- Praxis 5331 has 132 selected-response questions in 150 minutes, split evenly across three domains.
- You need a scaled score of 162 out of 200; most state boards use this same cut score.
- Registration is $146 through ETS; ASHA certification adds $490 with membership or $455 without.
- Retakes require a 21-day wait, so plan your first attempt carefully rather than treating it as a trial run.
Quick Facts Snapshot
Before diving into study strategy, keep this reference nearby. It condenses the mechanics of the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology into numbers you can check against your own timeline. For a deeper narrative version of these same facts, see the CCC-SLP Requirements 2026 guide.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Certifying body | American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) |
| Required exam | Praxis Speech-Language Pathology test, code 5331 (ETS) |
| Delivery | Prometric test centers or live remote at-home proctoring, year-round |
| Format | 132 selected-response questions, 150 minutes, computer delivered |
| Content categories | 3 domains, each ~33.3%, roughly 44 questions each |
| Passing score | Scaled score of 162 on a 100-200 scale |
| Registration fee | $146, includes 4 score recipients |
| Retake wait | 21 days between attempts |
| Certification application | $490 with ASHA membership / $455 without |
| Annual renewal | $250 with membership / $221 without |
| Clinical Fellowship | 1,260 hours minimum, 36 weeks minimum, within 48 months |
| Maintenance cycle | 30 PD hours (3.0 ASHA CEUs) every 3 years, including ethics content |
The Three Domains at a Glance
ETS structures the Praxis 5331 around three equally weighted content categories. Because each carries roughly a third of the exam and roughly 44 questions, no single domain can be skipped or treated as "extra credit." A full breakdown of subtopics lives in the CCC-SLP Exam Domains 2026 guide, but here is the condensed version for quick review.
Domain 1: Foundations and Professional Practice (33%)
This is where scope-of-practice questions, ethics scenarios, documentation standards, and evidence-based practice concentrate. Expect items that test judgment as much as recall.
- ASHA Code of Ethics application to real scenarios
- Scope of practice boundaries and supervision rules
- Documentation, billing, and reimbursement basics
- Research literacy and evidence-based decision making
Domain 2: Screening, Assessment, Evaluation, and Diagnosis (33%)
These items test whether you can select, administer, and interpret assessment tools appropriately across ages and disorder types, not just recognize test names.
- Choosing formal vs. informal assessment approaches
- Interpreting standardized scores and case history data
- Differential diagnosis across communication and swallowing disorders
- Cultural and linguistic considerations in evaluation
Domain 3: Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of Treatment (33%)
This domain checks whether you can design a treatment plan, justify goal selection, and measure progress, across the full lifespan and disorder spectrum.
- Goal writing tied to functional outcomes
- Treatment approach selection by disorder and setting
- Progress monitoring and data-based decision making
- Discharge planning and generalization strategies
Exam Format Mechanics
The Praxis 5331 is entirely selected-response - there is no essay or constructed-response section. All 132 questions are computer delivered, and the exam may include unscored pretest items mixed in without identification, so you cannot tell which questions "count" and which don't.
- There is no penalty for guessing, so leaving an answer blank never helps your score.
- You have 150 minutes for 132 questions, which averages just over a minute per item - pacing matters more than perfectionism on any single question.
- Delivery options include Prometric test centers and live remote at-home proctoring, and the exam is offered year-round rather than in fixed windows.
If you're mapping out when to sit for the exam relative to your Clinical Fellowship start date, the CCC-SLP Exam Dates 2026 guide walks through scheduling logistics in more depth.
Registration and Fees Breakdown
Money mechanics trip up a surprising number of candidates, mostly because the exam fee and the certification fee are two separate payments to two separate organizations.
- Praxis 5331 registration: $146 to ETS, which includes sending scores to four recipients.
- Retakes: permitted, but you must wait 21 days between attempts - plan your study timeline so a failed attempt doesn't collide with a Clinical Fellowship start date or license application deadline.
- ASHA certification application: $490 if you hold ASHA membership, or $455 if you're applying for certification without membership.
- Annual renewal: $250 with membership or $221 without.
For the full cost picture across every stage - exam, certification, and the years of renewal that follow - see the CCC-SLP Certification Cost 2026 breakdown.
Requirements Before You Sit for 5331
The exam doesn't stand alone - it's one piece of a sequence that starts with graduate coursework and clinical hours. Before you're eligible, you need:
- A master's or higher degree from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA).
- At least 400 clock hours of supervised clinical experience, made up of 25 hours of guided clinical observation and 375 hours of direct client contact, with at least 325 of those hours completed at the graduate level.
