Free SHSAT Practice Questions with Answers

Twenty-three original questions in the style of the SHSAT — 15 math and 8 revising/editing — each with the correct answer and a worked explanation. They were written by the SHSAT teachers at ABCMath Academy in Flushing for the 2026 computer-adaptive (CAT) format.

How to use this page: work each question on paper first, then choose your answer and press "Check answer". On the real 2026 test you cannot skip math questions, so practice committing to an answer before moving on. When you finish, take the official digital practice test to feel the adaptive format.

Math practice questions (1–15)

Multiple choice. Grade 7–8 content: ratios, percents, inequalities, expressions, area, number theory, and the number line.

Question 1
The 312 eggs in a chicken coop are split between brown eggs and white eggs in a ratio of 8 to 5. How many of the eggs are white eggs?
Question 2
Pavel's toy chest has $12$ wooden blocks and $64$ foam blocks. Then Pavel removes $4$ wooden blocks. What is the ratio of wooden blocks to all the blocks in the toy chest now, in simplest form?
Question 3
Henry opens an account at Riverside Savings Bank with $200. It earns 5.5% simple interest each year. What is the account's balance after 8 years, in dollars?
Question 4
The Riverside Library has 720 members. Of the members, 80% are adults, and 75% of the adult members volunteer at the book sale. How many adult members volunteer?
Question 5
The figure below shows Paloma's L-shaped room.
Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
The L-shaped room is split by the dashed line into two rectangles, one 20 feet by 6 feet and the other 7 feet by 9 feet. What is the area of the room, in square feet?
Question 6
Solve $-30 + 14n > -10 + 10n$ . Give the solution as an inequality with $n$ alone on the left.
Question 7
Thabo's video length is 10 minutes. Ramon's video length is at least the result of subtracting 1 minute from twice Thabo's video length. Let $m$ be Ramon's video length in minutes. Give the inequality for $m$ with $m$ alone on the left.
Question 8
Which number line graphs all numbers $x$ that are no less than $-2$ and at most $2$ ?
Question 9
Multiply $(5m - 3)(3m - 12)$ . Write your answer with the $m^2$ -term first, then the $m$ -term, then the constant term.
Question 10
Simplify $(-x - 5y - 11) - (-4x - y - 2)$ . Write your answer with the $x$ -term first, then the $y$ -term, then the constant term.
Question 11
How many integers from 70 through 208, inclusive, are not in the range from 177 through 198, inclusive?
Question 12
How many integers from 136 through 528, inclusive, are divisible by 4, by 10, or by both?
Question 13
What is the sum of the prime numbers between 22 and 35?
Question 14
Shreya's number line has segment MN drawn below, with point M at $-72$ and point N at $48$ . Points E, F, G, H and J divide segment MN into 6 equal parts, in that order from N to M. What is the coordinate of point E?
Question 15
Lena's drawing below shows segment PS with points Q and R marked on it. The length of segment QS is $158$ . Q is the point on segment PS that makes segment PQ $3$ times as long as segment QS, and R is the midpoint of segment QS. What is the length of segment PR?
Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

Revising and editing practice questions (16–23)

Read each passage, then answer the questions that follow. Sentences are numbered for reference.

Passage 1

⁽¹⁾ Last spring, students at Lincoln Middle School started a garden club that quickly became one of the most popular activities at the school. ⁽²⁾ The club's first project was to turn an unused patch of ground behind the gym into vegetable beds. ⁽³⁾ Members met twice a week to pull weeds, mix soil, and plant seeds. ⁽⁴⁾ Tomatoes, peppers, and beans were planted by them. ⁽⁵⁾ By June, the beds were full of green shoots. ⁽⁶⁾ Some students were surprised by how much work a garden needs, they had expected the plants to grow on their own. ⁽⁷⁾ The club donated its first harvest to a food pantry near the school. ⁽⁸⁾ Next year, the club plans to add a compost bin and a small herb garden.

Question 16
Which revision of sentence 4 best matches the style of the rest of the paragraph?
1. Tomatoes, peppers, and beans, they were planted.
2. They planted tomatoes, peppers, and beans.
3. Planting tomatoes, peppers, and beans by them.
4. There were tomatoes, peppers, and beans that were planted.
Show answer
Answer: B. The other sentences use the active voice ("Members met…", "The club donated…"). Choice B makes sentence 4 active and concise. A is awkward, C is a fragment, and D is wordier than the original.
Question 17
Which revision corrects the error in sentence 6?
1. Some students were surprised by how much work a garden needs, which they had expected the plants to grow on their own.
2. Some students were surprised by how much work a garden needs they had expected the plants to grow on their own.
3. Some students were surprised by how much work a garden needs, they had, expected the plants to grow on their own.
4. Some students were surprised by how much work a garden needs; they had expected the plants to grow on their own.
Show answer
Answer: D. Sentence 6 is a comma splice: two complete sentences joined by only a comma. A semicolon (choice D) correctly joins two closely related independent clauses. A adds "which" and no longer makes sense, B removes the comma and creates a run-on, and C adds commas in the wrong places.
Question 18
Which sentence, if added between sentences 7 and 8, would best support the ideas in the paragraph?
1. The pantry served more than two hundred families that month.
2. Many students take the bus to school.
3. Gardening has been practiced for thousands of years.
4. The gym was built in 1985.
Show answer
Answer: A. Sentence 7 is about donating the harvest to a food pantry; choice A adds a detail that shows why that donation mattered. The other choices are true-sounding but unrelated to the garden club's project.
Question 19
Which sentence best states the main idea of the passage?
1. Gardens need more work than most people expect.
2. A food pantry near Lincoln Middle School received fresh vegetables.
3. A new garden club at Lincoln Middle School turned an empty space into a productive garden.
4. Students at Lincoln Middle School prefer gardening to sports.
Show answer
Answer: C. Every sentence supports the story of the club starting, building, and harvesting its garden, which is choice C. A and B are single details from the passage, and D is never stated.

