As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.
The HSPT has 298 multiple-choice questions in five subtests, and a sitting runs about 2.5 hours. It is the entrance exam most Catholic high schools in California give, and its publisher, Scholastic Testing Service (STS), first issued it in 1955. An eighth grader this school year, 2026-27, who starts high school in fall 2027, sits it this fall or in January, on a date the school sets. Across the 154 private and Catholic high schools in our set, 31 name the HSPT, and 29 of those require it outright.
What is on the HSPT
STS calls the five parts subtests. Two of them measure reasoning, Verbal Skills and Quantitative Skills. Three measure what a student has learned: Reading, Mathematics and Language. STS designed the test to be taken whole, and the Composite score covers all five.
| Subtest | Questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal Skills | 60 | synonyms, antonyms, analogies, classifications and logical reasoning |
| Quantitative Skills | 52 | number series, number manipulation, geometric and non-geometric comparisons |
| Reading | 62 | main ideas, details, inference, literary elements and vocabulary in context |
| Mathematics | 64 | computation and problem solving in numbers, measurement, geometry, algebra and statistics |
| Language | 60 | punctuation, capitalization, spelling, grammar, usage and composition |
Every subtest is timed, and the proctor announces the halfway point. STS does not publish the minutes for each one; it says the whole administration takes about 2.5 hours. Some schools tack on one optional section at the end: Science, which runs 25 minutes, or Catholic Religion, 20 minutes, each with 40 questions. That score stays outside the Composite.
Two rules matter on test day. Nothing is subtracted for a wrong answer, and STS tells students to answer every question and take their best guess when unsure. Calculators are not permitted on the Mathematics subtest; scratch paper or the margin of the booklet is the only tool.
How the HSPT is scored
Each subtest, and the Composite, gets a standard score on a scale of 200 to 800, where 500 is the mean and 100 points is one standard deviation. Beside it sits a national percentile rank from 1 to 99, with 50 exactly average: the share of STS's norm group that scored lower. That norm group is students entering high school who went on to earn a diploma, which STS describes as a more selective base than the general population. Some reports add a local percentile, where the comparison group is the students who tested with that school or diocese, and some add a stanine from 1 to 9.
STS's own research names the Composite as the single best predictor of how a student does later, and STS recommends it for admission and scholarship decisions. The Composite is scaled on its own; it is not an average of the five parts.
Two logistics follow from that. The school, never STS, decides when and how a family sees the scores: STS does not mail results home, and a replacement copy of a report comes from the school that gave the test. And STS recommends that a student take the HSPT once, with any retest the school's decision, case by case. For most students the first sitting is the only sitting.
What is a good HSPT score
There are no good or bad scores. There are only scores that will help you reach your goals. STS says each school evaluates scores in its own way, so the number that matters is the one the schools on your list are looking for, and STS points them to the Composite rather than to any single subtest.
Which schools give it, and when
We track 154 private and Catholic high schools across 14 metros in California, North Texas, the New York area and North Jersey. Thirty-one of them name the HSPT, 29 as the one required exam and 2 among other accepted tests. California holds 24 of the 31. Eleven of those 24 give the test on the same morning, Saturday, January 9, 2027, while two schools in San Francisco test earlier, December 5, 2026. Application deadlines at five Bay Area schools fall on Friday, December 11, 2026.
In North Jersey, six schools name the HSPT through the COOP program, which now uses it. Four of the six test on Friday, November 6, 2026, with an October 23, 2026 registration deadline for that COOP sitting. In Manhattan, Regis High School uses the HSPT as its scholarship exam, given at Regis on November 14, 2026. Not one of the 33 schools we track in the Dallas area (DFW) uses the HSPT; the Catholic schools there run on the ISEE. The school-by-school lookup at highschoolreach.com/entrance-exams shows the exam each school names, and the full table with every school's dates is in our HSPT guide on Reach. Our set is not every school in the country that gives the HSPT.
No test center sells a seat, and no national date exists. STS leases the test to schools and dioceses, which run the sitting, set any fee, handle registration and grant accommodations such as extended time. A family registers with the school where the student will test. STS publishes no family fee and sells no practice test to families; the only prep material it endorses is the Pre-HSPT, a seventh-grade edition that high schools give as practice.
