Exam Content by Level

Writing Sample

• Intermediate & Upper Levels: 25 minutes to respond to two prompts (creative for Intermediate, one creative & one essay for Upper). Not scored, but sent to schools for review.

Quantitative (Math)

• Intermediate & Upper Levels: Two sections, 30 minutes each, 25 questions per section. Covers algebra, geometry, and quantitative reasoning.
• Elementary Level: One section, 30 questions. Foundational concepts: number sense, operations, geometry, and more.

Reading

• Intermediate & Upper Levels: 40 minutes, 40 questions on narrative and argumentative passages.
• Elementary Level: 7 short passages, 4 questions each. Tests comprehension, inference, and vocabulary.

Verbal

• Intermediate & Upper Levels: 30 minutes, 30 synonym + 30 analogy questions.
• Elementary Level: 30 questions on synonyms and verbal reasoning.

SSAT Scoring & Percentiles

• Intermediate & Upper Levels: 1 point per correct answer, -0.25 for wrong answers, 0 for blanks.
  • Scaled scores: Intermediate 440–710/section (total 1320–2130), Upper 500–800/section (total 1500–2400)
• Elementary Level: No penalty for wrong answers. Scaled: 300–600/section (total 900–1800)
• Percentile Rankings: Based on comparison with students of the same grade/gender over the last 3 years.

Key Details

• Score Reporting: Individual scores for Verbal, Quantitative, and Reading + total score. Students can select which scores to send to schools. Test frequency is not disclosed to schools.
• Experimental Section: Intermediate/Upper: 16 unscored questions. Elementary: 15–17 unscored questions.
• Score Release: Scores available about 2 weeks after the test.