TELPAS practice tests
Free practice questions for the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System, with an explanation for every answer.
TELPAS is how Texas measures the English of students who are learning it, in four domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing. From grade 2 it is given online as two tests: one for listening and speaking, and one for reading and writing.
Knowing what the test looks like is a large part of the benefit of practice. A student who has seen these kinds of questions before can spend their time on the English, not on working out what is being asked. The questions below are original and are grouped by the reporting categories TEA publishes, and each one explains why the correct answer is correct.
Practice by grade band
What the TELPAS asks students to do
Each part of the test uses a small set of repeating task types. Not every task appears at every grade, so the applicable grade bands are listed with each one.
Reading
- Understand Words and Language Structures — Reporting category 1: work out what words and phrases mean from context, and understand how sentences and word forms work.
- Basic Understanding of a Variety of Texts — Reporting category 2: find the main idea and key details, and follow what happens in stories and informational texts.
- Analyze and Evaluate Information and Ideas — Reporting category 3: make inferences, draw conclusions, and think about why the author wrote a text and how it is built.
Listening
- Understand Spoken Words and Language Structures — Reporting category 1: follow spoken directions and understand words and phrases as they are used in speech. On the real test some of these ask the student to click on a picture.
- Basic Understanding of Spoken English — Reporting category 2: understand the main points and important details of spoken stories and informational passages, about everyday life and school subjects.
- Analyze and Evaluate Information in Spoken English — Reporting category 3: make inferences from what was said, and work out a speaker's purpose, opinion, or what will happen next.
Writing
- Express Ideas in Writing — Reporting category 1: a written response to a prompt (narrate, describe, or explain), scored by a rubric. There are three of these on each real test.
- Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit — Reporting category 2: find and fix an error in a short text. On the real test some of these are typed answers or sentence rewrites. Here they are multiple choice so they can be checked.
Speaking
- Provide and Summarize Information — Reporting category 1: retell a story, describe what is happening in a picture, or tell what might happen next.
- Share Opinions and Analyze Information — Reporting category 2: give and support an opinion, imagine a situation, or compare two things and explain the differences.
What TELPAS measures
TELPAS measures progress in learning English against the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). Each domain is rated at one of four proficiency levels: Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and Advanced High. The four domain ratings are combined into a composite rating. In 2026–27 and 2027–28, while Texas moves to its revised 2024 ELPS, the online tests cover only the standards the old and new versions share, and the test blueprints and four proficiency levels stay the same.
Every emergent bilingual student in kindergarten through grade 12 takes it every year until they meet the state's criteria to be reclassified as English proficient.
How the test is organized
In kindergarten and grade 1 there is no online test: teachers rate each student in all four domains from what they observe in class. From grade 2 there are two online tests. Reading and writing are grouped by grade cluster: grade 2, grade 3, grades 4–5, 6–7, 8–9 and 10–12. Listening and speaking use broader clusters: grades 2–3, 4–5, 6–8 and 9–12.
Since spring 2023, writing in grades 2–12 has been part of the online reading and writing test. Each test has three written responses and six short editing questions.
When the test is given
TELPAS is given once a year, in the spring. In 2027 the testing window runs from February 15 to March 26. Your school sets the exact days within that window.
TEA does not publish named task types for TELPAS. Practice here is grouped by the reporting categories in the Texas Education Agency's TELPAS test blueprints (grades 2–12 listening and speaking; reading by grade cluster; grades 2–3 and 4–12 writing), and item formats follow TEA's released tests and answer keys.
Guides
How to Prepare for TELPAS: Practice and Tips by Domain
TELPAS measures English that a student builds over months and years, so there is no shortcut to a higher rating. What preparation can do is make sure the test itself is familiar, so a student's real English shows. Here is what is worth doing, domain by domain.
What Is TELPAS Alternate? A Brief Guide to TELPAS Alt
TELPAS Alternate, often shortened to TELPAS Alt, is the version of TELPAS for emergent bilingual students in grades 2–12 who have the most significant cognitive disabilities. It is a holistic assessment rather than an online test. Here is a short overview.
TELPAS in Kindergarten and First Grade (K–1)
In kindergarten and grade 1, TELPAS is not a test your child sits. Teachers rate each K–1 student's English in listening, speaking, reading and writing from what they see in class. Here is how that works, what the writing samples are, and what families can do.
TELPAS Listening and Speaking Test: What to Expect and How to Practice
The TELPAS listening and speaking test is one of the two online TELPAS tests for grades 2–12. Students watch and listen to short videos and answer questions, and record spoken answers, with the two kinds of item mixed through the test. Here is how the test is built, how it is scored, and how to practice for it.
