Secondary School Admission Test

The Secondary School Admission Test, or SSAT, is an admission test administered by The Enrollment Management Association in the United States to students in grades 3–11 to provide a standardized measure that will help professionals in independent or private elementary, middle, and high schools to make decisions regarding student admission.

There are three levels of the test: the Elementary Level (EL), for students in grades 3 and 4 who are applying to grades 4 and 5; the Middle Level, for students in grades 5–7 applying for grades 6–8; and the Upper Level, designed for students in grades 8–11 who are applying for grades 9–12 (or PG). The SSAT consists of a brief unscored writing sample and multiple choice sections that include quantitative (mathematics), reading comprehension, and verbal questions. The test, written in English, is administered around the world at hundreds of test centers, many of which are independent schools. Students may take the exam on any or all of the eight Standard test dates; the SSAT "Flex" test, given on a flexible date by approved schools and consultants, can be taken only once per testing year (August 1 – July 31).

Although each year several different SSAT forms are utilized, the SSAT is administered and scored in a consistent (or standard) manner. The reported scores or scaled scores are comparable and can be used interchangeably, regardless of which test form students take. This score interchangeability is achieved through a statistical procedure referred to as score equating. Score equating is used to adjust for minor form difficulty differences, so that the resulting scores can be compared directly.

The SSAT measures three constructs: verbal, quantitative, and reading skills that students develop over time, both in and out of school. It emphasizes critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are essential for academic success. The overall difficulty level of the SSAT is built to be at 50-60%. The distribution of question difficulties is set so that the test will effectively differentiate among test takers who vary in their level of abilities. In developing the SSAT, review committees are convened which are composed of content and standardized test experts and select independent school teachers.

Middle and Upper Level: In the Middle and Upper Level SSATs, there are two 30-minute math sections with 25 questions each. These sections are called the quantitative sections. The quantitative questions measure the test taker’s knowledge of basic quantitative concepts, algebra, and geometry. The words used in SSAT problems refer to basic mathematical operations. Many of the questions that appear in the quantitative sections of the Middle Level SSAT are structured in mathematical terms that directly state the operation needed to determine the best answer choice. Other questions are structured as word problems. A word problem often does not specifically state the mathematical operation or operations to perform in order to determine the answer.

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