Intellectual Disability Teacher License Test Content: 6 Domains, 19 Standards and Weights
Content of the Special Education teacher license test: general part 47% and intellectual disability track 53%, six domains with weights, all 19 standards and ETEC's question style.
- Questions and time
- 88 questions · 120 minutes
- Pass mark
- 50%
- Exam fee
- SAR 100 for the subject test
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Teacher License – Intellectual Disability
Start with 10 free questions to find what needs more work. No sign-up, with answer explanations.
Try 10 free questions and see your levelLast verified: 1 November 2026. Our sources are the Candidate Guide for the Professional License Test for Special Education teachers and the Intellectual Disability teacher standards (which include the ten general special education standards), both published by the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) (1441 AH / 2020 edition; the guide is a trial edition and the latest available). This guide is independent: it is not affiliated with ETEC, Qiyas (the National Center for Assessment), the Ministry of Education or any government body.
In short: the Special Education test has two parts: a general part shared by every special education track, worth 47%, and a part for your own track, worth 53%. This page covers the general part and the Intellectual Disability track: six domains and 19 standards. The largest is General Principles of Special Education at 25%, then Planning Instruction for Students with Intellectual Disability at 21% and General Principles of Intellectual Disability at 19%.
One test, two parts, seven tracks
The guide publishes a weight table for each specialised track, and a candidate is tested in their own track only: the general part (47%) + the part for your track (53%). The seven tracks are:
- Learning disabilities
- Intellectual disability (table on page 8)
- Autism
- Hearing impairment
- Visual impairment
- Behavioural training
- Speech training
This page covers the whole general part and the Intellectual Disability track. If your track is a different one (learning disabilities or autism, for example), the general part here is the same 47% of your test and you can practise it, but the specialised part is on your own track's page where we have one.
Test format
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Questions | 88 |
| Question type | Multiple choice with four options; each question measures one indicator of one standard |
| Duration | 120 minutes (two hours) |
| Delivery | Paper or computer depending on the subject; shown in your personal profile |
| Language | Arabic |
| Calculator | Not allowed |
| Scoring | Criterion-referenced; wrong answers carry no penalty |
| Level scores | 50 for Practitioner Teacher, 70 for Advanced Teacher, 80 and above for Expert Teacher (Professional License Regulations, Article 4) |
The six domains and their weights
These weights come from the two tables on pages 6 and 8 of the candidate guide. ETEC publishes the weight at domain level only, so there is no published weight for each standard.
| Domain | Part | Official weight | Standards | Questions out of 88 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Principles of Special Education | General | 25% | 4 | 22 |
| Planning Instruction in Special Education | General | 15% | 4 | 13 |
| Motivating and Supporting Learning in Special Education | General | 7% | 2 | 6 |
| General Principles of Intellectual Disability | Intellectual disability | 19% | 3 | 17 |
| Planning Instruction for Students with Intellectual Disability | Intellectual disability | 21% | 4 | 19 |
| Motivating and Supporting Learners with Intellectual Disability | Intellectual disability | 13% | 2 | 11 |
| Total | 47% general + 53% track | 100% | 19 | 88 |
Each question measures one indicator, and the test does not have to cover every indicator.
The 19 standards one by one
The standard names are as in the standards document, and the numbers use the format we work with (6.14.1.x for the general part, 6.14.2.x for the intellectual disability track). The "What it measures" column is our summary of each standard's indicators. The weight in each heading is that of the whole domain, not of the standard.
