Florida PERT exam

The PERT (Postsecondary Education Readiness Test) is Florida’s college-readiness exam.

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It is the purpose of the PERT exam to ensure that students enrolling in Florida colleges will be placed in academic courses that are in line with their educational level, skills, and abilities.

The Florida PERT exam is made up of three diagnostic tests that cover reading, writing, and mathematics.

The PERT exam is a college placement test used by universities and colleges across Florida to assess at what level college-bound students should follow academic courses and how their proficiency is in Mathematics and English Writing and Reading.

PERT Practice Tests

Florida College Guides

Aspiring college students who score sufficiently on the PERT exam can register for courses that require math and English proficiency immediately, whereas students who score low must first take remedial and/or basic courses.

The PERT exam includes three subtests in Reading, Writing, and Math that contain 30 questions each. There’s no time limit on these three subtests, but usually, students require some 45 to 60 minutes to deal with each section.

On each subtest, there are five experimental questions that don’t count toward scoring but test-takers don’t know which of the 30 questions are the experimental ones. Scoring on each subtest happens on a 50-150 scale and to skip lower-level courses, students need to score in the 100-150 range.

On the PERT Math subtest, applicants need to attain a score of no less than 114 to be able to skip remedial and basic Math classes. On the PERT Writing subtest, students need to achieve at least a 103-score while their minimally required Reading score must be at least 106 to qualify for freshman-level academic English courses.

The Florida PERT exam is a set of three pretty rigorous tests and proper preparation is absolutely required to be successful on the exam. MyCareerTools offers you numerous engaging video lessons and practice tests that will help you attain your best possible scores on the Florida PERT exam.

So each of the three PERT subtests comes with 30 questions relating to that subject field. As said, there’s no time limit on the subtests but, in general, students need some 2.5 to 3 hours to deal with the entire PERT battery.

The PERT test is a computer-adaptive test (CAT), meaning that the questions become automatically more or less difficult as students get more answers correct or wrong. This element is keeping the test at all times challenging for every student at all levels. There are no penalties for guessing so if there’s an answer you don’t know, try to eliminate incorrect options that you’re sure of and make your best guess. Your PERT placement scores count for a period of two years.

So the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test is Florida’s common placement test for students looking to get into college. The PERT exam is aligned with Florida’s Postsecondary Readiness Requirements for success in credit-bearing academic coursework. The PERT exam is administered in many of Florida’s public high schools and at institutions within the Florida College System and determines readiness for college programs.

Exempt status

Applicants may be exempted from taking the PERT exam and be placed in college-level coursework if they meet any of the following requirements:
– If they started their 9th grade no earlier than 2003 and graduated from a Florida High School with a standard diploma.
– If they are active-duty members of a United States Armed Services branch.
– If they produce official ACT, SAT, or CPT scores that are no older than two years.
– If they hold official transcripts of college-level coursework in Math or English with at least a “C” from an accredited educational institution.
– If, as a high school student, you attained a score of 262 or up at the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (2.0 edition) on the Reading section. Students who enroll in an institution within Florida’s College System (within 2 years of taking the test) are also exempted from taking the PERT Reading and Writing sections.

Regardless of whether you go to college right after you completed high school or some years later, brushing up your academic skills may be needed. If you take the Florida PERT exam, you will better understand your academic level in the three testing fields of reading, writing, and mathematics. Taking the PERT exam will help you and colleges decide if developmental options are needed to get you better prepared for college-level academic courses.

The majority of students are required to take the PERT exam prior to enrolling in college courses, but recent (2013) Florida legislation created an “exempt” status for more students. Anyway, regardless of your specific status, knowing and understanding your PERT score will prove to be an excellent tool for choosing the right college courses!