Failed Praxis 5331 twice — what finally worked for me

by Preethi N. 43 views3 replies
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Preethi N.OP
May 27, 2026

I'm not going to sugarcoat it: I bombed the Praxis SLP exam twice before I finally passed last month. First attempt I got a 151, second a 154, and I needed a 162 for my state. I was starting to wonder if I'd ever finish my CFY and actually get licensed. The problem was I kept studying the same way — rereading Shipley-Witten and hoping something would stick.

What actually turned things around was switching to active recall instead of passive review. I found a good SLP practice test that simulated the actual question format, and I forced myself to do timed blocks of 30 questions without looking anything up. My weak spots were fluency disorders and AAC — stuff I hadn't touched since second year. Once I identified those gaps I stopped wasting time on articulation stuff I already knew cold.

Third attempt I scored a 168. If anyone else is stuck in that 150s purgatory, I promise you it's not that you're bad at this. It's probably just your study approach. Happy to share more specifics about what I used if it helps.

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Chloe W.
May 27, 2026
This really resonates. I passed on my third try too and the turning point was basically the same — doing practice questions under timed pressure instead of just reading. For fluency I'd also recommend reviewing the ASHA Practice Portal pages on stuttering. They phrase things the exact way the test does, which matters more than you'd think when you're second-guessing yourself on two similar answer choices.
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Marcus T.
May 28, 2026
Can I ask how long you studied between your second and third attempt? I just got my scores back and I'm at 157. I have a full-time clinical placement right now so I'm trying to figure out a realistic timeline. Did you find a study guide that broke things down by content area? I feel like I need something more structured than just doing random practice questions.
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Kevin O.
May 28, 2026
AAC tanked my first attempt too. Honestly spend a solid week just on feature matching and the participation model. It shows up way more than people expect and the questions are super specific about candidacy criteria.

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