ACCESS Test Practice and Sample Items
Familiarize students with the kind of content they will encounter on the test and give them a chance to practice the different question types
Completing the practice items can be especially helpful for students who are new to the WIDA ACCESS Speaking test, but keep in mind that the first thing students do when they take the real test is complete these same practice items.
ACCESS Online
Give students the chance to learn about the test platform, practice answering the type of questions they’ll see on the test, and get to know the features and tools built in to the test platform. Modify the suggested scripting to fit the needs of your students.
Preparing Students for ACCESS Online
Important! ACCESS Online Test Demo and Test Practice will be unavailable starting June 26, 2026, while WIDA makes accessibility updates to ACCESS Online for the 2026-2027 testing year. During this time, educators and students can continue to use Screener Online Test Demo and Test Practice via the links below to get familiar with the test platform. ACCESS Online Test Demo and Test Practice will be available again in September 2026.
Students can continue to use ACCESS Online Sample Items to practice answering questions similar to those on the actual test. Note: Until ACCESS Online Sample Items are updated in fall of 2026, they will not reflect the accessibility updates coming to the test in 2026-2027.
Sample Items
Sample items give students a chance to practice answering the type of questions they will see on the test at their grade-cluster level, and an opportunity to use the features and tools built in to the test platform. Suggested scripting is provided to help guide students through the sample items. Modify the suggested scripting to fit the needs of your students.
Suggested Sample Item Script: ACCESS Online
Paper-format Writing Sample Items
Students in grades 1–3 always take the Writing test in a pencil-and-paper format, even though they complete the other domain tests in the online test platform.
- Grade 1, Tier A: Making a Card
- Grade 1, Tier B/C: David's Idea
- Grades 2-3, Tier A: Reading Time
- Grades 2-3, Tier B/C: Pond Animals
Test Demo
A test demo for each grade-level cluster shows students how to navigate different features of the test.
Test Practice
When students take the test, they start with practice items that help familiarize them with the test platform. Students may go through these practice items as many times as they like prior to testing day. Keep in mind that the practice items are not representative of the difficulty of scored test items – the test practice is simply a chance for students to use the test platform.
ACCESS Online Test Practice (about 5-10 minutes)
ACCESS Paper
Give students a chance to practice answering the type of questions they’ll see and hear on the test.
- Grade 1
- Grades 2-3
ACCESS Braille Accommodation
Overview
Sample test items give students a chance to practice answering the types of questions they’ll get on the ACCESS assessments. Like the ACCESS tests, the braille sample items come with a choice of braille codes to meet individual student needs.
You can download sample items to use with your students, including audio files for Listening items. Braille sample items with graphics are available as images for reproduction at your site. Braille sample items without graphics are available in Braille Ready Format (.BRF) files and can be downloaded and embossed. Physical copies of these materials are also provided in all braille kits.
The sample items and their user guides are separated into grades 1–3, grades 4–5, grades 6–8 and grades 9–12. Select the appropriate grade-level cluster for your student. Use the Sample Items User Guide for Braille to administer the practice items to your student.
To get started, read the Quick Start Guide: ACCESS Braille Sample Items.