ELPAC practice test for grades 6–8
Students across grades 6–8 take the same form of the test. The reading and listening practice below is scored as you go, with an explanation after every question. Writing and speaking cannot be scored automatically — a trained person judges them against a rubric on the real test — so those pages give you the prompts, the rubric, a worked sample and personalized practice feedback instead of a score. Work through one part at a time to get used to a single task type, or take the mixed practice test to practice switching between them the way the real test does.
Mixed practice tests
Mixed practice test 1
Reading and listening from end to end, in the order the real test presents them, with an explanation after every question.
Start the mixed practice test →Mixed practice test 2
A second reading and listening test with all-new passages and questions, in the order the real test presents them, with an explanation after every question.
Start the mixed practice test →
Practice one part at a time
Reading
Passages followed by comprehension questions, plus word and sentence choice tasks.
Practice Reading →
Listening
Short spoken passages played as recorded audio, with a transcript available, followed by questions.
Practice Listening →
Writing
Writing prompts with a rubric based on the published scoring guides, plus sample responses and optional personalized feedback. Not scored here — writing is scored by a person on the real test.
Practice Writing →
Speaking
Speaking prompts with a rubric based on the published scoring guides, plus sample responses and optional personalized feedback. Not scored here — speaking is scored by a person on the real test.
Practice Speaking →
ELPAC for grades 6–8: common questions
What is different about the ELPAC in grades 6–8?
Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 take the same form of the test. Two task types first appear at this band. In listening, students hear an extended conversation in which a classmate argues for an opinion, then answer four questions. In speaking, students read a graph, chart or image, summarize it, and say whether a claim about it is supported. Listening to a story and retelling a narrative end at grade 5.
What grades 6–8 ELPAC practice is on this site?
There are 20 listening questions, 32 reading questions, 8 speaking prompts and 8 writing prompts. Seven of the reading questions are extra vocabulary and grammar practice, which is not a separate task on the real test. There are also two mixed practice tests of reading and listening, 24 questions each, with all-new passages in the second, in the order the real test presents them and with an explanation after every question.
How does the ELPAC speaking rubric work in grades 6–8?
There is no single speaking rubric; each task type has its own. In the official practice test scoring guides, short Talk About a Scene questions score 0–1 and longer ones 0–2, Speech Functions 0–2, Support an Opinion 0–3, each Present and Discuss Information prompt 0–3, and Summarize an Academic Presentation 0–4. Small mistakes are not penalized as such; the question is whether a listener can follow what the student means. The practice rubrics on this independent site follow those guides but are not official.
What are the ELPAC writing prompts like in grades 6–8?
Writing is typed on a computer and has four task types: improving sentences a classmate wrote about a picture, writing about an experience, answering two questions about information in a graphic organizer, and a short essay justifying an opinion on a school topic. Each of the 8 prompts here has a four-level practice rubric and a sample response. Regular practice typing short paragraphs helps, because keyboarding speed can affect older students.
Guides for families and teachers
Practice for another grade
Or compare every band on one page: free ELPAC practice tests by grade.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the California Department of Education or the official ELPAC program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published task formats.