All About HSPT Exam

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The High School Placement Test (HSPT) exam was the first test battery created specifically for selecting and or placing students entering high school from a variety of elementary schools. The HSPT has measured major skill areas as well as cognitive skill criteria since 1955, making it the most comprehensive placement test available. With a population of entering high school students, the entire battery is standardized at the same time. This also produces results that are directly comparable across all test areas and can be traced back to the students’ freshman levels. 

 Scholastic Testing Service offers the following HSPT products and services.

· Closed HSPT – Every year, a secure version of the Closed HSPT is created as well as the tests content is based on a few items that have been piloted and studied to see how effective they are. To ensure testing integrity, piloted items are later introduced into test forms. To ensure that reliable comparisons can be made from year to year and form to form, specific procedures are followed.

· Open HSPT – Available for school purchase and local scoring for fast results.

· Pre-HSPT – Firstly STS offers a seventh-grade edition of the Closed HSPT to help students prepare for the HSPT. It will be ideal for use as a practice test in schools. The Pre-HSPT was however scored using seventh-grade norms, and all of the same scoring and reporting services are available as with the Closed HSPT.

HSPT Exam Information

The HSPT is also used to measure the math, reading, and writing skills of students entering high school. It is used in various private high schools across the country. 

  • Number of Questions: 298 questions 
  • Question Type: Multiple-choice 
  • Time Limit: approximately 2.5 hours 
  • Exam Cost: Included in school application fee 

HSPT Exam Breakdown

HSPT Concept# of QuestionTime LimitContent Area/ skillPercentage of HSPT
Verbal Skill6016 MinutesVerbal Analogies, Synonyms, Logic, Verbal Classifications, Antonyms.  20%
Quantitative Skills/ Reasoning5230 MinutesNumber Series, Geometric Comparison, Non-Geometric Comparison, Number manipulation.17%
Reading6225 MinutesComprehension, Vocabulary.20%
Mathematics6445 MinutesConcepts, Problem-Solving.21%
Language Skills6025 MinutesPunctuation and Capitalization, Usage, Spelling, Composition.20%

HSPT Highlights

  • 1 point is an award for each correct answer in all sections
  • There is also no deductions for incorrect answers in all sections (answer all questions!)
  • The student is not allow a calculator for the math sections.
  • Students are not provided with scratch paper—all work is to be done on the test booklet.
  • The student will take the HSPT at the Catholic high school they would most prefer to attend, though a student may list other Catholic high schools that sent the students HSPT scores.
  • The HSPT features multiple scores: 
    • Raw score – the total number of correct answers in each section
    • Scaled score – each raw score is convert into a scaled score of 200 to 800.

You can see how quickly you can unravel like this. Before you know it, you are scoring way worse than you ever did on a practice test.

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