SHSAT Score Calculator

Updated October 7, 2026 · NYC sources checked October 7, 2026

Enter how many questions you got right on a practice test to get a likely SHSAT score range, or enter a score you already have. Then see your chance of an offer at each of the 8 specialized high schools, in the order you rank them.

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• Runs in your browser: we never see your answers
• Built on NYC Public Schools data
• Not affiliated with NYC Public Schools

How is the SHSAT scored?

Each section, ELA and math, gets its own scaled score. NYC adds the two into a composite score, and the composite is the only number used to rank students (NYC SHSAT page).

• Through fall 2025 (fixed tests, 57 questions per section), a section score started from the number of questions right, with no penalty for wrong answers. NYC then made two adjustments: calibration, for small differences between test forms, and normalization, which fits the scores to a normal curve (2019–20 handbook, pages 22–23).
• From fall 2026 (computer-adaptive, 50 questions per section), every question has a set difficulty on one scale. A section score comes from the pattern of right and wrong answers compared with those difficulties, and it updates after each answer or passage set. Every question must be answered to move on. NYC says the step that turns this into a scaled score stays consistent with past tests. More on the 2026 format.

Students are ranked by composite score. Each one gets an offer from the highest school on their list that still has seats, so a school’s cutoff is simply the score of the last student it admitted. There is no passing score. The two sections count equally: a strong math score can make up for a weaker ELA score, and the reverse.

How do raw scores turn into scaled scores?

A raw score is the number of questions right. NYC converts it to a scaled score so that students who took different versions of the test can be compared. The two are not proportional. NYC described the conversion in its 2019–20 student handbook (pages 22–23) and again in a 2025 FAQ about the digital SHSAT (page 5): in the middle of the range, one raw point is worth about 3 to 4 scaled points; at the top or bottom, 10 to 20, because scores are fitted to a normal curve. The same documents say there is no set minimum or maximum, and that the scoring is redone every year, so scores from different years can’t be compared directly.

That is why the last few questions matter so much for the top schools. In our model, going from 25 to 30 right in a section adds about 14 points, while going from 40 to 45 adds about 27.

For a 57-question test, use the same share right. Add the two sections for the composite: 42 right in ELA and 44 in math estimate a composite near 535.

How many questions do you need to get right for Stuyvesant?

In our model, about 45 of 50 in each section gives an even chance of reaching Stuyvesant’s 2026 cutoff of 561, and about 47 of 50 gives roughly an 80% chance. For Brooklyn Tech (506), it is about 40 and 43. The 80% column allows for the error in a practice estimate and for each school’s year-to-year swing.

Same number in both sections; a stronger section can make up for a weaker one. Practice tests are fixed forms, while the real 2026 test adapts to each student, so treat these as targets, not thresholds.

Is 530, 570 or 630 a good SHSAT score?

• 530 as an official score is above the 2026 cutoffs at Bronx Science (525), Staten Island Tech (517), American Studies (507), Brooklyn Tech (506), Brooklyn Latin (495). It is below Stuyvesant (561), HSMSE (539), Queens Sciences (531).
• 570 is above every 2026 9th-grade cutoff, including Stuyvesant’s 561. More on a 570.
• 630 is well above every 9th-grade cutoff. For 10th-grade entry, NYC published 652 for Bronx Science and Brooklyn Latin, about 90 points above any other 2026 10th-grade cutoff, with no explanation; check NYC’s table before relying on it.
• A practice score is less certain: read it together with the likely range the calculator shows.

Below the cutoffs? NYC’s Discovery program is a summer program for some students from low-income backgrounds and schools who score below the cutoffs; those who complete it can enroll at a specialized high school in September. It is by invitation. In 2026, scores of 495 or above were not eligible, and 795 students were offered a spot.

What is the highest possible SHSAT score?

There is no set maximum. NYC says a section usually tops out around 350 and the composite around 700, and the actual top changes from year to year (2019–20 handbook, page 23; 2025 FAQ, page 5). So 800 is not a real SHSAT maximum. NYC has not published the range for the fall 2026 adaptive test. Our model tops out at 350 per section.

