SSAT explained: the Elementary, Middle and Upper Level tests with their sections, question counts and timings, how the SSAT is scored (the quarter-point penalty, scaled score ranges, percentiles by grade from the official tables), what a good SSAT score is for an 8th grader and a 6th grader, the formats and dates, SSAT vs ISEE, how to prepare, and a printable

The SSAT is the Saturday-morning test behind most independent-school applications in the United States and Canada, and its publisher explains it better than any prep site: the interpretive guides it writes for admission offices set out every section, the scoring rule, the scales and the percentile tables. This page is those guides, read for parents, with the formats and fees from the publisher's site.

Download the SSAT sheet (PDF) (the three levels with sections, questions and timings, the scoring rule and scaled score ranges, the percentile tables for grades 4, 6 and 8, and a preparation planner; two pages, free).

The three levels

The grade is the one the student is in when testing. A 7th grader applying to 8th grade takes the Middle Level; an 8th grader applying to 9th takes the Upper Level and is compared with other 8th graders.

Middle and Upper Level: the sections

In the order given, from the publisher's guide.

Total time 185 minutes with two breaks. The verbal section is 30 synonyms and 30 analogies, and the guide says it is not meant as a vocabulary test only; the quantitative sections cover number concepts and operations, algebra, geometry and other maths at the level of the grade; the reading section's 40 questions are on passages of literature and non-fiction, testing main idea, supporting detail, inference, and the author's logic, style and tone. The writing sample is not scored; a copy goes to every school the student sends scores to, and the publisher notes it is often the only unedited piece of a student's writing an admission office sees.

Elementary Level: the sections

Total time 125 minutes with a break. The writing sample is a story about a picture.

How it is scored

Middle and Upper Level: one point for each correct answer, one quarter of a point subtracted for each incorrect answer, nothing added or subtracted for a question left blank. So guessing at random on a five-choice question is neutral on average and guessing after eliminating one or two choices gains; the publisher's own advice page on guessing says the same. The raw score for each of verbal, quantitative (both sections together, 50 questions) and reading is converted to the scaled score, and the scaled scores are equated across test forms so that a 680 in October means the same as a 680 in January.

Elementary Level: one point per correct answer, no penalty.

Percentiles. The SSAT is norm-referenced: the percentile is the percentage of the norm group scoring below the student, and the norm group is all first-time test takers in the same grade who took a Standard test in the US and Canada over the past three years. The publisher's warning for admission offices applies to parents too: percentiles depend on who else takes the SSAT, a self-selected and strong group, so a 50th percentile on the SSAT is not a 50th percentile nationally, and only scaled scores should be used to compare individuals.

The percentile tables, by grade

From the 2022-23 interpretive guides' tables (the current guides use the same construction with updated norms):

8th grade, Upper Level (Table 4)

6th grade, Middle Level (Table 2)

4th grade, Elementary Level (Table 2)

Two things the tables show. The quantitative percentiles are lower than the verbal and reading ones for the same scaled score at the Upper Level (710 is the 74th percentile in verbal and the 66th in quantitative), because the norm group is stronger in maths; and the Middle Level scale tops out at 710, so a 6th grader at 683 in a section is already at the 89th percentile. The sample reports in the guides give the average scores: 2036 total for a 9th grader on the Upper Level (verbal 672, quantitative 701, reading 663) and 1453 for a 4th grader on the Elementary Level (484, 488, 481).

What a good score is

The school's answer, and schools answer differently: selective boarding and day schools commonly see admitted students in the 70s, 80s and 90s; many fine schools admit from the 50s with a strong file. The score report sent to a school includes the school's own context, how the student compares with last year's applicants, accepted and enrolled students at that school, which is a better guide than any national rule. For a parent reading the first report, the percentile by section says where to work: an 8th grader at verbal 720 and quantitative 620 (78th and 19th) has a maths problem, not an SSAT problem.

Formats, dates, retakes and fees

Three formats: paper (a Standard test on a Saturday at a school test centre, or a Flex test arranged by a school or an educational consultant on another date), SSAT at Home (online, with a proctor, in the US and some other countries), and the SSAT at Prometric test centres. A Middle or Upper Level student may take up to six Standard tests and one Flex test in a testing year; an Elementary student up to three, two Standard and one Flex. Fees at the time of writing: Middle and Upper Level paper Standard or school Flex US$177, Prometric $250, at Home $263, consultant Flex $272, with late and rush fees for paper and fee waivers available. Standard paper dates fall roughly monthly from October to June; schools' deadlines usually make the December and January tests the last useful ones for the following September.

SSAT or ISEE

Most schools accept both; a few prefer one. The publisher's own statement is that the scores cannot be used interchangeably. Choose by the student's strengths (analogies suit a strong reader; the ISEE's no-penalty rule suits a cautious guesser) and by what the target schools say.

How to prepare

1. One timed practice test first, from the publisher (official practice is sold through the SSAT account) or a published book, to find the section that costs most.
2. Vocabulary every day for the synonyms and analogies: the single biggest movable score at every level, and the one that also pays in school.
3. The maths of the grade, cleanly: number properties, fractions, decimals and percents, ratio, basic algebra and geometry at Middle Level; linear equations, coordinate geometry, probability and statistics at Upper Level. The quantitative sections reward speed on known material.
4. Reading with the question types in mind: main idea, detail, inference, tone.
5. Guessing strategy for the penalty: never leave a question blank once a choice is eliminated; leave it blank only when none is.
6. Two more timed sittings, the last under real conditions; nothing new in the final three days.

The Catholic-school counterpart is the HSPT, a different test with no penalty; a strong SSAT reader is also on the way to the PSAT two years later.

Download the SSAT sheet (PDF) (the levels, the scoring, the percentile tables and the planner; two pages, free).

Where to get help

A 1-on-1 online class with a tutor who holds a master's degree and teaches the US curriculum from Grade 3 number work to Algebra 2 and beyond, at 7 am before school, after 4 pm and on weekend mornings, US time, for US$10 to $13 an hour: the first practice test read together in the free 30-minute first class, the section and the topic that cost most found, and the weeks before the test spent on exactly that, with timed practice on known material. How online tutoring from India to the USA works, or the 1-on-1 online tutoring page.

Sources: The Enrollment Management Association (now E3n), 2022-2023 Interpretive Guide for the Middle and Upper Level SSATs (grades 5 to 7 and 8 to 11; the four multiple-choice sections with 30, 30, 40 and 30 minutes; 60 verbal questions as 30 synonyms and 30 analogies; two quantitative sections of 25; 40 reading questions; the 25-minute writing sample; 185 minutes with the experimental section and two breaks; one point per correct answer and one quarter point off per incorrect answer; the 440 to 710 and 500 to 800 scales; equating; the norm group of first-time same-grade Standard test takers over three years in the US and Canada; only scaled scores compare individuals; Tables 2 and 4, the 6th and 8th grade percentiles; the sample report's 9th grade averages); 2022-2023 Interpretive Guide for the Elementary Level SSAT (grades 3 and 4; 20, 30 and 30 minutes; 15 synonyms and 15 analogies; 30 quantitative; 28 reading questions on seven passages of 100 to 300 words; the 15-minute picture story; 125 minutes; no penalty; 300 to 600 and 900 to 1800; Table 2, the 4th grade percentiles; the sample report's 4th grade averages); admission.org, About the SSAT (since 1957; the three formats; the grade levels; retake limits; fees; the merger of ERB and EMA into E3n); EMA, 10 (More) Things Every Admission Committee Member Needs to Know About the SSAT (norm-referenced; SSAT and ISEE not interchangeable; the writing sample first). Fetched 11 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

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