The SSAT, is one of two primary admissions test administered to students applying for private or independent school for middle and high schools. Though often confused is has nothing to do with the SAT or PSAT used for admission to college.

There are two levels of the SSAT - the Lower level for students entering middle school and the Upper level, students entering high school or transferring to a private high school from public shoool. The SSAT tests students in Math, Reading Comprehension, Verbal skills and an essay that is not graded but sent to the desired school for their examination.

The test is taken by students from the United States and Canada, but students from around the world take the test in hopes of getting into top schools. The test is given at schools, test centers, or with certified proctors.

Essay

The essay provides an opportunity for the studen to demonstrate how well they write and how well they can express their thoughts in a clear and consice manner, so it is important

There are two 25 minute math sections with 25 questions each that require basic computations including some basic algebra.

Verbal Section

The verbal section is 30 minutes long and consists of 30 synonym and 30 analogy questions.

Reading Comprehension Section

The 40 minute reading comprehension section has 40 questions based around seven given reading passages. These questions not only require test takers to comprehend what they are reading but also to read quickly.

How They Score the SSAT

The SSAT questions have a guessing penalty and questions answered incorrectly have 1/4 point deducted. No points are awarded or deducted for questions left unanswered. The scaled score for the Upper Level is 500- 800 and the Lower Level is 440- 710.

The SSAT score report provides scaled scores for each section as well as percentile ranks for each category, comparing a students score to others who have taken the test in the past three years.

Scores are typically sent directly to the independent schools they wish to apply to. Each school then evaluates the scores according to its own standards and requirements.