What is a good HSPT score? What the average is and what schools decide
There is no passing HSPT score. The average is 500 on STS's 200 to 800 standard-score scale (a national percentile of 50), and each high school decides what it needs: STS only recommends the Battery Composite, which combines all five sections, for admission and scholarship decisions. STS publishes no score chart that turns right answers into a score.
Updated October 24, 2026 · by AdmitTest
The facts here are from STS's page on understanding HSPT scores and its Interpretive Manual. For every kind of score on the report, see HSPT scores explained; this page answers the question parents search for.
The average, and what it means
| Number | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| 500 | The average standard score, on a scale of 200 to 800 (standard deviation 100). |
| 50 | The average national percentile (the scale runs 1 to 99). A percentile of 80 means a higher score than about 80 percent of the national group. |
| 100 | The average Cognitive Skills Quotient (about 55 to 145). |
Those are definitions of the scales, not a pass mark. Whether 500, 550 or 650 is "good" is the school's call.
Why there is no single answer
- No national cutoff. STS publishes none. Each school or diocese chooses its own test date, and each high school decides how it uses the scores.
- Families do not get the scores from STS. STS sends them to the school or diocese, which shares them its own way, so ask what your school will show you.
- The Battery Composite is the number STS recommends for admission and scholarship decisions: it combines all five sections.
- Ask about the rest of the file. How much the test weighs against grades and other parts of the application is each school's decision.
Is there a score chart?
No. STS publishes no table that converts right answers into a standard score or percentile, so we do not show an HSPT score or percentile after our practice test either: any number would be a guess. Our result shows the right answers in each section and each skill, which is what tells you what to practice.
How to read a practice result
- Compare sections with each other. A section far below the others is where practice pays most.
- Look inside the section. Synonyms or analogies, number series or comparisons, punctuation or spelling: the skills with the most misses come first.
- Check the clock. Many questions left blank at the end of a section usually mean the section ran out of time, not that the skills are missing.
- Compare two tests, not one. A rise between a first and a second full test, taken a couple of weeks apart, is a better signal than any single number.
To see what the school expects, ask it. Good questions: which score do you use (composite or sections), is there a range for scholarships, and are scores used for placement in honors classes?
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What is a good HSPT score?
It depends on the school. 500 (national percentile 50) is the average for the national group; schools set their own expectations, and some programs and scholarships look for more. Ask each school what it considers, and whether it uses the Battery Composite, a section score or the Cognitive Skills Quotient.
What is the average HSPT score?
500 on the 200 to 800 standard-score scale, with a standard deviation of 100, according to STS's manual. A national percentile of 50 is average.
Is there an HSPT score chart?
STS does not publish a chart that turns the number of right answers into a standard score or percentile, and each year's form is scaled separately. Any 'HSPT score chart' or raw-score converter online is a guess.
How many questions do you need to get right on the HSPT?
There is no published number. Points are not subtracted for wrong answers, so answer every question. What counts is the school's cutoff, which we cannot know for your school; ask the admissions office.
Does a low HSPT score mean my child will not get in?
Not by itself. Schools decide differently and many also look at grades and the rest of the application; ask the admissions office. STS recommends taking the test once, and a school may allow a retest case by case.