The parent's guide to the SHSAT

The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) is the exam New York City uses for admission to eight of the nine Specialized High Schools. Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts admits students through auditions instead.

Offers to the eight test-based schools are made by ranking students according to their SHSAT score and the order in which they listed the schools. There is no interview, essay, or grade requirement for the test-based schools, so the test score carries the full weight of the decision.

NYC students take the SHSAT in 8th grade, and first-time 9th graders may also sit for it. Families register in MySchools; for the Fall 2026 test, registration closes October 30. Dates and registration windows change each year, so confirm them on the official NYC Public Schools Specialized High Schools page and with your child's school.

Beginning in Fall 2026, the SHSAT is a computer-adaptive test taken on NYCPS-provided computers, except for limited approved paper accommodations. It has two subjects, English Language Arts and Mathematics, completed in a single sitting.

• ELA: 50 questions, including Revising & Editing questions on grammar, sentence structure, and organization, plus Reading Comprehension passages across informational and literary texts.
• Math: 50 questions covering arithmetic, algebra, geometry, probability, statistics, and word problems.
• Question formats include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and technology-enhanced items.
• Students receive 180 minutes total, choose which subject to begin with, and decide how to divide their time.
• Every question must be answered before advancing. Math and standalone ELA questions cannot be revisited after advancing; passage-set ELA questions can be reviewed within their passage set until that set is submitted.
• Calculators are not permitted.

There is no single right start date. Students who are already strong in 7th-grade math and read widely often need a focused few months; students with gaps in fractions, ratios, algebra, or reading stamina benefit from starting earlier, often in the spring or summer before 8th grade.

A diagnostic is the most reliable way to decide. It shows where your child stands today and how much ground there is to cover before test day.

Strong SHSAT preparation usually moves through the same stages:

• Diagnose: take a timed, realistic assessment and review every error.
• Rebuild foundations: close content gaps before drilling speed.
• Practice by section: targeted sets with explanations, such as our SHSAT Math practice questions and SHSAT ELA practice.
• Build stamina: full-length timed exams under test-day conditions.
• Refine strategy: pacing, subject order, and committing to an answer before advancing on the computer-adaptive test.