Exam for Acceleration without Prior Instruction
Thinking about Acceleration for your child?
What You Should Know About the Exam for Acceleration Without Prior Instruction
What Is It? The Exam for Acceleration allows eligible students to earn course credit or advance a grade level by demonstrating mastery of the required content without prior formal instruction.
Should Students Study for It? No. These exams are designed to measure what a student already knows, not what they have recently studied specifically for the exam. It’s intended to measure what a student already knows—naturally, from experience, reading, or enrichment—not what they’ve recently memorized.
Why does that matter? Preparing specifically for the test can give a misleading picture of a student’s readiness. Acceleration is only appropriate when a student has a strong, long-term grasp of the material and can confidently move ahead without struggling.
Our Shared Goal is to ensure every student is challenged at the right level and positioned for long-term success.
Before You Register
Please consider the following before requesting an Exam for Acceleration:
- Acceleration is intended for students who have already mastered the content without formal instruction.
- Students should be emotionally and academically prepared for more advanced coursework.
- High school courses completed in middle school do not count toward high school GPA in LTISD.
- Schedule changes cannot be made once a semester has begun.
- NCAA eligibility rules may limit the acceptance of credit earned through credit-by-exam.
Criteria & Procedures
Procedures for Exams for Acceleration of specific courses without prior instruction:
For information and requirements about the specific Exam for Acceleration assessments from the University of Texas, please visit the Study Guides on UT High School's website.
High School Courses
Please review the course list on the UT website to see which exams are offered. Each semester exam ordered has a 3-hour time limit. For full course credit, Semester 1 (A) and Semester 2 (B) must be ordered to receive a full year's credit. A student may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course more than two times. All English exams have questions based on a book. See the Study Guide for your course. The Social Studies exams and English exams have an essay portion.
Languages Other Than English (LOTE)
Exams for acceleration in Languages Other Than English (LOTE) are provided through Avant Assessments. The exam includes listening, reading, writing, and speaking components, all of which are completed online. Sample tests are available on the Avant Assessments website. The exam is untimed, but most students complete all four components in approximately 1.5–2 hours. Students take one exam, and based on their performance, may earn credit for multiple levels of language study.
Middle School Mathematics
Review the LTISD Middle School Course Guide to understand the mathematics sequence before accelerating. Families should also consider the impact acceleration may have on future high school math course options.
Note: High school courses completed in middle school earn high school credit but are not included in the student's weighted GPA.
The district does not provide textbooks or calculators for those requesting to take an Exam for Acceleration. LTISD pays the cost of exams administered during the district testing windows. The cost to the district is approximately $50 per exam. Students testing outside the district windows must order and pay for the exams directly through UT High School. If you need to cancel a registration, please contact Kathy Burbank at burbankk@ltisdschools.org prior to the dates listed below.
District-funded exams are available only to students who are actively enrolled and attending school in LTISD at the time the exams are ordered. Families may order exams directly through UT High School at any time, and the district will honor qualifying scores.
Grades 6-12
- Exams are taken remotely, online, and at home using UT High School's Proctorio system. Proctorio Q & A Guide for Students
- Students have 60 days from the date the exam is issued to complete testing.
- A webcam and compatible computer are required.
- Students receive testing information through their LTISD email account. Parents are also included in the correspondence.
- LOTE Exams - A facilitator with Avant proctors Foreign Language exams. You will schedule a specific time to take the exam. A link to register will be sent to your school email address.
- Important: Courses completed through credit-by-exam may not be recognized by the NCAA for student eligibility to play in Division I or II colleges; therefore, plan carefully and contact the NCAA for their specific policies. ** ** https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/ **
Ordering Information and Dates:
The district orders exams four times a year at no cost to the families of enrolled students. Listed below are the dates that exams will be ordered. Registration ordering deadlines are imposed to meet the processing time requirements for purchase orders. A student may take a specific examination only once during each window. A second attempt will be the family's responsibility for ordering and payment.
Exams are ORDERED on the Monday after the dates listed below. The ordering process takes 5-10 business days before test login information is sent. Students will have a 60-day window to take the exams. It is preferred that exams be taken before the first day of the school year, allowing schedules to be adjusted accordingly. Schedule changes do not take place once school begins.
Please contact your campus counselor for approval and exam ordering.
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Lake Travis High School Counselors
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Lake Travis Middle School Counselors
Hudson Bend Middle School Counselors
Bee Cave Middle School Counselors
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Register by the dates listed below
| Testing Window | Registration Deadline |
|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | September 18, 2026 |
| Winter 2026 | December 11, 2026 |
| Spring 2027 | March 12, 2027 |
| Summer 2027 | June 4, 2027 |
If the dates listed above do not work for your student, you can order the exams directly from UT.
Exam for Acceleration for Grade Level Advancement:
(Testing is done before the new school year for grades 1-8 advancement.)
Students in grades K-5 cannot accelerate a course but can accelerate at the whole-grade level. (5th-grade Accelerated Math has a different process and is not done under Exams for Acceleration.) Please discuss this option with your campus Principal or Counselor. Testing should be conducted to advance grade levels for grades 1-8 during the summer, given the impact on scheduling and the loss of instruction in the next grade (if testing occurs during the school year). Students must pass all four exams (math, language arts, science, and social studies) at the accelerated grade level with a score of 80% or above. The science or social studies test will be administered first, and the other exams will be administered if 80% is achieved on the first test. If 80% is not achieved on the first exam, additional subjects will not be ordered.
Please contact Kathy Burbank at burbankk@ltisdschools.org to order and schedule Grade Level Advancement exams.
Kindergarten Acceleration:
Contact the campus for more information and procedures.
Lake Travis ISD Board Policy
Exam for Acceleration (EA) without Prior Instruction EHDC (Legal) EHDC (Local)
A student in grades 1-8 who has not received instruction at the grade level tested must be accelerated (promoted) one grade if the student meets all of the following requirements:
- The student achieves a minimum score of 80% on the grade-level exams in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
- A school district representative recommends accelerating the student to a higher grade level.
- The student’s parents or guardians give written approval for the acceleration.
Students taking middle school math or high school coursework who seek credit in a subject area where they have not received prior instruction may earn credit by passing the course exam(s) with a grade of 80 percent or higher.
The grade earned on an Exam for Acceleration is not used to calculate the student’s Weighted Numerical Grade Average at the High School level; it is used only for credit.
According to Texas Administrative Code §74.24 Credit by Exams (c)(6), a student may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course more than two times. If a student is given credit in a subject based on an examination in which they scored 80% or higher, the school district must enter the examination score on the student's transcript. The student is not required to take an applicable end-of-course assessment instrument for the course. (Algebra 1, Biology, English I, English II, US History)
Schedule changes will not be made once a semester has begun. According to TEC §25.092 Admission, Transfer, and Attendance, a student must attend at least 90% of the days a class is offered to receive credit for the class.
A student can work directly with UT to schedule an acceleration exam at any time outside the testing window. Register with the University of Texas UT High School. Please send a copy of the results/grade report to the Registrar at your child's campus.
For further information or to cancel an exam, contact Kathy Burbank, burbankk@ltisdschools.org, Director of Accountability & Achievement.