SHSAT Score Calculator

By Trieu Ly · Updated November 2, 2026 · NYC sources checked November 2, 2026

Enter how many questions your child got right on a practice test, or a score you already have. You get a likely SHSAT score range and the chance of an offer at each of the 8 specialized high schools. NYC publishes no conversion table for the fall 2026 test, so every result is our estimate.

• Free, no sign-up
• Runs in your browser: we never see your answers
• Built on NYC Public Schools data
• Not affiliated with NYC Public Schools

Scoring our printed Practice Test 2? Count the questions right in each section with the answer key at the back of the PDF, then enter the two numbers below. The printed test is a fixed form, so the number right is a fair input for this estimate.

How is the SHSAT scored?

ELA and math each get a scaled score. NYC adds the two into a composite score, 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 adjusted for small differences between test forms and fitted scores to a normal curve (2019-20 handbook, pages 22 and 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. NYC says the step that turns this into a scaled score stays consistent with past tests. Each subject also has 10 unscored field-test questions, and NYC does not say which ones (NYC SHSAT page). More on the 2026 test format.

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

Is there a penalty for wrong answers on the SHSAT?

NYC has not said whether wrong answers count against you on the fall 2026 test. Through fall 2025 there was no penalty. NYC advises a real attempt at every question and says rapid guessing at the end is not better than a best attempt (NYC SHSAT page). Older guides that say “no penalty” describe the earlier tests: NYC reworded its scoring page in mid-2026.

Can you convert a raw SHSAT score to a scaled score?

Not exactly. NYC does not publish raw-to-scaled conversion tables, so any conversion is an estimate. A raw score is the number of questions right. NYC turns it into a scaled score so that 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 and 23) and 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, one raw point is worth 10 to 20, because scores are fitted to a normal curve.
• There is no set minimum or maximum, and 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. 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 at Stuyvesant’s 2026 cutoff of 561. About 47 of 50 gives roughly an 80% chance. The 80% column allows for the error in a practice estimate and for each school’s swing from year to year.

Same number in both sections. The real 2026 test adapts to each student, so treat these as targets, not thresholds. Every cutoff, with past years: SHSAT cutoff scores by school.

Is my estimate a good SHSAT score?

It is good if it reaches the cutoff of the school you want: 2026 cutoffs ran from 495 (Brooklyn Latin) to 561 (Stuyvesant). A practice estimate is less certain than an official score, so read it with its likely range. Examples for 530, 570 and 630: is 570 a good SHSAT score?

Below the cutoffs? Some students are invited to a summer program instead (in 2026, scores of 495 or above were not eligible): who qualifies for the Discovery program.

What is the highest possible SHSAT score?

NYC has not published a maximum, minimum or score range for the fall 2026 adaptive test. For the 2017 to 2025 tests, NYC said there was no set maximum. A section usually topped out around 350 and the composite around 700, and the top changed each year (handbook, page 23). So 800 was not the top of the scale for the 2017 to 2025 tests. Our model tops out at 350 per section.

What is the average SHSAT score?

NYC does not publish an average, percentiles 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 got an offer, about 15% (NYC InfoHub, 2026 SHSAT outcomes). Offers by school are in the SHSAT results table.

Does the 2026 adaptive SHSAT change how scores work?

Yes, in how a section is measured. The composite is still scaled ELA plus scaled math, but 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 are different. On October 14, 2026, we opened all four of NYC’s official practice forms (A to D) on the portal. Each one is a fixed list of 100 questions that does not change with the answers. So the number right on them is still a fair input for this calculator.

NYC says the method that turns performance scores into reported scores stays consistent with past tests. It has not said whether fall 2026 scores will sit on the same scale as earlier years. 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 fall 2026 scores, and any offer, arrive in MySchools in early spring 2027, with no date named yet (NYC Guide for the SHSAT). See all fall 2026 SHSAT dates.

Can you use a calculator on the SHSAT?

No. Calculators are not permitted, and NYC’s guide does not mention an on-screen calculator or give formulas (2027 guide, pages 21 and 28 to 29). Tips: SHSAT math without a calculator, and what the test looks like on screen.

How accurate is this calculator?

Each result is a range, not a single score: about ±40 points on the composite for a full NYC practice test, 8 times out of 10. Every number it shows is our estimate, built from NYC’s published description of its scale and NYC’s published cutoffs.

• 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 gives that shape. Two anchors place the curve. A perfect section is about 350, the usual top NYC reports. And 50% right is about 205 per section. That fits NYC’s 2026 results: 4,023 of 26,123 testers got offers, all at 495 or above, and 777 of those offers went to Stuyvesant, which needed 561 or above.
• How wide the range is. It adds the error of the practice test, of the real test, of practice conditions and of our model. A full NYC practice test gives a likely composite range of about ±40 points (8 times out of 10). A non-NYC test gives about ±45, and one of our own practice tests gives about ±65, because it has only 21 questions.
• What it can’t do. We cannot check the model against official results, because NYC publishes no tables and no score distribution. An official score always beats an estimate.
• The chances. We start from NYC’s 2026 cutoffs, allow for each school’s swing from 2022 to 2026, and follow your ranking order. The same inputs always give the same answer.

Next step: have your child take another of NYC’s official practice tests and enter it above for a second estimate.

Sources

NYC pages re-read November 2, 2026; the PDFs are fixed NYC documents.

• 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 to 2025 from archived copies of the same page), results.
• NYC Public Schools, 2019-2020 Student Handbook (PDF), section 7.2, pages 22 and 23: raw and scaled scores, usual maximums.
• NYC Public Schools, “SHSAT website updates” FAQ (PDF, May 2025), page 5: the same scoring description.
• NYC Public Schools, SHSAT Portal practice tests and Guide to the SHSAT for 2027 Admissions (PDF): format, tools, test-day rules.
• NYC InfoHub, Fall 2026 SHSAT and Discovery summary (XLSX): testers and offers.

Cite or embed this calculator

SHSAT Practice Test. (2026, November 2). SHSAT score calculator. https://shsatpracticetest.net/shsat-score-calculator/ Copy citation