What is the average SHSAT score?

NYC does not publish an average or any score distribution. It does publish how many students tested and how many got offers: for 2026 admissions, 26,123 students took the SHSAT and 4,023 received an offer, about 15% (NYC InfoHub, 2026 SHSAT outcomes).

Does the 2026 adaptive SHSAT change how scores work?

NYC says the step that turns performance into a scaled score stays the same, so a composite is still scaled ELA plus scaled math. What changes is how a section is measured. Students see different questions depending on their earlier answers, so on the real test “number right” no longer means the same thing for every student. NYC’s practice tests have a fixed set of 100 questions (their explanation booklets cover each one in order), so counting right answers on them still works as a practice signal.

NYC has not said whether fall 2026 scores will sit on the same scale as earlier years, and it has long said scores from different years can’t be compared directly. Fall 2026 is also the first adaptive SHSAT, so the cutoffs for 2027 admissions could move more than in a usual year.

When do SHSAT scores come out?

NYC says students who test in fall 2026 will learn their score, and get any offer, in early spring 2027 (NYC Guide for the SHSAT). Results arrive in MySchools, or from the school counselor or a Family Welcome Center. NYC has not named a date. High school offers are scheduled for March 3, 2027, and last year SHSAT results came out the same day as high school offers, March 5, 2026. All fall 2026 SHSAT dates.

How accurate is this calculator?

• What it is built on. NYC’s description of its scale (above) gives the shape. We model each section as a test whose questions vary in difficulty, which produces exactly that shape: about 3 points per question in the middle and 10 to 20 at the ends. Two anchors place the curve. A perfect section is about 350, the usual top NYC itself reports. And 50% right is about 205 per section: NYC’s 2026 numbers (26,123 testers; 4,023 offers, all at Brooklyn Latin’s 495 cutoff or above; 777 Stuyvesant offers, all at 561 or above) put the middle composite around 410 to 420 if scores follow a normal curve.
• How wide the range is. It adds four kinds of error: the practice test’s own, the real test’s on test day, the difference between practice and real conditions, and our model’s. A full NYC practice test gives a likely composite range of about ±40 points (8 times out of 10); a non-NYC practice test, about ±45. By the same measure, one PrepCAT mini test is about ±65, because it has only 21 questions.
• What it can’t do. We have not been able to check the model against official results, because NYC publishes no tables and no score distribution. If we can compare practice and official scores in the future, we will publish the measured error here. An official score always beats an estimate.
• The chances. We start from NYC’s 2026 cutoffs and allow for each school’s 2022–2026 swing, then add up the chance of each offer in your ranking order. There is no random simulation, so the same inputs always give the same answer.

Sources

All checked October 7, 2026.

• NYC Public Schools, Specialized High Schools Admissions Test: how the fall 2026 test is scored, format.
• NYC Public Schools, Specialized High Schools admissions: lowest qualifying scores (2026; 2022–2025 from archived copies of the same page), results.
• NYC Public Schools, 2019–2020 Specialized High Schools Student Handbook (PDF), §7.2 “SHSAT Scoring and Test Results”, pages 22–23: raw and scaled scores, the 3–4 and 10–20 point examples, usual maximums.
• NYC Public Schools, “SHSAT website updates” FAQ (PDF, May 2025), page 5: the same scoring description, for the fall 2025 digital test.
• NYC Public Schools, SHSAT Portal practice tests and NYC Guide to the SHSAT for 2027 Admissions (PDF): 50 questions per section; a summary report of right and wrong answers.
• NYC Public Schools, New York City Guide for the SHSAT and high school admissions timeline: results in early spring 2027; high school offers on March 3, 2027.
• NYC InfoHub, Fall 2026 SHSAT and Discovery summary (XLSX): testers, offers by school, Discovery.
• NYC Public Schools, Discovery programs: eligibility for summer 2026.

Cite this calculator

PrepCAT. (2026, October 7). SHSAT score calculator. https://shsatpracticetest.net/shsat-score-calculator/ Copy

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