TELPAS Reclassification Criteria: A Guide for Families
Reclassification is the point at which a Texas student is no longer identified as an emergent bilingual student and stops taking TELPAS. The TELPAS reclassification criteria have three parts, and a school committee makes the decision. Here is what they are, grade by grade.
TELPAS Released Tests: What TEA Publishes and How to Use It
TEA publishes TELPAS released test questions so families and teachers can see what the real test asks. The 2025 release is the most complete. Here is what is available, what the PDFs actually contain, and how to use them alongside other practice.
TELPAS Scores Explained: Levels, Scale Scores and What They Mean
A TELPAS report gives each of the four domains a level from Beginning to Advanced High, and combines them into a composite rating. From grade 2 there are scale scores as well. Here is what TELPAS scores mean, how the pieces fit together and how to read them.
TELPAS Speaking Test: Rubric, Prompts and Examples
On the TELPAS speaking test, students in grades 2–12 record spoken answers on a computer, and each answer is scored against the TELPAS speaking rubric. Here is what the speaking prompts ask for, what the scoring looks at, some examples, and how to practice.
TELPAS Test Dates: The 2027 and 2026 Testing Windows
TELPAS is given once a year in a spring window set by the Texas Education Agency. The 2027 window runs from February 15 to March 26. Here is how the window works and what to expect around it.
TELPAS Writing Test: Rubric, Prompts and Samples
Since spring 2023, TELPAS writing in grades 2–12 has been part of the online reading and writing test, with three written responses and six editing questions. Here is what the writing prompts look like, how the TELPAS writing rubric works, where to find real writing samples, and how to practice.
What Is TELPAS? Meaning, Grade Levels and Ratings
TELPAS is the test Texas uses each spring to measure the English of students who are learning it. Here is what TELPAS stands for, who takes it, how it works at each grade level, what the ratings mean, and when it happens.
Where to find the official TELPAS materials
This site is independent, and the practice questions here are original. The Texas Education Agency publishes its own practice tests, released tests and scoring guides. Do those as well: the practice tests are the only place to see the real testing screens a student will use.
TELPAS practice tests
The official online practice and released tests, in the same testing interface students use. Worth a few minutes before test day.
TEA TELPAS resources
The program page: test blueprints, rubrics for speaking and writing, proficiency level descriptors, and K–1 holistic rating materials.
TELPAS released test questions
Answer keys, rationales and speaking and writing scoring guides with real student responses at each score point.
TELPAS proficiency standards
How scale scores map to the four proficiency ratings for each grade cluster.
Common questions
Are these real TELPAS questions?
No. Released TELPAS tests belong to the Texas Education Agency. Everything here is original material written to match the published test design. The formats repeat from year to year; the specific questions do not.
Does a score here predict a TELPAS rating?
No. These practice sets are shorter than the real test and are not calibrated against it. Use the results to see which kinds of questions a student finds hard, not to estimate a proficiency level.
Why are writing and speaking not scored?
On the real test, written and spoken responses are scored against a rubric: by trained people, or by an automated scoring engine with human scorers checking. This site cannot do that honestly, so instead those sections give the prompts, the rubric and a sample response to work through with a student, and you can ask for AI practice feedback on an answer. That feedback is a guide for practice, not a TELPAS score or a proficiency rating. The short editing questions in writing have one right answer, so those are checked.
How does the AI practice feedback work?
In writing, press Get personalized feedback after writing an answer. Grades 2 and 3 see the score point on the rubric the answer looks closest to; grades 4 to 12 see points for vocabulary, usage and completeness. Both also get what went well and what to try next. In speaking, feedback comes from the live transcript when it is turned on. It ignores spelling, punctuation and capital letters, and it does not judge pronunciation or pace, because it only reads the words. If feedback is not available, speaking falls back to a simpler estimate made on the device. There are daily and hourly limits so the feedback can stay free.
Is there practice for kindergarten and grade 1?
Not as a test, because there isn't one. In kindergarten and grade 1, teachers rate each student from what they observe in class. The guide to TELPAS in kindergarten and first grade explains how that works and how to help at home.
Is this site connected to the Texas Education Agency?
No. It is an independent study resource with no affiliation to TEA or the official TELPAS program.
Do students need an account?
No. There is no sign-up. Answers to a mixed practice test are kept in your own browser only, so you can pick the test back up where you left off on the same device. Writing is sent to Cloudflare's AI service only when you press the feedback button, and the text of a spoken answer only when the live transcript is on. The recording itself is never sent, and nothing sent is kept. The optional live transcript for speaking uses your browser's speech service, which in Chrome sends audio to Google; it is off unless you turn it on.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Education Agency or the official TELPAS program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published test design.