Tests / HSPT / Scores

HSPT scores: the 200 to 800 scale, percentiles and cutoffs

The HSPT has no national cutoff or passing score. Scholastic Testing Service, which publishes it, reports standard scores from 200 to 800, where 500 is exactly average, and national percentiles from 1 to 99. It says each school evaluates the scores in its own way, and that one school's criteria may not be another's.

Facts checked October 11, 2026 against the publisher's own pages, listed at the bottom. Prepwick is not affiliated with the test's publisher.

What scores does the HSPT report?

The number of right answers on each part is turned into a standard score and a national percentile. Nothing is taken off for a wrong answer. The same is done for three totals.

HSPT score types
Standard score	200 to 800. A score of 500 is exactly average
National percentile	1 to 99. The share of students in a national sample who scored lower. 50 is exactly average
Local percentile	The same idea, compared with the students who tested at the same school or in the same program
Stanine	1 to 9, national and local. 9 is the highest, 5 is average and 1 is the lowest
Grade equivalent	Given for Reading, Language and Math. It compares a student with average students in other grades on 8th grade material
Total Cognitive Skills	The Verbal and Quantitative parts together
Total Basic Skills	The Reading, Mathematics and Language parts together
Composite	All five parts together. It is built from the right answers on those parts, not by averaging the part scores
Optional test	A school may add Science, Catholic Religion or Mechanical Aptitude. It gets a raw score and does not count in the composite

Is there an HSPT cutoff score?

Not from the publisher. Scholastic Testing Service says schools use the HSPT for admissions, scholarship selection and class placement, and that each school evaluates scores in its own way.
Its advice to families with questions about how a school uses scores is to contact that school directly.
Scholarships are a common use. Regis calls its HSPT sitting a Scholarship Exam, and Fordham Prep says only students who sit the HSPT are considered for a merit scholarship.
A few schools say what they look for. Dominican Academy in Manhattan says its committee strongly considers girls who typically score in the top 15 percent in every section of the TACHS, HSPT or ISEE, with a B or B+ average or better. It also says HSPT scores tend to run lower than TACHS scores.

Will we get a score report?

That depends on the school. Scholastic Testing Service does not send results to a student's home. The school or diocese that gave the test decides what families see.
The two reports families most often see are the Student Score Report and the Performance Profile. Schools buy them as extras, so a student gets one only if the school ordered it.
That is why one family's report can look different from another's. Each school or diocese picks its own reports.
In a group program, where several schools test together, scoring often waits until every school's answer sheets are in.

Sending HSPT scores

Sending HSPT scores
Who sends scores to schools	The school or diocese that gave the test. There is no national score-sending system
Group programs	Students may be able to code several high schools on the answer sheet so each gets the scores
A copy for the family	Ask the school where the child tested
Sending to another school	Ask the school where the child tested. The publisher needs that school's permission and will not act on a parent's request alone
Taking it again	The publisher recommends taking the HSPT only once. A school may allow a retest in unusual cases

HSPT score questions parents ask

What is the highest score on the HSPT?

Standard scores run from 200 to 800, so 800 is the top of the scale. National percentiles run from 1 to 99.

What is an average HSPT score?

A standard score of 500 is exactly average, and so is a national percentile of 50. On the stanine scale, 5 is average.

What is a good HSPT score?

The publisher does not name one. It says each school evaluates scores in its own way and tells families to ask the school. What it does define is average: a standard score of 500, or the 50th national percentile.

How is the HSPT composite score calculated?

The right answers on all five parts (Verbal, Quantitative, Reading, Mathematics and Language) are added together and then turned into a standard score and a national percentile. The composite is not the average of the part scores.

Is there a penalty for wrong answers on the HSPT?

No. Points are not taken off for incorrect answers.

What is the difference between a national and a local percentile?

A national percentile compares a student with a national sample. A local percentile compares the student with the others who tested at the same school, or across the same school system when schools test together.

Does a grade equivalent of 10.6 mean my 8th grader is ready for 10th grade?

No. The publisher says the student was tested on 8th grade material, not 10th grade material. It suggests reading a grade equivalent only as below, at or above grade level.

Can you take the HSPT twice?

The publisher recommends taking it only once. It leaves any retest to the school or diocese, case by case.

Sources

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