage that shifts with each candidate pool. It applies uniformly across the 125 selected-response questions on the exam, and it's the target you're preparing against regardless of who else is testing that month. For a full breakdown of how the scaled score is calculated and what it means relative to raw questions answered correctly, see the TX PACT 739 Passing Score 2026 guide.

Why TEA Doesn't Publish a Public Pass Rate

It's worth understanding the structural reason behind the missing data point, because it changes how you should think about your own preparation. TX PACT 739 is administered by Pearson through Pearson VUE test centers on behalf of TEA, and it exists to satisfy a specific gate: candidates entering or transferring into an Educator Preparation Program need it if their GPA is below 2.5 or if they have fewer than 15 relevant subject-area semester credits. It is a program-admission tool, not a stand-alone credentialing exam that TEA tracks and publishes statewide statistics for the way it does for some educator certification tests.

This exam is also explicitly separate from TExES Physics/Mathematics (243) certification testing - PACT gets you into or transferred within a preparation program, while TExES tests certify you to teach. Because the two serve different regulatory purposes, only the certification-track exam tends to get the kind of aggregated public reporting that produces a "pass rate" number. PACT results flow into ECOS and to individual EPPs, not into a statewide dashboard.

If your program requires the Physics/Mathematics route, remember that passing TX PACT 739 alone isn't the finish line - you also need to pass Mathematics 735 to complete that specific pathway. That's a separate data point worth tracking alongside your Physics prep.

Domain Weight Data and What It Means for Your Odds

The one dataset that is fully public and genuinely predictive of outcomes is the domain weighting in the official framework. Five domains and 14 competencies make up the test, and the weights are approximate - but they still tell you exactly where the scoring mass sits.

Do the arithmetic and it's clear: Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Modern Physics together account for the large majority of your scored questions. A candidate who is razor-sharp on Waves and Nature of Science but shaky on Mechanics is statistically working against the exam's own architecture. For the full competency-level breakdown inside each domain, the TX PACT 739 Exam Domains 2026 guide maps every competency to its parent domain.

Format Data: 125 Questions, 3:45, and Field-Test Items

Beyond domain weighting, the exam's format itself is data you can plan around. TX PACT 739 is computer-administered with 125 selected-response questions, and testing time is 3 hours 45 minutes within a total 4-hour appointment that includes a 15-minute tutorial and compliance agreement. That leaves you a little under two minutes per question on average if you use the full testing window evenly - though real pacing is rarely that even, since some competencies demand multi-step calculation and others are quick recall.

One detail candidates frequently overlook: unscored field-test items may be included among the 125 questions. You cannot identify which items are field-tested versus scored, so the only rational strategy is to treat every single question with the same level of rigor. Assuming a question "doesn't count" and rushing it is a gamble with no upside.

You're also given tools, not left to memorize everything cold: an on-screen scientific calculator and a Constants and Formulas reference are provided during the exam. But that reference does not contain every formula you might need - a fact that catches unprepared candidates off guard when they assume the sheet is comprehensive. Knowing which formulas are missing from the reference, and memorizing those specifically, is one of the highest-leverage prep moves available. This is covered in more depth in the TX PACT 739 Cheat Sheet 2026.

Retake Policy Data: What Happens If You Don't Pass

Because there's no published pass rate, the most concrete "risk data" available is the retake policy - and it's worth internalizing before test day, not after a disappointing score report. Retakes require at least 30 days between exam attempts, and prior results must be posted to ECOS before you can register again. If you're testing as part of an affiliated EPP, you'll also need EPP retest approval - an extra administrative step that can add time to your timeline if you don't plan for it.

There's an important nuance in the attempt-limit rules too: PACT taken for EPP admission or for charter-school assignment purposes is exempt from the standard five-attempt limit, but intensive pre-service candidates remain subject to that cap. Know which category applies to you before you assume you have unlimited runway.

Registration itself has its own clock: once you register, you must schedule and take the exam within 170 days. Combined with the 30-day retake gap, a candidate who fails on a first attempt close to that 170-day deadline can find themselves squeezed for time on a second try. Building in a buffer matters - see the TX PACT 739 Exam Dates 2026 guide for how to sequence registration and scheduling.

Who Takes the TX PACT 739 and Why That Matters

The candidate pool itself shapes how you should read the absence of a public pass rate. TX PACT 739 is taken by two overlapping groups: candidates entering or transferring into an Educator Preparation Program who need it because their GPA sits below 2.5 or they have fewer than 15 relevant subject-area semester credits, and EPP-admission or transfer candidates who otherwise hold a bachelor's degree or final-semester standing plus a TEA ID. Individual EPPs may layer on additional requirements beyond the state minimum, which means the "difficulty" experienced by any given candidate is partly a function of which program they're entering, not just the exam content.

That variability is one more reason a single national or statewide pass rate wouldn't even be meaningful if it existed - outcomes are filtered through program-specific admission standards before anyone sits for the test. For the complete eligibility picture, including how EPP-specific rules stack on top of TEA's baseline, see the TX PACT 739 Requirements 2026 guide.

How to Improve Your Odds With the Data You Actually Have

Since a marketing-style pass percentage isn't available, your preparation strategy should be built entirely from the concrete data points TEA and Pearson do publish: the 240 passing score, the domain weights, the 125-question format, and the retake rules. Used together, they form a fairly precise study blueprint.

• Allocate study time roughly in proportion to domain weight - Mechanics first and longest, given its 28% share, followed by Electricity and Magnetism and Modern Physics at 22% each.
• Build a personal formula sheet covering anything missing from the provided Constants and Formulas reference, rather than assuming the on-screen reference has you covered.
• Practice circuit and magnetism problems specifically under the conventional-current, right-hand-rule assumption so you're not second-guessing conventions mid-exam.
• Simulate the full 3-hour-45-minute testing block at least once before test day, including the mental discipline of treating every item - scored or field-test - with equal seriousness.

For a week-by-week structure built specifically around these weights and the competency list, the TX PACT 739 Study Guide 2026 lays out a full first-attempt preparation plan. And if you're still trying to gauge overall difficulty before committing to a study schedule, the How Hard Is the TX PACT 739 Exam? guide walks through the content demands in more detail. You can also start building familiarity with the question style using realistic practice questions on our practice test platform before you ever sit for the real thing.

Ultimately, the closest thing to a "pass rate" you can generate is a personal one: your own diagnostic score on realistic, domain-weighted practice material. Running full-length practice sets through pactexam.com's practice platform and tracking your accuracy by domain gives you a private, actionable version of the statistic that TEA doesn't publish - and it's more useful anyway, because it's calibrated to your specific gaps rather than an anonymous statewide average.

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