SSAT practice and guide
The Secondary School Admission Test’s level is chosen from the grade your child is in now: Elementary for 3rd and 4th graders, Middle for 5th to 7th. Here’s what’s on each, how scoring works, this year’s dates, and a free math section in its style, timed like the real one.
Try a timed math section
A Quantitative section for the Elementary or Middle Level: as many questions as the real one, at your own pace or against its clock.
SSAT-style math
30 questions in 30 minutes, for children in 3rd or 4th grade.
Work without a calculator. Have paper and a pencil ready for working out.
Levels
| Level | For children in | Applying to |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary | grades 3 to 4 | grades 4 to 5 |
| Middle | grades 5 to 7 | grades 6 to 8 |
| Upper | grades 8 to 11 | grades 9 to 12 |
The level is chosen from the grade entered when you register: one lower if your child is repeating a grade, one higher if they skipped one. The SSAT is provided by E3n, formed in March 2026 when The Enrollment Management Association, which developed the SSAT, merged with ERB, which developed the ISEE. Both tests are still offered.
Sections and timing
Elementary Level
| Section | Questions | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative | 30 | 30 minutes | Scored |
| Verbal | 30 | 20 minutes | Scored |
| Break | 15 minutes | ||
| Reading | 28 | 30 minutes | Scored |
| Writing sample | 1 | 15 minutes | Not scored |
| Experimental | 15-17 | 15 minutes | Not scored |
2 hours 5 minutes. Verbal is synonyms and analogies. The writing sample is a story about a picture, with a beginning, middle and end, sent to schools; families can’t see it. The experimental section tries out new questions.
Middle Level
| Section | Questions | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing sample | 1 | 25 minutes | Not scored |
| Break | 10 minutes | ||
| Quantitative 1 | 25 | 30 minutes | Scored |
| Reading | 40 | 40 minutes | Scored |
| Break | 10 minutes | ||
| Verbal | 60 | 30 minutes | Scored |
| Quantitative 2 | 25 | 30 minutes | Scored |
| Experimental | 16 | 15 minutes | Not scored |
3 hours 10 minutes. The two math sections, with no calculators, make one Quantitative score from 50 questions; Verbal is 30 synonyms and 30 analogies. The writing sample offers a choice of a story starter or a personal question, and goes to schools.
How it’s scored
At the Elementary Level, each right answer scores a point and a wrong one costs nothing. At the Middle and Upper Levels, each right answer scores a point, a quarter point is taken off for each wrong one, and a question left blank scores nothing. Our practice marks each question right or wrong. Percentile ranks compare your child with first-time test takers in the same grade over the past three years, in the US and Canada. Paper scores usually come within two weeks; SSAT at Home and Prometric scores come the following Wednesday.
Test dates for 2026-27
| Standard paper date | Levels |
|---|---|
| Saturday, November 14, 2026 | Elementary, Middle and Upper |
| Saturday, December 12, 2026 | Elementary, Middle and Upper |
| Saturday, January 9, 2027 | Middle and Upper |
| Saturday, January 30, 2027 | Middle and Upper |
| Saturday, March 13, 2027 | Middle and Upper |
Tests start at 9 a.m. Registration closes the Wednesday before each date, with a $59 late fee from three weeks before and a $100 rush fee from two weeks before. Schools and approved consultants also give Flex tests on paper on dates of their own, once per testing year. At the Middle and Upper Levels there’s also SSAT at Home (US and Canada, once a year) and Prometric test centers. Middle and Upper Level students can take up to 6 Standard tests and 1 Flex test a year, Elementary students up to 2 Standard and 1 Flex.
Questions about the SSAT
Which SSAT level should my child take?
It’s chosen from the grade they’re in when you register: Elementary for 3rd and 4th grade, Middle for 5th to 7th, and Upper for 8th to 11th. A child repeating a grade registers one grade lower, and one who skipped a grade one higher.
Is there a penalty for wrong answers on the SSAT?
Not at the Elementary Level. At the Middle and Upper Levels, a quarter point is taken off for each wrong answer, and a question left blank scores nothing.
When are the 2026-27 SSAT dates?
The remaining Standard paper dates are Saturdays at 9 a.m.: November 14 and December 12, 2026 for every level (the only dates for the Elementary Level), then January 9, January 30 and March 13, 2027 for the Middle and Upper Levels. Registration closes the Wednesday before each date.
Can my child take the SSAT at home?
At the Middle and Upper Levels, yes: SSAT at Home is on a computer with a proctor, in the US and Canada, once per testing year. The Elementary Level is on paper only.
Are these real test questions?
No. Every question here is written by AskThena in the style of each test and made fresh each time. CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, ISEE and SSAT are trademarks of their publishers, and AskThena isn’t connected with or endorsed by them.
Every question here is written by AskThena in the style of the test and made fresh each time. CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, ISEE and SSAT are trademarks of their publishers, and AskThena isn’t connected with or endorsed by them.
See also ISEE practice and gifted test practice.
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