Requirements/Pennsylvania

Physical Education Teacher in Pennsylvania.

One combined content test.

Exams
1
Passing
160
Certificate
Health and Physical Education PK-12

The exam you have to pass

In the order most candidates take them.

01

Praxis Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge5857

Pass160
See what is scored →

What people get wrong

Each of these costs a candidate either money or a test date.

  • The certificate covers Health AND Physical Education together, on one combined test. Pennsylvania also issues a Health-only certificate on a different test (5551 at 158).
  • Pennsylvania does not add a separate pedagogy exam. There is no Principles of Learning and Teaching requirement here, unlike Nevada, Maine and Colorado.

Required, but not an exam

  • A bachelor’s degree
  • A PDE-approved educator preparation program, or an approved alternative route
  • Act 34, 151 and 114 clearances, and application through TIMS

Now go pass it.

Knowing the list is the easy part. Built To Pass teaches the strategy layer that works on any of these, aimed at the domains where you are actually losing points.

Start with your exam

Verified 2026-08-04 against Pennsylvania Educator Certification Tests (pa.nesinc.com) and PDE certification testing. Certification rules change by state board vote. Confirm with the state before you register for a test.