The GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) is a series of standardized tests required for anyone seeking a teaching certificate or educator license in Georgia. Administered by Pearson, these assessments cover subject-area knowledge and professional ethics. If you’re planning to teach in Georgia’s public schools, you will need to pass at least one GACE exam, and likely two, before earning your credential.
Types of GACE Assessments
There are two main categories of GACE tests you need to know about: content assessments and the Educator Ethics assessment.
Content assessments measure your knowledge in the specific subject you want to teach. Georgia offers content exams for dozens of certification fields, from Elementary Education and Biology to Art, Special Education, and School Counseling. Many of these exams use a “testlet” format, meaning the test is broken into shorter sections that each focus on a particular subarea of the subject. For multi-part content assessments, you must pass every section to meet the certification requirement.
Educator Ethics assessments test your understanding of the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators. These exams are designed to both teach and evaluate your ability to apply ethical principles in professional situations. There are two versions: Ethics for Teachers and Ethics for Leaders. A passing score on the Ethics for Teachers exam is required for nearly every stage of the teaching certification process, including pre-service certificates, provisional certificates, induction certificates, and conversion to a professional certificate. The Ethics for Leaders exam applies to those pursuing Educational Leadership or Superintendent credentials.
Georgia previously required a Program Admission assessment for entry into educator preparation programs, but that requirement ended in July 2022. It is no longer part of the active GACE lineup.
Who Needs to Take the GACE
Anyone pursuing an initial Georgia teaching certificate needs to pass the GACE content assessment that matches their certification field, plus the appropriate ethics exam. This includes people completing a traditional teacher preparation program, those entering through alternative certification pathways, military support provisional certificate holders, and educators transferring from out of state who need Georgia-specific credentials.
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) determines which specific GACE exams correspond to each certification field. For example, an aspiring high school biology teacher must pass the Biology content assessment, while someone seeking an Early Childhood Education (P-5) certificate takes the Elementary Education exam. Some specialized fields, like Gifted Education with a science concentration, require passing multiple content assessments. It’s worth confirming your exact testing requirements with GaPSC before you register, since passing a GACE exam alone does not guarantee certification eligibility.
Scoring and Passing Requirements
GACE content assessments use a scaled scoring system. A score of 220 to 249 is considered passing at the induction level, while a score of 250 or above is passing at the professional level. Both levels currently satisfy Georgia’s requirement for content knowledge certification, so scoring a 220 is enough to move forward.
If your content exam has multiple subtests and you pass one at the induction level and the other at the professional level, the entire assessment counts as passed at the induction level only. To have it recognized at the professional level, you would need to retake the subtest where you scored below 250. The good news: once you pass a subtest, you don’t have to retake it. You only need to retake the section you didn’t pass or want to improve.
Registration Fees
GACE fees vary depending on the assessment. Most full content assessments (covering all testlets) cost $169. That includes popular exams like Elementary Education, Biology, English, Mathematics, and History. Some middle grades exams are less expensive at $84.50 each, which covers fields like Middle Grades Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Science.
A few specialized assessments cost more. School Counseling, School Librarian, and School Psychology exams each run $263 for the full assessment. The Health (P-12) exam is $101.40. The American Sign Language assessment costs $165, with a possible additional $20 proctor fee. These fees apply each time you register, so retaking a subtest means paying again for that portion.
What the GACE Covers by Subject
Georgia ties each certification field to a specific GACE exam, and the list is extensive. Here are some of the most common fields and their required assessments:
- Early Childhood Education (P-5): Elementary Education
- Middle Grades (4-8): Separate exams for Language Arts, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Social Science
- English (6-12): English content assessment
- Mathematics (6-12): Mathematics content assessment
- Biology, Chemistry, Physics (6-12): Subject-specific science exams
- History (6-12): History content assessment
- Special Education: Multiple options depending on concentration, including General Curriculum, Adapted Curriculum, and Deaf Education
- World Languages: Separate exams for French, German, Spanish, and Latin
- ESOL (P-12): English to Speakers of Other Languages
Each content exam tests the knowledge and skills specific to that field at a level appropriate for classroom teaching. The testlet format means you might encounter one section focused on reading comprehension pedagogy and another on writing instruction, for example, rather than a single undifferentiated test.
How to Prepare and Register
Registration is handled online through the GACE website, which is managed by Pearson. You create an account, select your assessment, choose a testing date and location, and pay the fee. Tests are offered at computer-based testing centers throughout Georgia and in some locations nationwide.
For preparation, Pearson provides free study companions and practice tests for each GACE exam on the official GACE website. These outlines break down exactly which content areas and subareas each test covers, along with sample questions. Many test-takers also use third-party study guides, though the official materials are the most reliable reflection of what appears on the actual exam. Since each content assessment is tailored to a specific teaching field, your study plan should focus on the competencies listed in the test framework for your subject rather than general education topics.