The TSI test (TSIA2): what it is, how it is scored and who is exempt

The Texas Success Initiative is the state rule that says students must show they are ready for college-level work before they take certain courses. The TSIA2 is the test that measures it. It replaced the original TSI Assessment in January 2021, and it is built and delivered by College Board on the same platform as the ACCUPLACER, which is why some colleges call it "TSI ACCUPLACER".

You take it at a college testing center, or through a remote setup your college approves, before you register for classes. High school students take it too, for dual-credit courses. If you meet the benchmark in a subject, you are "TSI complete" or "college ready" in it, and that status follows you to any Texas public college.

Older guides talk about scores out of 390 or sections called "Reading" and "Writing" with separate essays. Those describe the old TSIA. Everything on this page is about the TSIA2.

Roughly half the ELAR questions are about reading a passage and half are about fixing writing, and literary passages can carry several questions at once. Practise each part: the TSI math practice test, the reading practice test and the writing practice test each have free drills, and the TSI essay page covers the written part.

Because the questions change with your answers, two students with the same number right can end with different scores: the one who answered harder questions correctly scores higher. That makes the early questions important. Rushing the first few and missing easy ones steers the test toward lower-value questions.

The diagnostic test is longer, 48 questions, and looks at the skills in more detail. It is not a punishment: a diagnostic level of 6 in math, or 5 or 6 in ELAR together with an essay of 5 or more, still makes you college ready, and the level tells an advisor which support course fits.

Below the benchmark, the college places you in a developmental or corequisite course, which it chooses from your diagnostic level. Retesting is allowed, but the waiting time, any required review and the fee are set by each college. TSI scores explains each result line by line.

Exemptions are subject by subject. A student with an SAT Math score of 560 and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing of 450 is exempt in math only and still takes the ELAR test. Scores usually need to be from the last five years, and the college must receive them officially.

Other routes include completing college-level English or math with a C or better at an accredited college, transferring with that credit, current or former military service, and some certificate programs. The details change, so check your college's TSI page before you book.

There is no clock, so take a short pause between questions or between subject tests if your center allows it. The essay rewards a plan, so spend five minutes outlining before you write.

College Board publishes official TSIA2 sample questions, and they are worth doing to see the real interface. Our free TSI practice test adds a score for every part and category, and the section drills explain every answer.

For math, master percents, ratios and linear equations first; they appear in every category. For reading, practise finding the sentence that proves your answer. For writing, learn comma splices, agreement, pronoun case and transitions, and write one timed practice essay. The seven-day plan is in how to pass the TSI.

If your college also accepts the ACCUPLACER for out-of-state students, the skills overlap: see the ACCUPLACER test guide. If you are heading to a Florida college instead, it will use the PERT.