What Does TExES 238 Mean?

What TExES 238 Literally Refers To

When people ask "what does TExES 238 mean?" they're really asking about a specific credentialing exam: the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards, Life Science 7-12, numbered 238 in the state's testing catalog. The "TExES" part is an acronym for the overall testing system Texas uses to certify public school teachers. The "238" is simply the code Pearson and the Texas Education Agency assign to this particular content-area test, distinguishing it from other TExES exams like the ones for chemistry, English, or physical science.

Put together, TExES 238 identifies one thing and one thing only for this site: the exam a candidate takes to become certified to teach life science to students in grades 7 through 12 in Texas public schools. If you've seen other explanations of "TExES 238" that reference different fees, different pass rates, or different governing bodies, they're describing a different credential entirely - this article sticks strictly to the Life Science 7-12 (238) exam and nothing else.

Who Governs and Administers the Exam

TExES 238 is governed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the State Board for Educator Certification. These state bodies set the rules for who can sit for the exam, what score counts as passing, and how the credential fits into Texas's broader certification pipeline. The actual test - writing the questions, running the testing centers, scoring the results - is handled by Pearson (Evaluation Systems) under contract with the state.

Because Pearson delivers TExES 238 as a computer-administered test (CAT), candidates schedule appointments at Pearson VUE testing centers located throughout Texas and, for out-of-state candidates, at approved centers nationwide. Testing is available year round by appointment rather than on fixed dates a few times a year, which gives candidates more flexibility than exams tied to seasonal testing windows. For a closer look at how appointment scheduling and deadlines actually work, see the TExES 238 Exam Dates 2026 guide.

Why "238" and What the Number Signals

The number itself doesn't encode content - it's an administrative code, not a percentage or a difficulty rating. But once you know the number refers specifically to Life Science 7-12, it becomes a useful shorthand across everything related to this credential: your registration confirmation, your score report, your educator preparation program's tracking system, and any TExES 238 exam prep materials you use will all reference "238" consistently.

This matters because search results and forum posts sometimes blend information from other credentials that happen to share the "TExES 238" label informally or from outdated sources. If a fact you're reading doesn't match what's described on official TEA or Pearson pages for Life Science 7-12, treat it with caution. The safest anchor points are the ones with concrete numbers: a $116 exam fee, a 240 passing score on a 100-300 scale, and 100 selected-response questions.

What the Exam Actually Looks Like

Understanding what TExES 238 means also requires understanding its shape as a test. Candidates receive a total appointment window of 5 hours: the first 15 minutes cover the CAT tutorial and a compliance agreement, and the remaining 4 hours 45 minutes are available for actual testing. The exam consists of 100 selected-response questions. Some of these are unscored field-test items used by Pearson and TEA to evaluate future questions, but candidates cannot tell which items are scored and which are experimental, so every question should be treated as if it counts.

There is no calculator provided and no reference sheet listed for this exam, which means content knowledge has to be internalized rather than looked up during testing. A passing score is 240 on a scale that runs from 100 to 300. For a full breakdown of how that scaled score is calculated and what it means relative to raw questions answered correctly, see the TExES 238 Passing Score guide.

The Six Domains Behind the Name

Part of grasping what TExES 238 means is knowing what it actually tests. The exam is built on the 2019 Life Science 7-12 exam framework, which organizes content into 20 competencies across six domains, aligned to the Life Science 7-12 Standards I-XI and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Three domains tie for the heaviest weight at 20% each, meaning roughly 60 of the 100 questions come from just those three areas.

The remaining three domains round out the framework: Scientific Inquiry and Processes (15%), Interdependence of Life and Environmental Systems (15%), and Science Learning, Instruction and Assessment (10%). For a full walkthrough of every competency inside all six domains, the TExES 238 Exam Domains 2026 guide breaks each one down individually.

Who Takes This Exam and Why

TExES 238 exists to answer a specific question for Texas school districts: can this person be trusted to teach life science content to middle and high school students? Candidates typically come from university teacher preparation programs, alternative certification programs, or career-change routes into education. Before a candidate can even schedule an appointment, they must be approved to test - either by an educator preparation program or directly by TEA.

Passing TExES 238 alone doesn't grant a classroom certificate. A first Texas teaching certificate also requires passing the PPR EC-12 (160) pedagogy exam, which tests general teaching practice rather than science content. Together, the two exams form the content-plus-pedagogy pairing that Texas uses across most secondary certification areas. If you're mapping out everything required before you're eligible to register, the TExES 238 Requirements guide lays out the full eligibility path.

Registration, Fees, and Attempts

The exam fee is $116, with no separate member or non-member pricing tiers - everyone pays the same amount. Once registered, a testing window stays valid for 170 days, giving candidates time to schedule around their preparation timeline rather than a rigid single date. If plans change, withdrawing refunds the exam fee minus a $25 processing charge.

Candidates get five attempts at TExES 238, with a mandatory 30-day wait between attempts. Anyone who needs a sixth attempt must request a test-limit waiver from TEA. Scores post at 10:00 p.m. Central on the officially published score report date, not immediately after testing. For the full cost picture including retake fees and how they stack against certification renewal costs, see the TExES 238 Certification Cost breakdown.

Once earned, the resulting standard certificate is valid for five years and renews through ECOS with 150 CPE clock hours for classroom teachers - a detail worth knowing early, since it affects long-term planning beyond just passing the initial exam.

Mapping Study Time to the Domains

Because three domains carry 20% weight each and together account for roughly 60% of the test, the most efficient use of limited study time is proportional: spend the bulk of your preparation weeks on Cell Structure and Processes, Heredity and Evolution of Life, and Diversity of Life before layering in the remaining three domains. A short spaced-repetition cycle - reviewing genetics vocabulary and cell process diagrams every few days rather than once - tends to work well specifically because those two domains rely heavily on recall of structures and mechanisms rather than pure reasoning.

For a complete week-by-week study plan rather than just a domain-weighted overview, the TExES 238 Study Guide 2026 walks through a full first-attempt strategy. And if you're still deciding how much difficulty to expect given the current pass-rate data, How Hard Is the TExES 238 Exam? puts the 47% first-attempt and 56% best-attempt figures in context.

Beyond the Definition: Where TExES 238 Fits

Knowing what TExES 238 means is really the starting point for a longer decision process: whether the certification path is worth pursuing, what it costs end to end, and what kind of teaching roles it opens up. Practicing with realistic questions on our TExES 238 practice test platform is one of the fastest ways to see how the domain weighting translates into actual test-day question distribution, rather than studying blind against a list of competencies.

If you're weighing the certification against your career goals more broadly, the Is the TExES 238 Certification Worth It? analysis and the TExES 238 Salary Guide both look past the exam itself toward the outcomes it enables. And once you've committed to sitting for it, a quick-reference resource like the TExES 238 Cheat Sheet can help consolidate the must-know facts from this article and others into a single review page before your appointment.

Running full-length simulations on our practice platform before scheduling your real appointment is also one of the more reliable ways to gauge readiness against the 240 passing threshold, since it mirrors the selected-response format and timing constraints you'll face at the Pearson VUE center.

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