Taken
Winter of 8th grade
Length
About 2.5 hours
Format
Paper, multiple choice
The High School Placement Test is the entrance exam most Catholic high schools use, including those in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It is a long, fast, paper test taken in eighth grade, and some schools also use the results for class placement and scholarships.
What's on the test
- Verbal Skills: analogies, synonyms, antonyms and logic questions
- Quantitative Skills: number series, comparisons and reasoning
- Reading: comprehension and vocabulary in context
- Mathematics: arithmetic through early algebra and geometry
- Language: grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage
Why speed matters
The HSPT asks close to 300 questions in about two and a half hours, and the Verbal Skills section allows roughly sixteen seconds a question. Students who know the material still lose points to the clock, so timed practice is most of the preparation.
When to start
Schools usually give the HSPT in the winter of eighth grade, on a date each school sets, so check every school you are applying to. Starting in the fall leaves time for a practice test, two or three months of work, and a second practice test before the real one.
Talk to us about hspt prep
Tell us the subject, the year group, and what you have tried already. We will tell you what we would actually recommend.