Home › Short HSPT practice test
Short HSPT practice test: 35 questions, about 16 minutes
A free quick HSPT practice quiz with all five sections: 8 Verbal Skills, 5 Quantitative Skills, 10 Reading, 6 Mathematics, 6 Language. Each section has its own short clock, 15 min 50 s in all. No sign-up. You get your score by section and skill, with every answer explained.
Written by us in the published HSPT format. A short sample, not the real test, and not affiliated with STS.
Quick test · 35 questions · five timed sections
Free: no email, no sign-up. Each section's clock starts when the section opens and cannot be paused.
- Verbal Skills2:108 questions
- Quantitative Skills2:555 questions
- Reading4:0010 questions
- Mathematics4:156 questions
- Language2:306 questions
- The five sections of the full test, in the same order, each on its own short clock
- Four answer choices (three on verbal logic questions)
- Inside a section, skip a question and come back to it
- No penalty for guessing: answer every question
- No calculator. Scratch paper is fine.
How the short test compares with the full test
Same five sections in the same order. The clocks follow the pace of the full test (about 16 seconds a question in Verbal Skills, 35 in Quantitative Skills, 24 in Reading, 42 in Mathematics and 25 in Language), with a fraction of the questions. Reading uses one complete passage, a poem, with all its questions.
| Section | Quick: questions | Quick: time | Full: questions | Full: time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Skills | 8 | 2:10 | 60 | 16 min |
| Quantitative Skills | 5 | 2:55 | 52 | 30 min |
| Reading | 10 | 4:00 | 62 | 25 min |
| Mathematics | 6 | 4:15 | 64 | 45 min |
| Language | 6 | 2:30 | 60 | 25 min |
| All five | 35 | 15:50 | 298 | 141 min |
Full-test questions: STS, HSPT Interpretive Manual (2021, PDF).
Full-test minutes: Archdiocese of Washington, About the HSPT. STS does not publish them per section.
The quick test is 15 min 50 s of timed testing, plus the time to read the directions and move between sections.
What it is not: a prediction. With 5 to 10 questions in a section, one question moves a section by 10 to 20 percentage points, and STS publishes no table to turn right answers into a 200–800 score or a percentile, so we show neither. How HSPT scores work.
When the quick test is the right one
- Short on time. A first look at the format before you decide whether to sit down for the full 2.5 hours.
- A warm-up. Your child meets every kind of question once, with a clock, before the full free test.
- A quick check on the weak spot. The report names the skills where points were lost, with a link to how to practice each one.
What is on the short test
The mix of skills follows the full test, which follows the sample score report in STS's manual. Every question is our own and every answer was checked before it went in.
Verbal Skills: 8 questions, 2:10
- Analogies1
- Verbal logic2
- Odd word out2
- Synonyms2
- Antonyms1
Quantitative Skills: 5 questions, 2:55
- Number series2
- Number manipulation1
- Geometric comparison1
- Non-geometric comparison1
Reading: 10 questions, 4:00
- Reading comprehension10
Mathematics: 6 questions, 4:15
- Numbers and operations2
- Measurement1
- Geometry1
- Algebra1
- Statistics and probability1
Language: 6 questions, 2:30
- Punctuation1
- Capitalization1
- Usage2
- Spelling1
- Composition1
What you see when it ends
- Right answers in each section, how many questions your child reached before each clock ran out, and the time each section took.
- The score of each skill: synonyms, number series, geometry, punctuation and the rest.
- The answer and the explanation of every question, free.
Next: the full free HSPT practice test (298 questions, five timed sections) or the plans with more full tests.
Questions about the short HSPT practice test
How long is the short HSPT practice test?
35 questions and about 16 minutes: 15:50 of timed testing in all (Verbal Skills 2:10, Quantitative Skills 2:55, Reading 4:00, Mathematics 4:15, Language 2:30). Each of the five sections has its own short clock, so the test is quick but still has the shape of the real one.
Is this the real HSPT?
No. It is a short practice test written by us in the HSPT format: the same five sections in the same order, a few questions of each skill, and clocks that follow the pace of the real test. The real HSPT is given on paper by your child's school or diocese, and it has 298 questions.
Is the short test free?
Yes. No email and no sign-up. When it ends you see the score of each section and each skill, and the answer and explanation of every question (all 35 of them: no section has more than 10 questions).
Can the short test predict my child's HSPT score?
No. With 5 to 10 questions in a section, one question moves that section by 10 to 20 percentage points, and STS publishes no table that turns right answers into the 200-800 standard score or a percentile, so we show none. Use it as a first look at the format and at which skills need work, then take the full free test.
Can my child pause?
Inside a section the clock never stops: a refresh or a closed tab does not pause it. Between sections the clock is stopped, so your child can take a break and start the next section later; the answers so far are saved on that device.
What should we do after the short test?
Take the full free HSPT practice test (298 questions, 141 minutes of testing) when you have about 2.5 hours. The result of the short test already shows which sections to watch.