Is there an HSPT practice test PDF? What STS actually offers

This page lists the HSPT practice materials that the publisher puts out, who is allowed to get each one, and how to run a practice session at home with the real section counts, times and rules.

What exists, and who can get it

The HSPT is published by Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. (STS) of Bensenville, Illinois.

Material	Who publishes it	Who can get it
HSPT Preview Sample	STS	High school admissions staff only. It is mailed only to a school address, so families cannot order it.
Pre-HSPT, a 7th-grade edition of the test used as practice	STS	High schools only, through a lease-and-score program. It is scored against 7th-grade norms.
NJ COOP/HSPT Student Handbook, a free PDF	Archdiocese of Newark and Diocese of Paterson	Anyone can download it, but it has no sample questions. It points families to ststesting.com for information about what is on the test.
Prep books and courses	Other publishers	Anyone who buys them. STS is not affiliated with any HSPT prep book or course and does not endorse them.

So both official practice materials go to schools rather than to families, and the public 2026–27 NJ COOP/HSPT handbook has no sample questions. If your child’s high school offers the Pre-HSPT in 7th grade, that is the closest thing to an official practice run.

What STS tells parents about prep

STS tells families to avoid expensive prep materials and says a well-rounded education is the best preparation. Its tips for the test itself are short: pace yourself, no calculators, and answer every question, because the HSPT scores only correct answers with no penalty for wrong ones. An older STS FAQ page does note that REA and Barron’s “COOP/HSPT” prep books are sold in bookstores.

More on which tests punish guessing: Which admissions tests penalize wrong answers?

Build a practice session that matches the real test

You can reproduce the conditions even without official questions. Use whatever practice material you have, and set it up like this.

1. Split the work into the five HSPT subtests listed below.
2. Set a timer for each one and stop when it rings.
3. No calculator and no phone on the table.
4. Tell your child to answer every question, including guesses.
5. Count correct answers per subtest afterward.

Subtest	Questions	Approximate minutes
Verbal Skills	60	16
Quantitative Skills	52	30
Reading	62	25
Mathematics	64	45
Language	60	25
Total	298	about 2 hours 20 minutes

STS does not publish section times on its public pages, so treat the minutes above as approximate. Some schools also add an optional Science test (40 items, 25 minutes) or a Catholic Religion test (20 minutes); neither counts toward the composite score.

One limit to keep in mind: a home session gives you a raw count of correct answers, not an HSPT score. Standard scores run 200 to 800 with 500 as average, and percentiles run 1 to 99; those come from STS, not from a count at your kitchen table.

Full breakdown of the format: What’s on the HSPT? Sections, question counts and optional tests. How the numbers on the report work: HSPT scores explained. New to the test: What is the HSPT exam?

Practice by question type instead

Since the Preview Sample and the Pre-HSPT go to schools rather than families, practice the question types one at a time:

• Verbal analogy practice: 8 questions with answers
• Synonym practice: 8 vocabulary questions with answers
• Fraction practice: 6 questions with worked answers
• Percent practice: 6 questions with worked answers
• Ratio and proportion practice: 6 questions with answers

If you are testing in New Jersey

Families in the Archdiocese of Newark and Diocese of Paterson take the HSPT through the NJ COOP program. The handbook for 2026–27 is a public PDF covering dates, rules and registration, but it contains no practice items. The test is Friday, November 6, 2026, registration runs September 1 to October 23, 2026, and the fee is $70.

Details and deadlines: NJ COOP HSPT 2026: dates, fee and how to register

STS recommends that each student take the HSPT only once, and the NJ COOP program allows the COOP HSPT only once.

Taking a different test?

The same question comes up for the TACHS: Is there a TACHS practice test PDF? For the specialized high schools, see Where to find official SHSAT practice tests. Not sure which test applies to your child: TACHS vs HSPT.

Check each school’s admissions page for the materials it recommends, and ask the admissions office whether it runs a Pre-HSPT.