The general part (47%)
General Principles of Special Education (25%)
| Standard | Name | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14.1.1 | Philosophy, concepts, policies and foundations of special education | The concept, aims and strategies of special education in the Kingdom and its history; the terminology; local and international laws, regulations and conventions on disability; the educational theories that shape teaching students with disabilities; the categories of students served and how common they are; service delivery models and support services |
| 6.14.1.2 | General causes of disability, development and individual differences | Shared causes of disability before, during and after birth and how to prevent them; stages of typical development and how students with disabilities compare with their peers; developmental characteristics at different ages; the effect of disability on development, learning and behaviour; cognitive, social, psychological and physical needs |
| 6.14.1.3 | Foundations and methods of assessment and diagnosis in special education | Basic principles and terms of measurement, assessment and diagnosis; formal and informal tools, scales and tests, and the bodies involved in diagnosis; the assessment team members and the role of each; collecting information from several sources and interpreting it for educational decisions; professional ethics |
| 6.14.1.5 | Early intervention: concept and practice | The concept, importance and rationale of early intervention; disability in early childhood (developmental delay and disability); the concept, levels and measures of prevention; who is targeted, the basis of diagnosis and the bodies involved; methods, programmes, strategies and models of early intervention; the role of each team member |
Planning Instruction in Special Education (15%)
| Standard | Name | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14.1.6 | Inclusive education and its applications | The concept, principles and applications of inclusive education; universal access; the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) and its implementation steps; students' need for assistive technology; accommodations and modifications in the general curriculum for each disability category; the role of the assistant teacher in class |
| 6.14.1.4 | The individualised education programme (IEP) and its procedures | The basic components of the IEP and what it is built on; the roles of IEP team members; writing it from diagnostic results and the student's characteristics; planning learning activities from the curriculum content and objectives; designing an effective programme with varied resources, including assistive technology |
| 6.14.1.7 | Positive behaviour support (PBS) | Theories, methods and principles of behaviour modification and their use in programmes for students with disabilities; telling typical behaviour, adaptive behaviour skills and maladaptive behaviour apart; procedures for shaping appropriate behaviour; choosing the setting for modification by the student's situation; classroom management and organisation skills |
| 6.14.1.9 | Independence skills and transition programmes | Building daily-living and functional independence skills; physical-ability and self-care plans for students who need special physical care; developing independence and self-determination; the concept, steps and areas of transition services; using vocational skills in real life; the role of the kinds of rehabilitation in serving students with disabilities |
Motivating and Supporting Learning in Special Education (7%)
| Standard | Name | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14.1.8 | Consultation, collaboration and teamwork | The concept of consultation and collaboration and the ways teams work; planning different teaching roles on co-teaching principles; the elements and roles of team members; dividing tasks in co-teaching; models and strategies of consultation and teamwork |
| 6.14.1.10 | Family partnership in special education | Communicating effectively with families; writing and carrying out the individualised family service plan (IFSP); the types of family involvement; encouraging parents to take part and giving the child room to care for himself |
The intellectual disability track (53%)
General Principles of Intellectual Disability (19%)
| Standard | Name | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14.2.11 | Core concepts of intellectual disability | How the terms and services have changed over time; defining intellectual disability by the latest AAIDD definition and the Special Education Regulations and Procedures guide; the three criteria (intelligence, adaptive behaviour, age of onset); the main classifications by severity and by level of support; causes and prevention before, during and after birth; the domains of adaptive behaviour; new trends and current issues in the definition |
| 6.14.2.12 | Assessment and diagnosis of intellectual disability | The steps and ethics of assessment and diagnosis under the Special Education Regulations and Procedures guide; the assessment procedures used in intellectual disability programmes and schools; basic measurement and diagnosis terms; the main tests (intelligence, adaptive behaviour, achievement); several tools for measuring abilities and needs; using results to decide eligibility for special education and support services; writing a clear assessment report with the school team |
| 6.14.2.13 | Development and individual differences in intellectual disability and their effect on learning and teaching | How developmental characteristics affect behaviour and achievement; learning and cognitive characteristics; psychological, emotional and social characteristics; physical characteristics; language characteristics; the family's role in meeting developmental needs |
Planning Instruction for Students with Intellectual Disability (21%)