How to prepare: our tips
These are our positions at Test Prep Gurus, for the HSPT as much as any test we teach.
- Start six to twelve weeks out. One or two sessions each week, with practice in between them, beats a cram the week before.
- Prepare for the whole test every time. STS built the HSPT to be taken in full, and the Composite that schools lean on covers all five subtests. A student who drills math alone walks in with four untouched sections.
- Take timed practice tests under real conditions. Every subtest runs on its own clock, and 62 Reading questions feel different once the student has lived the pace.
- Know each section's directions before you walk in. A minute reading them on the day is a minute lost.
- Answer every question. Nothing comes off for a wrong answer, and STS itself says to take your best guess.
- Practice arithmetic by hand. There is no calculator on the Mathematics subtest, so long division, fractions and decimals need to be quick on paper again.
- Work the calendar backward from one date. The school names the sitting and the registration deadline, and most students get one sitting. Count back six to twelve weeks from the test date and start there.
We can move these scores
As our own site puts it, "At Test Prep Gurus we teach students how to raise their grades and scores on the ACT, SAT, ISEE, HSPT, APs so they can reach their goals for college and beyond." For the HSPT we offer three things: a free mock HSPT exam, our online HSPT course, and customized 1-on-1 HSPT lessons. The online course meets on Sundays, October 25, November 1 and November 15, with a practice exam on November 8; registration for it closes Friday, October 23, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific. We do not promise a number. What we can say is that HSPT scores move with steady, whole-test work, and the way a family starts is the free mock exam, which shows us the starting point. Details are on our HSPT page, or call 949-229-5359.
The move
This month, do three things. Find each school on your list in the entrance-exam lookup and write down its HSPT date and its application deadline. Register with the school on time, and if your student needs extended time, file that request by the school's own date, which is often earlier. Then have your student sit a full, timed mock HSPT so the plan is built on a real score.
To have us run that mock exam and map the weeks to test day, reach us at prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step or call us at 949.229.5359.
Questions parents ask
How many questions are on the HSPT and how long does it take?
The HSPT has 298 multiple-choice questions in five subtests, and a sitting runs about 2.5 hours.
Is there a penalty for guessing on the HSPT?
Nothing is subtracted for a wrong answer, and STS tells students to answer every question and take their best guess when unsure.
What is a good HSPT score?
There are no good or bad scores. There are only scores that will help you reach your goals.
Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.
Sources
- STS, HSPT Parent's Page -- what the test is and who takes it -- https://ststesting.com/hspt/par_main.html
- STS, HSPT Parent's Page: FAQs -- who gives the test, registration, no national dates, score delivery, retests, accommodations -- https://ststesting.com/hspt/par_faqs.html
- STS, HSPT Parent's Page: How Are Tests Scored -- no guessing penalty, the Composite, how schools use scores -- https://ststesting.com/hspt/par_und.html
- STS, HSPT Parent's Page: Preparing for the HSPT -- timed subtests, answer every question, no calculator, STS endorses no prep product -- https://ststesting.com/hspt/par_prep.html
- STS, HSPT Parent's Page: How Schools Use Your Scores -- each school evaluates scores its own way -- https://ststesting.com/hspt/par_schools.html
- STS, HSPT product overview -- since 1955, optional tests and their minutes, the Pre-HSPT, free leasing to schools -- https://ststesting.com/hsp/index.html
- STS, HSPT Interpretive Manual (PDF, 2021) -- the five subtests and their item counts, 298 items, score scales, norm groups, the Composite, the Cognitive Skills Quotient -- http://www.ststesting.com/hp_int_sts.pdf
- STS blog, HSPT category -- the 2.5-hour administration -- https://ststesting.wordpress.com/category/high-school-placement-test-hspt/
- Reach, entrance-exam lookup -- the 154 tracked schools, which exam each names, the counts by state and metro and for DFW, the January 9 and November 6 sittings, the registration and application dates -- https://highschoolreach.com/entrance-exams
- Reach, The HSPT guide -- the research brief behind this post, with every school's dates -- https://highschoolreach.com/research/hspt-guide
- Test Prep Gurus, HSPT -- the free mock exam, the online course, 1-on-1 lessons, the quoted line about what we teach -- https://www.prepgurus.com/hspt