What Is a Passing FAST Score? Florida's Achievement Levels Explained

PM3 results have been landing in parent portals since late May, which means a lot of Florida families are staring at a number like 331 and a label like "Level 3" and wondering the same thing: did my kid pass?

The short answer: Level 3 or higher counts as passing. The state calls it proficient, or on grade level. For 6th grade math, that means a scale score of 325 or above.

The longer answer is worth five minutes, because "passing" means something different on the FAST than it did on the tests you and I took in school, and the consequences of not passing are different than most parents assume.

The Five Achievement Levels

Every FAST score comes in two parts: a scale score and an achievement level. For 6th grade math, the scale runs from 260 to 390, and it maps to levels like this:

• Level 1: 260 to 309 (well below grade level)
• Level 2: 310 to 324 (below grade level)
• Level 3: 325 to 338 (on grade level, this is the passing line)
• Level 4: 339 to 355 (above grade level)
• Level 5: 356 to 390 (mastery)

Two students can both be "Level 3" and be in very different situations. A 325 is one bad testing day away from Level 2. A 338 is one good stretch away from Level 4. If you only remember one thing from this post, make it this: read the scale score, not just the level.

For a full walkthrough of everything else on the report, including the reporting category breakdown that tells you where the points were lost, we wrote a plain-English guide to the FAST score report.

What "Passing" Actually Means

Here's where FAST differs from the tests most parents remember. There is no red F stamped on anything. "Passing" on the FAST means one specific thing: the state counts your child as proficient when it reports school and district results, and the school counts them as on grade level when planning supports and placements.

For context, proficiency is not the norm you might assume it is. In the spring 2026 results the state released in late June, roughly 6 in 10 Florida students in grades 3 through 8 scored Level 3 or higher in math. That was actually an improvement over 2025. A Level 2 doesn't mean your child is unusually behind. It means they're in a group that includes millions of Florida test-takers over the years, and it comes with a clear roadmap for what to work on.

Can My Child Be Held Back for a Low Math Score?

No. This is the single most common fear I hear from parents, and the answer for 6th grade math is a flat no. Florida's mandatory retention law applies to one situation only: 3rd grade ELA reading. There is no automatic retention tied to the 6th grade math FAST.

That said, the score does have real consequences. Schools use it for:

• Intervention placement. A Level 1, and in many districts a Level 2, can land a student in an intensive math class or a support block in 7th grade, which takes up an elective slot.
• Advanced placement. On the other end, most districts look at FAST level plus course grades when deciding who gets advanced 7th grade math or accelerated pre-algebra. A Level 4 or 5 makes that case much stronger.
• School accountability. Your child's score rolls up into the school grade. This doesn't affect your child directly, but it explains why schools care so much about the Level 2 to Level 3 boundary.

The Level 2 Student Is Closer Than You Think

Level 2 for 6th grade math spans 310 to 324. A student at 315 needs 10 scale score points to pass. In practice, that's usually two or three specific skills, not a whole year of math. The reporting categories on the score report narrow it down to one of three buckets (Number Sense and Operations, Algebraic Reasoning, or Geometry and Data), and targeted practice inside the weak bucket is how those points come back.

This is the exact gap Algebro was built to close. The score report stops at the category level. Our diagnostic goes one layer deeper and tells you which specific benchmarks inside that category need work, then builds a study plan around them. If you want to see what the actual test questions look like first, we publish free sample questions for all 40 of the 6th grade math benchmarks, no account required.

What to Do at Each Level This Summer

• Level 1 (260 to 309). The gaps are foundational, usually in number sense. Ask the school what supports are planned for fall, and use the summer for consistent work on operations with fractions, decimals, and integers. Little and often beats cramming.
• Level 2 (310 to 324). Closest to a level jump of any group. Find the weak reporting category and put 30 to 60 minutes a week into it. Most Level 2 students who practice consistently over a summer start 7th grade testing at Level 3.
• Level 3 (325 to 338). The job is to hold the line. Summer slide hits math harder than any other subject, and a low Level 3 can slip back under the line by fall. One short session a week protects the score.
• Level 4 and 5 (339 to 390). Review is a waste of their time. Preview 7th grade material instead, especially proportional relationships and operations with negative numbers, and ask the school about advanced placement criteria now rather than in August.

The Bottom Line

Passing the FAST means Level 3, which for 6th grade math means a 325 or better on a 260-to-390 scale. Nobody gets held back over a 6th grade math score, but the score does shape what 7th grade looks like, from intervention blocks to advanced tracks. And wherever your child landed, the scale score and the category breakdown tell you far more about what to do next than the level alone.