| Standard | Name | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14.2.14 | Educational and rehabilitation programmes | Early intervention programmes that support development; choosing the right placement from assessment results; types of support services and the teacher's cooperation with their providers; skills that help adjustment and inclusion in society; preschool skills (communication, motor, social, pre-academic), primary skills (basic reading, writing and number) and middle and secondary skills (interpersonal and social, vocational programmes); types of transition programmes and writing, carrying out and evaluating a transition plan |
| 6.14.2.15 | Planning instructional programmes | Teaching skills in different learning settings; setting educational goals by ability; writing general and specific objectives from individual needs; involving the family and the student in setting goals; using learning theories to plan teaching; choosing suitable teaching aids; using teaching time well |
| 6.14.2.16 | Curricula for students with intellectual disability | What building a curriculum requires; functional academic skills (functional reading, maths and writing); the values and attitudes to develop; analysing learning material (task analysis); meeting IEP goals through the general curriculum; strategies for access to the general curriculum (individualising content and differentiated instruction); daily-living, social and self-determination skills; building and carrying out the IEP with the team |
| 6.14.2.19 | Measuring and evaluating progress in instruction | Using formal and informal tests to judge progress; tools for evaluating the IEP; giving feedback during and after the lesson; keeping records and portfolios; involving the family in evaluating the programme; the team's role in measurement and evaluation |
Motivating and Supporting Learners with Intellectual Disability (13%)
| Standard | Name | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14.2.18 | Supporting learning environments | Creating individual and group learning opportunities; encouraging positive interaction in school; involving the student in classroom and extracurricular activities; matching the level of support to individual needs in different settings; the conditions of an ideal learning environment; using assistive technology, software and apps to support learning, independence and inclusion |
| 6.14.2.17 | Instructional and behavioural strategies | Evidence-based teaching practices and strategies; strategies and activities that fit the student's needs; strategies for a successful transition after graduation; varied activities that suit individual abilities; strategies for building and changing behaviour; strategies for acquiring, maintaining and generalising skills |
The question style in ETEC's guide
The guide gives ten sample questions with the reasoning behind each answer, then 28 practice questions with an answer key. They show the pattern of the test:
- Student-case situations: a seven-year-old with a mild delay in expressive language and otherwise typical abilities, so which placement suits him? The answer is a regular class all day with speech and language therapy. And a student trained to use the toilet who now does so at home without help, which is an example of maintaining a behaviour.
- The IEP and assessment: which element an IEP should contain (the present level of performance), which type of assessment helps most in writing its goals (criterion-referenced tests and behavioural checklists), and who sits on the multidisciplinary team that assesses a student.
- Roles and partnership: the most suitable role for the special education teacher in an inclusive setting (planning the lesson and teaching together with the general education teacher for every student in the class), and the role of families in early intervention (cooperating with the specialists).
- Causes and concepts: the prenatal factor linked to Down syndrome (the mother's age), the basis for using task analysis (teaching in steps that are easy to achieve), and a teacher using stars to reinforce good behaviour as an example of behaviourist theory.
The questions test applying knowledge to a student case or a classroom situation, so memorising definitions is not enough. Task analysis and the maintenance and generalisation of behaviour come up again in your track: in 6.14.2.16, for example, you are asked about analysing learning material, and in 6.14.2.17 about acquiring, maintaining and generalising a skill. ETEC itself notes that the guide's examples do not cover every aspect of the test and do not show how hard the real questions are.
How to use this table when you study
- Start with the free questions to see which domains are weakest for you.
- Order your time by weight: general principles of special education first (25%), then planning instruction for intellectual disability (21%), then general principles of intellectual disability (19%). The eight-week plan is built on these weights.
- Do not neglect the smaller domains. Planning instruction in special education (15%), motivating and supporting learners with intellectual disability (13%) and motivating and supporting learning in special education (7%) together make up 35% of the questions.
- The IEP shows up in at least three standards (6.14.1.4, 6.14.2.16 and 6.14.2.19), so master it in the general standard and then apply it to intellectual disability.
Your score on our questions is an estimate of your readiness, not an official result. Each unit in unit practice is one of these six domains, so if the free questions show weakness in assessment and diagnosis or in the IEP, for example, practise that domain on its own.
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Start with 10 free questions to find your weakest units. Keep practising with the full question bank and mock exams from SAR 26.
Sources and references
- ETEC – Professional License Test for Educational Professions (dates, scoring, FAQ and e-services) etec.gov.sa
- ETEC – Candidate guide for Special Education teachers (1441 AH / 2020 trial edition): domains, weights and sample questions media.etec.gov.sa
- ETEC – Standards for Intellectual Disability teachers, including the general special education standards (1441 AH / 2020) media.etec.gov.sa