Passage 2

⁽¹⁾ The Elmhurst branch library has served the neighborhood for more than sixty years. ⁽²⁾ Last year, the city approved funds to expand the building. ⁽³⁾ The plan includes a larger children's room, more computers, and a quiet study area for teenagers. ⁽⁴⁾ Many residents attended a meeting to share their opinions. ⁽⁵⁾ Some asked for longer weekend hours, others wanted more books in languages other than English. ⁽⁶⁾ Librarians say the branch is busiest after school when students come to do homework. ⁽⁷⁾ Because of this the study area will have outlets at every table. ⁽⁸⁾ Construction begins in March and should be finished in about eighteen months. ⁽⁹⁾ During that time, a temporary branch will operate in a nearby community center. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Residents are excited to see the finished building.

Question 20
Which revision of sentence 5 is correct?
1. Some asked for longer weekend hours others wanted more books in languages other than English.
2. Some asked for longer weekend hours, others, wanted more books in languages other than English.
3. Some asked for longer weekend hours, while others wanted more books in languages other than English.
4. Some asked for longer weekend hours; and others wanted more books in languages other than English.
Show answer
Answer: C. The original is a comma splice. Adding the subordinating word "while" (choice C) turns the second clause into a dependent clause, so the comma is correct. A is a run-on, B puts a comma between a subject and its verb, and D wrongly uses a semicolon together with "and".
Question 21
Which revision of sentence 7 corrects the punctuation?
1. Because of this, the study area will have outlets at every table.
2. Because of this the study area, will have outlets at every table.
3. Because, of this the study area will have outlets at every table.
4. Because of this the study area will have outlets, at every table.
Show answer
Answer: A. An introductory phrase ("Because of this") is followed by a comma, as in choice A. The other choices put the comma inside the phrase, between the subject and verb, or before a prepositional phrase, all of which are wrong.
Question 22
Which choice best combines sentences 2 and 3?
1. Last year, the city approved funds to expand the building, the plan includes a larger children's room, more computers, and a quiet study area for teenagers.
2. Last year the city approved funds, and expanding the building, a larger children's room, more computers, and a quiet study area for teenagers.
3. The city approved funds last year and the building and a larger children's room, more computers, and a quiet study area for teenagers.
4. Last year, the city approved funds to expand the building with a larger children's room, more computers, and a quiet study area for teenagers.
Show answer
Answer: D. Choice D keeps both ideas, in order, in one clear sentence. A creates a comma splice, B has no main verb for the second half, and C strings nouns together with "and" so the meaning is lost.
Question 23
What is the main purpose of the passage?
1. To persuade the city to approve funding for the library
2. To inform readers about the library's planned expansion
3. To describe the history of the Elmhurst neighborhood
4. To compare the Elmhurst branch with other libraries
Show answer
Answer: B. The passage reports facts about a plan that is already approved: what it includes, why, and when. The funding is already approved (sentence 2), so A is wrong; the history (C) and other libraries (D) are never discussed.

What to do next

If you missed more than three math questions or two ELA questions, the gaps are usually in a handful of topics, not everywhere. Our SHSAT prep course starts every student with a diagnostic, then drills those topics with six full-length CAT mock exams and weekday online tutoring. Saturday classes run in Flushing, Queens, and online.

See the SHSAT course and pricing Take the official digital practice test

Frequently asked questions

How is the real SHSAT scored?

Each section (English Language Arts and Mathematics) gets a raw score — the number of questions answered correctly, with no penalty for wrong answers. Each raw score is converted to a scaled score, and the two scaled scores are added to make a composite score of up to 800. Offers are made in order of composite score, by each student's ranked school choices, so the "cutoff" for each specialized high school is simply the lowest score that received an offer there that year.

How many questions are on the SHSAT?

The paper SHSAT had 57 ELA questions and 57 Math questions (114 in total, including a small number of unscored field-test items) in 180 minutes. The 2026 computer-adaptive version keeps the two sections but changes how questions are delivered: math questions cannot be skipped, the difficulty adapts to your answers, and some items are drag-and-drop, drop-down, multi-select or fill-in rather than multiple choice. Check the official NYC Public Schools handbook for the current year's counts and timing.

How should I use these practice questions?

Work each question on paper before you check your answer, and time yourself: about 90 seconds per math question and 60–75 seconds per ELA question is the pace the real test demands. Read every explanation, including for questions you got right, so you recognize the common traps next time. Then take the official digital practice test to get used to the computer-adaptive format.

These questions are original to ABCMath Academy and are not released SHSAT items. Test format details are based on NYC Public Schools' published materials; confirm the current year's rules in the official Specialized High Schools Student Handbook.

Free SHSAT Practice Questions with Answers

Math practice questions (1–15)

Revising and editing practice questions (16–23)

Passage 1

Passage 2

What to do next

Frequently asked questions

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