ILTS Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

The Pass Rate Reality: Why ILTS Doesn't Publish a Single Number

Anyone searching for a single "ILTS pass rate" percentage for the Illinois Licensure Testing System is going to be disappointed, and for good reason. The Illinois State Board of Education, which governs ILTS, and Pearson Evaluation Systems, which administers it, do not publish a universal pass rate across all 100+ ILTS fields. Pass/fail outcomes are field-specific, cohort-specific, and influenced heavily by how well a candidate's teacher-preparation coursework aligned with the tested domains. Instead of chasing a number that doesn't exist in a reliable public form, the more useful exercise is understanding the mechanics that actually determine whether a given candidate passes: the scaled scoring system, the question distribution, and the domain weighting that governs how points are earned on Elementary Education (Grades 1-6) (305) and its replacement, Elementary Education (Grades K-6) (702).

This is also the more actionable approach. Rather than benchmarking yourself against an unverifiable industry-wide statistic, you can benchmark yourself against the actual structure of the exam you'll sit for. If you want the full domain-by-domain breakdown before diving into scoring mechanics, our ILTS Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 6 Content Areas is a useful companion to this article.

How ILTS Scoring Actually Works

Instead of guessing at pass rates, it's far more productive to understand exactly how Field 305 is scored, because the scoring model is the real predictor of outcomes. Field 305 consists of 150 multiple-choice questions, but only 120 of those are scorable - the remaining 30 are non-scorable field-test items used to evaluate future exam content. You won't know which 30 are non-scorable, so every question deserves full attention.

Test-takers get 4 hours of actual testing time inside a 4 hour 15 minute appointment window, and the exam costs $110 to register. There are no reference materials provided during the test, which means memorization and applied understanding both matter - you can't lean on an on-screen formula sheet or glossary. To pass, you need a scaled score of at least 240. Because the score is scaled rather than a raw percentage, a "passing" performance doesn't necessarily mean answering 240 out of anything directly; it means your raw performance converts to a scaled score that meets or exceeds the 240 threshold set by Illinois testing standards.

One detail that matters more than people expect: preliminary results are issued at the test center immediately after you finish. That immediacy changes how you should approach the exam mentally - you're not waiting weeks in the dark, but you also don't get partial credit for "almost knowing" an answer. For a deeper walk-through of exactly what number you need and how scaled scoring functions, see our dedicated ILTS Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass guide.

Field 305 vs. Field 702: What Changes for Test-Takers

If you're planning your testing timeline for 2026 or later, the single most important structural fact is this: Field 305 is scheduled to retire in summer 2027, and its replacement, Field 702, opened for registration on June 29, 2026. Candidates currently in an Illinois teacher-prep program need to know which field their program and timeline point toward, because the two exams differ significantly in structure, even though both assess elementary-level content knowledge.

Field 702's six testlets are: Foundations of Literacy, English Language Arts and Biliteracy Skills, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Arts, Health, and Physical Development. Because each testlet is administered separately, candidates can theoretically schedule them individually rather than sitting for one long combined exam - but the passing rule is stricter in one important way. You must hit 240 cumulative points across all six testlets, and you must also clear the minimum requirement on each individual testlet. That means you can't compensate for a weak Science testlet by over-performing on Mathematics; every testlet has its own floor you must clear.

This dual requirement is arguably the more demanding standard of the two exams, even though the per-testlet cost of $25 feels more approachable than the $110 all-at-once fee for Field 305. For a full breakdown of how the fees, retake costs, and total investment compare, read ILTS Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Domain Weighting and Where Candidates Lose Points

Field 305's content is organized into six weighted domains, and understanding the weighting is the closest thing to a predictive model you'll get without an official pass rate:

Because Language and Literacy and Mathematics together make up 52% of the score, a candidate who is weak in either of those two areas has a structurally harder path to 240 than one who is weak in Fine Arts. This doesn't mean you should ignore the smaller domains - Field 702's testlet structure actually punishes ignoring any single area, since each testlet carries its own passing floor. But if you're prioritizing limited study time under Field 305's combined format, the math favors shoring up Language and Literacy and Mathematics first. Our ILTS Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 6 Content Areas breaks down specific subtopics within each domain if you want to go deeper.

Who Struggles on ILTS - and Why

Because ILTS content fields are tied so directly to Illinois's own K-6 curriculum frameworks, the candidates who struggle most tend to fall into a few recognizable patterns rather than being random. Career-changers entering education from non-teaching backgrounds sometimes underestimate the pedagogy-adjacent content embedded in each domain - Field 305 and 702 aren't purely subject-matter tests; they weave instructional strategy into every domain, including Mathematics and Science. Traditional teacher-prep graduates, by contrast, sometimes struggle more with breadth: a program heavy on literacy methods coursework can leave a candidate under-prepared for the Fine Arts or Physical Development and Health domains simply because those areas received less classroom time.

There's also a format-shock factor. With no reference materials allowed and a strict scaled-score cutoff, candidates who are used to open-book or heavily-scaffolded coursework assessments can be caught off guard by the recall demands of a closed-book, timed, multiple-choice format. If you're trying to gauge honestly how demanding this exam is relative to your own background, our How Hard Is the ILTS Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 article walks through this in more detail.

Retake Mechanics and Registration Timing

If you don't clear the 240 threshold on your first attempt, ILTS requires a new registration only after your official score report has posted - the preliminary result you see at the test center is not the trigger point for scheduling a retake. This means there's an inherent waiting period built into the process, and candidates should plan their licensure timeline with that gap in mind rather than assuming they can retest the next day. Because retake windows and specific rules can shift, candidates should always check the current test-specific retake table before scheduling. Building in buffer time before program deadlines, student-teaching placements, or job application cycles is essential - don't schedule your first attempt so close to a hard deadline that a required retake becomes impossible. For scheduling specifics and how testing windows are structured throughout the year, see ILTS Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.

A Domain-Aware Prep Timeline

Generic study techniques only help if they're mapped onto the actual weighting of the exam. Below is a compressed timeline built around Field 305's domain percentages, prioritizing the 52% combined weight of Language and Literacy and Mathematics early, then layering in the remaining domains.

For a structured, week-by-week study plan with more detail than this compressed version, our ILTS Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt expands on each phase. And if you want a fast-reference summary of the entire exam's key facts to review the night before test day, the ILTS Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is built for exactly that.

Beyond the Content Test: The Full PEL Path

Passing an ILTS content test like Field 305 or Field 702 is one required piece of the broader Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) process - it isn't the entire licensure journey by itself. Notably, edTPA is currently waived through August 31, 2029, which removes one traditionally significant hurdle from the path for candidates testing within that window.

Once licensed, a PEL endorsed in teaching generally renews on a five-year cycle, with $50 in registration fees and a requirement for covered active teachers to complete 120 professional-development hours across that cycle. Understanding this full arc - not just the content exam - matters when candidates are deciding whether the investment of time and money is worthwhile relative to career outcomes. Our Is the ILTS Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 article and ILTS Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis both dig into that bigger-picture question, while ILTS Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify covers the eligibility steps that come before you're even allowed to register for a content test.

Whatever field you're pursuing, targeted practice remains the most controllable variable in your outcome. You can explore practice test resources on the main site to get a feel for question style before committing to a registration date, and revisit the homepage for updated prep materials as Field 702 continues its rollout.

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