These prerequisites shape when you can realistically register for 5331 - most candidates schedule it near the end of their graduate program, once clinical hours are largely complete. A full eligibility checklist is available in the CCC-SLP Requirements guide.
Passing Score and What It Means
ASHA requires a scaled score of 162 on the 100-200 scale to meet certification standards, and most individual state licensing boards have adopted this same 162 cut score for licensure - though each state board sets its own requirement independently, so it's worth double-checking your state's specific number.
Key Takeaway
Because scoring is scaled rather than raw, missing a handful of questions in your weakest domain doesn't guarantee failure - but consistently weak performance across all three domains will. Distribute your review time evenly rather than cramming only your favorite topics.
For the full scoring explanation, including how scaled scores differ from raw question counts, read the CCC-SLP Passing Score 2026 guide. If you're still deciding how much runway to give yourself, the CCC-SLP difficulty guide and CCC-SLP Pass Rate guide add useful context.
Clinical Fellowship and Maintenance
Passing Praxis 5331 doesn't end the process - certification also depends on completing and closing out a Clinical Fellowship, and then keeping your certification current afterward.
- Clinical Fellowship length: a minimum of 1,260 hours across at least 36 weeks, supervised by a qualified mentor.
- Paperwork: registered with form CF-1 at the start, and closed out using forms CF-2 through CF-5.
- Deadline: the fellowship must be completed within 48 months of starting.
- Ongoing maintenance: every three years, certificate holders need 30 professional development hours, equivalent to 3.0 ASHA CEUs, including designated ethics content, plus payment of annual dues.
A Three-Week Domain Review Plan
Because the exam splits evenly into three content categories, a simple way to structure your final review is to dedicate a focused block to each domain, then finish with a mixed-practice week. This isn't a generic study calendar - it's built directly around the 33/33/33 weighting of Praxis 5331.
Foundations and Professional Practice
- Review the ASHA Code of Ethics and common scope-of-practice scenarios
- Study documentation standards and reimbursement basics
- Practice questions that test evidence-based practice judgment, not just recall
Screening, Assessment, Evaluation, and Diagnosis
- Drill standardized score interpretation across age groups
- Review differential diagnosis patterns for overlapping disorders
- Practice selecting appropriate assessment tools for varied case histories
Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of Treatment; then mixed review
- Rehearse goal-writing tied to functional outcomes
- Review treatment approaches by disorder and setting
- Finish with full-length mixed practice sets covering all three domains equally
Use full-length timed practice under exam-like conditions in your final week - 132 questions in 150 minutes is a specific pacing target, and the only way to build comfort with it is repetition. A structured walkthrough of this approach is in the CCC-SLP Study Guide 2026, and you can run realistic timed sets on the main practice test platform.
The Big Nine, Mapped to the Domains
ASHA's "big nine" practice areas cut across all three content categories rather than mapping one-to-one to a single domain. Expect questions on any of these areas to appear within Foundations, Assessment, or Treatment items alike:
- Speech sound production
- Fluency
- Voice, resonance, and motor speech
- Receptive and expressive language
- Social aspects of communication, including pragmatics
- Cognitive aspects of communication
- Augmentative and alternative communication
- Hearing
- Feeding and swallowing
This is a common source of confusion: candidates sometimes study the big nine as if they were exam sections, when in fact they're clinical content that gets tested through the lens of foundations, assessment, or treatment. Keep both frameworks - the three domains and the nine practice areas - visible on your study wall at the same time.
Before test day, run through this cheat sheet one more time, then get comfortable with the exact question style using timed sets on our practice test platform - familiarity with the 150-minute pace matters as much as content mastery.
FAQ
ASHA requires a scaled score of 162 on the 100-200 scale. Most state licensing boards use this same 162 cut score, but always verify your specific state's requirement.
The Praxis 5331 has 132 selected-response questions to complete in 150 minutes, delivered by computer at Prometric centers or via live remote at-home proctoring.
Registration is $146 through ETS and includes four score recipients. If you need to retake, there's a mandatory 21-day wait between attempts.
No. Foundations and Professional Practice, Screening/Assessment/Evaluation/Diagnosis, and Planning/Implementation/Evaluation of Treatment are each weighted at approximately 33.3%, with roughly 44 questions per domain.
Certificate holders need 30 professional development hours (3.0 ASHA CEUs), including ethics content, every three years. Non-compliant holders are flagged as "CCC Not Current" starting April 1.