According to the official SSAT site, "The SSAT is provided in three levels. Each is divided into quantitative (math), verbal, and reading comprehension sections, plus an unscored writing exercise. The SSATs also include a section of unscored experimental questions that is vital to the development of new tests."

‍Elementary Level SSAT: Students currently in grades 3-4

‍Middle Level SSAT: Students currently in grades 5-7

‍Upper Level SSAT: Students currently in grades 8-11


Test Structure:


  • Quantitative (Math): One section of 30 questions composed of math computation.

  • Verbal: One section of 30 vocabulary and analogy questions.

  • Reading: One section of 28 questions based on reading passages.

  • Writing Sample: There is one writing prompt. The writing sample is not scored, but schools use it to assess writing skills.

  • Experimental: One section of mixed content questions (verbal, reading, and math). This section does not count toward reported scores.


Improve SSAT Reading Comprehension

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What to Expect for the SSAT Reading Section

The SSAT Reading section consists of:

  • 40 questions

  • 5 answer choices

  • 7-8 passages

These 40 questions must be completed in 40 minutes.


SSAT Reading Passage Types:

• Literary fiction

• Humanities (biography, art, poetry)

• Science (anthropology, astronomy, medicine)

• Social studies (history, sociology, economics)


SSAT Reading Question Types:

  • Recognize the main idea

  • Locate details

  • Make inferences

  • Derive the meaning of a word or phrase from its context

  • Determine the author’s purpose

  • Determine the author’s attitude and tone

  • Understand and evaluate opinions/arguments

  • Make predictions based on information in the passage

SSAT Reading passages are usually short but tend to have complex sentence structures and cover unfamiliar topics. The questions can also be fairly complex so tutoring and practice tests in this section can be very beneficial for attaining a top score.

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