Everything You Need to Know About the SSAT: What It Covers, How to Prepare, Practice Resources, and More!
If your student is taking the SSAT, you may have some questions. This introduction to the SSAT and to SSAT prep will cover everything you need to know, from the types of questions on the SSAT to how to best prepare. We’ve got a lot of information to cover, so let’s jump in!
What is the SSAT?
The SSAT, or Secondary Schools Admissions Test, is a test taken by students applying for private schools. Students in grades 3-4 take the lower level test, students in grades 5-7 take the middle level test, and students in grades 8-11 take the upper level test.
What is tested on the SSAT?
The SSAT has writing, math (called quantitative), verbal, and reading sections. See the chart below for a breakdown of each section.
How and where do students take the SSAT?
Students have the following options for taking the SSAT:
SSAT At Home
Since 2020, the SSAT has offered an at-home, online version of the test for students in the US and Canada. This is a great option if your student is comfortable with online tests and if you have access to a quiet testing location in your home. You can find information about how to register and available dates here.
Online Prometric SSAT Test
Students take an online test at a Prometric testing center. If your student prefers a digital test, but you would like support with the testing technology, don’t have a good testing location in your home, or are located outside the US or Canada, this may be a good fit. You can search for local availability here.
Paper SSAT
If your student prefers paper tests, they can complete a paper-based SSAT in an authorized test center, most often a school, on designated testing dates. You can find your local test center here.
Flex SSAT Tests
If students are unable to take the SSAT on available dates or they have testing accommodations for an IEP, they may be eligible for a flex test. Flex tests are taken on paper with approved educational consultants or schools. You can filter for Flex Test options here.
When do students take the SSAT?
Most students take the SSAT in the fall to meet mid-winter school application deadlines. Specific testing dates are dependent upon the students’ testing method. See the SSAT site for more information about exact dates and registration.
How is the SSAT scored?
When students receive their test results, they will get three scores:
Raw score
These are the number of questions students answered correctly and incorrectly on each section the test. Note that each correct answer adds one point to the student’s score, each blank answer adds zero points, and each incorrect answer subtracts ¼ of a point.
Scaled score
These scores are calculated from the student’s raw score so results across different versions of the test can be fairly compared.
On the middle level test, each section’s scaled scores range from 440-710. The total scaled score ranges from 1320-2130.
On the upper level test, each section’s scaled scores range from 500-800. The total scaled score ranges from 1500-2400.
Percentile score
Percentile scores are calculated by comparing your student’s scaled scores to other grade-level students’ scaled scores. If your student scores in the 81st percentile, that means the student scored better than 81% of other students in the same grade.
You can see a sample Upper Level score report here.
How should my student prepare for the SSAT?
This is often parents’ biggest question about the SSAT. Its answer also varies significantly! How students should prepare for the SSAT depends on their target score, how much they need to prepare to reach that target score, their timeline, their ability to motivate themselves, your budget for preparation materials, and a whole lot more.
So let’s break this down a little. The following steps are how we plan for students’ sessions when we meet with them one-on-one, and this system can work for you, too.
Step 1: Determine an SSAT timeline
Students’ very first step in preparing for the SSAT should be determining when they are going to take the official SSAT.
Your preparations will need to look quite different if your student has two weeks or four months before their official test date. Deciding on a target date – or at least a target month – will clarify what kind of preparation is realistic.
In order to do this, students need to have a general idea of what schools they’ll be applying to. Check the deadline for the school’s application, and make sure that your student can complete the SSAT by that deadline. We do recommend that students plan enough time so that they can take the test twice if needed, allowing for a month in between tests. This often means that students are taking their first tests in October or November.
Step 2: Prioritize what to study
Once you’ve decided on a timeline, you’ll need to estimate your student’s current SSAT score and determine how much improvement is needed.
Take a practice test – we recommend using one of the tests available on the official SSAT site for this – and calculate your student’s score. The test sections where your student’s score was lower will indicate areas to prioritize while studying.
Then compare your student’s score to the median SSAT score information for the specific schools your student will be applying to. This information can often be found online. If you can’t find school-specific info, you can generally estimate that, for competitive private high schools, students will want to aim for approximately the 70th percentile. For top-tier schools, their scores may need to be higher.
Step 3: Find SSAT prep resources
Once you know how much your student needs to improve and which test sections take priority, you’ll need to find resources to help your student review. You’ll need more than practice tests for this!
We recommend test preparation include the following:
Strategy instruction for specific types of questions – SSAT scores can be dramatically improved with some simple strategies and test-taking tricks
Practice questions – Students need plenty of practice to apply the strategies and continue to assess areas of weakness and growth
Timed practice tests – Simulating the official SSAT test as often as possible makes students more comfortable on testing day and allows you to track improvement
Analysis and correction of incorrect answers – Students need to learn from their incorrect answers, otherwise their improvement will be limited
If you’re overwhelmed with trying to track down all these resources – not to mention assessing whether or not they’re worth your money – you may want to enlist expert help. That’s where we come in!
If you’re on a budget or need flexible scheduling, we highly recommend our self-paced reading, verbal, and writing online course. The course is taught by one of our expert instructors, and it includes the same strategy instruction that we teach in one-on-one tutoring sessions. You’ll get access to interactive video instruction, effective practice questions and practice test sections, and guided analysis of incorrect answers in a thorough yet wallet-friendly package. The beta version is only $39 until January 1, 2023! You can find out more here.
(Our math course is currently in development, but you’ll be the first to know when it’s ready!)
If your student would thrive best with the accountability and tailored instruction of one-on-one tutoring, our instructors are available in person at our McLean, VA office and virtually across the country and internationally. You can request more information or sign up for a free consultation here. You can also check with your own local tutoring center.
If you’d prefer to curate practice resources yourself, here are some SSAT prep resources we’ve vetted and found helpful.
SSAT Prep Resources (Including Free SSAT practice!)
For SSAT strategies:
Principia Tutors and Consultants’ SSAT strategy videos on Youtube (free)
For SSAT practice questions:
For SSAT practice tests:
We recommend that students learn the strategies, try them out and commit them to memory by completing practice questions, and test themselves in test-like conditions once they’ve mastered the strategies.
Now that you’ve got your SSAT plan and resources in place, all that’s left is to register for the test – you can do so here – and start studying!
P.S. Got questions about our SSAT course, one-on-one tutoring, or the SSAT in general? Reach out to us here! We’d love to support you as you prep for the SSAT.
