School Leaders Licensure Assessment: Registration, Scoring, and Rules

The School Leaders Licensure Assessment, known by ETS test code 6990, is a four-hour exam that aspiring principals and school administrators take to qualify for state licensure. Educational Testing Service designed it to measure whether entry-level school leaders have the knowledge and skills for competent professional practice.¹ The exam costs $425, is offered daily at physical testing centers, and is also available through a proctored at-home option for candidates in the United States, its territories, and Canada.²

What the Exam Covers and How It Is Structured

The SLLA is built around the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. Questions span strategic leadership, instructional leadership, management and operations, ethics, community engagement, and building an inclusive environment for a diverse student body.

The four hours split into two timed sections. The first gives you 165 minutes for 120 selected-response (multiple-choice) questions. The second gives you 75 minutes for four constructed-response questions, each presenting a realistic leadership scenario with supporting documents and asking you to write out your analysis and proposed actions.¹ The written portion is where most candidates feel the time pressure. You get roughly 19 minutes per scenario to read the materials, identify the core issues, and produce a coherent response.

How to Register and Pay

Registration runs through the ETS online portal. You create an account, enter test code 6990, and have the following ready:

A valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID whose name matches your registration exactly.
Your Social Security number, which most state education agencies use to link your scores to your educator licensing file.
Institution codes and degree completion dates for your relevant academic credentials.
Score recipient codes. You can designate up to four state agencies or educator preparation programs to receive your scores at no extra charge during registration. Changes to free recipients must be made at least three days before your test date; after that, additional score reports cost $20 each.³⁴

Getting recipient codes right matters. The wrong code delays your licensing timeline, and you may end up paying for additional reports to fix it.

The $425 fee is payable by major credit card, debit card, or PayPal.⁵ Once you submit payment, the system locks in your appointment and emails a confirmation with your admission ticket. You need that email on test day.

One note on fee help: ETS offers fee waivers for certain Praxis tests, but those waivers are structured around Praxis Core and Praxis Subject Assessments, not the School Leadership Series. If you are in a graduate program, ask your educator preparation program directly about any institutional assistance, because the ETS waiver program does not clearly extend to the SLLA.

Test Day Rules

Identification

You must present a valid, original, government-issued photo ID that includes your full name, a recent recognizable photograph, and your signature. A passport, driver’s license, state ID card, national ID card, or military ID works. Photocopies, expired documents, and IDs on a phone screen are all rejected. If your name has changed since you registered, create a new ETS account under the name on your current ID before test day.⁶

What You Cannot Bring In

The banned list is longer than most candidates expect. Phones, tablets, smartwatches, and wearable technology are prohibited. Regular watches are banned from the test room too. No calculators, pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters, dictionaries, rulers, or reference materials. Jewelry other than wedding and engagement rings is not allowed. Food, beverages, tobacco, and e-cigarettes are prohibited in the room, though you can access food and medication during scheduled breaks. Hats, scarves, neckties, and jackets may be inspected or kept out of the room.⁶

Any personal belongings you do bring go into a designated storage area with no access until testing ends. Leave anything nonessential in your car or at home.

If You Test at Home

Content and timing are identical to the test center version. A human proctor monitors you online throughout the session. You need a private room, a reliable internet connection, and a computer that meets the ETS technical specifications. At-home testing is limited to the United States, its territories, and Canada.²

Accommodations

ETS provides accommodations for candidates with documented disabilities and for those whose primary language is not English. The processes and timelines differ, and both require planning well ahead of your test date.

Disability Accommodations

Submit a Testing Accommodations Request Form with supporting documentation. If you have received accommodations from another standardized testing agency, such as the GRE, GMAT, or SAT, you can submit that approval letter in place of new disability documentation. ETS reviews complete requests in roughly four to six weeks, with another two to four weeks added if additional documentation is requested.⁷ Incomplete paperwork is the most common cause of delay.

Non-Native English Speakers

If English is not your primary language, you may qualify for 50 percent additional testing time. Submit a Certification of Documentation form completed by a qualified professional, such as an ESL coordinator or foreign language department supervisor, along with a separate eligibility form. All documentation must be approved before you can register. Allow about three weeks for processing, and email your materials to the address in the SLS Information Bulletin.⁶ If you were approved for this accommodation on a previous SLS test, you can request it again without resubmitting full documentation.

Scoring and Passing

Your raw score, the number of correct multiple-choice answers plus human ratings of your essays, converts to a scaled score between 100 and 200. Scaling adjusts for difficulty differences between editions, so a 160 means the same thing regardless of when you tested.⁸ Multiple-choice is scored by computer. Essays are evaluated by trained human raters using standardized rubrics, which is why official scores take longer than you might expect.

ETS does not set a passing score. Each state that requires the SLLA sets its own minimum. Based on publicly available state requirements, most fall between 146 and 151, but verify the exact cutoff with your state’s certification office before testing.⁸

Your official score report, available through your ETS account, breaks down performance by content domain so you can see your strengths and weaknesses. ETS automatically sends scores to the recipients you designated during registration. Reports remain downloadable for ten years.⁸

One decision happens before you ever see a score. At the end of the session, you can cancel your scores before viewing any unofficial results on screen. Cancelled scores are permanently gone. They are not reported, cannot be reinstated, and your test fee is not refunded.⁶ If there is any chance you passed, it is usually better to let the scores report.

Rescheduling, Cancelling, and Retaking

You can reschedule your test date or location for a $40 fee if you make the change at least three days before your appointment, not counting the test day. Miss that window and you forfeit the full $425 with no rescheduling.⁹

Cancelling outright at least three days before the test, again excluding the test day, gets you a 50 percent refund, roughly $212. Cancel late or skip the appointment, and you get nothing back.⁹

If you do not pass, you must wait at least 28 days before scheduling another attempt. The waiting period applies even if you cancelled your scores.⁵ ETS does not publish a maximum number of annual attempts for the SLLA. Each retake costs the full $425.

Score Validity Across States

Scores stay available through ETS for ten years from the test date, which covers most licensing timelines. Some states impose their own shorter validity windows and require that scores be earned within a set number of years before you apply for certification. Check with your state’s education agency before assuming an older score still qualifies.⁸

Because every state sets its own passing threshold and acceptance policies, candidates seeking licensure in more than one state should verify requirements for each. A score that clears one state’s bar may fall short in another by a few points. If you are anywhere near the borderline, aiming well above the minimum gives you flexibility if you ever relocate or pursue reciprocity.

1
Educational Testing Service. School Leaders Licensure Assessment (6990)
2
ETS. SLS At Home Testing Requirements
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ETS. Sending Your SLS Scores
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Educational Testing Service. Additional Score Report Request
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ETS. How to Register for Your SLS Test
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Educational Testing Service. The School Leadership Series Information Bulletin 2025-26
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ETS. How to Request Accommodations for ETS Tests
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Educational Testing Service. Understanding Your School Leadership Series Scores 2024-25
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Praxis. Manage Your Praxis Test Appointment