School Leadership License Test Content: 5 Domains, 19 Standards, Weights

Last checked: 10 November 2026. The sources are ETEC's candidate guide for the School Leadership professional license test (1441 AH/2020, trial edition) and the School Leadership Standards, both from the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, and the professional license page on the ETEC website. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with ETEC, the National Center for Assessment (Qiyas), the Ministry of Education or any government body.

In short: the School Leadership subject test has 75 multiple-choice questions with four options, covering 19 standards in five domains. The largest domain is School leadership with 22 questions (29.4%), then School and professional development with 18 and Professional values, regulations and partnership with 16. Each question targets one indicator of one standard, and the questions do not have to cover every indicator.

Domains, standards and question counts

Weights and per-standard counts come from the table in the candidate guide (p. 7); the detailed indicators are in the standards document (pp. 8 to 12).

What each domain tests

• School leadership: leadership concepts, modern trends and leader competencies; school planning and environmental analysis; management functions, the operational plan, councils, committees, budget and quality; problem solving and decision-making; instructional supervision; and communication.
• School and professional development: school and teacher self-evaluation; evaluating teachers with varied methods, including classroom observation; analysing student results; professional development and action research; e-administration; and activities and support services.
• Leading teaching and learning: developmental traits and learning theories; the knowledge society; special education programmes; learner-centred strategies and the teacher's and learner's roles in them; feedback; gifted students; and distance learning.
• Improving the school environment: a culture of hard work and cooperation; a climate for creativity; equipment and storage; safety and the emergency and evacuation plan; multimedia, learning resources and technical infrastructure.
• Professional values, regulations and partnership: teaching ethics and being a role model; positive values and student councils; Saudi education policy, civil service rules, the school leader's duties and powers, circulars, and the conduct and attendance rules; and partnership with families and the community.

What the questions look like

The guide gives sample questions for each domain, such as one on a management concept (the radical redesign of work systems is re-engineering), one on the parts of an operational plan and one on the themes of the teaching ethics charter. It notes that the samples do not cover every part of the test or show how hard it is.

Test day and scores

• Language: Arabic.
• Calculators: not allowed.
• The subject test is paper-based or computer-based depending on the subject, and the type shows in your profile. ETEC gives two hours for paper-based tests.
• The Professional License Regulations for Educational Jobs (Article 4) set a minimum score of 50 in both the General Educational Test and the subject test, with higher levels needing 70 and then 80 together with qualification and years of experience.

What our practice covers

Our practice questions cover all 19 standards with the guide's weights, and every question explains each option and points to its standard and indicator. Most are workplace situations asking for the school leader's best action.