What is on the
ISEE Upper Level?

Who sits it

The ISEE Upper Level is for applicants to grades 9 through 12, which in practice means a child in eighth grade or above. An eighth-grader or older applying for a high school place, frequently in the same autumn as the SHSAT or the TACHS.

Four sections, in this order

160 questions in 130 minutes of testing time.

Quantitative Reasoning

Seventeen of the 37 Quantitative Reasoning questions are Column A against Column B. At this level the comparison often turns on an algebraic relationship rather than two numbers, so the shortcut of computing both sides stops working as reliably as it did at Middle Level.

Mathematics Achievement

This is the dividing line between Upper and everything below it. Fourteen of the 168 mathematics and quantitative items across our two Upper Level forms solve for an unknown, use an exponent or work with slope. At Middle Level that count is zero out of 168, and at Lower Level zero out of 136.

Verbal Reasoning and Reading

Verbal Reasoning splits almost evenly: 19 synonym questions and 21 sentence completions, and it is the tightest clock on the paper at 30 seconds a question. Reading Comprehension is 6 passages carrying 36 questions between them.

What catches families out

Upper Level covers grades 9 to 12 with one paper, so a student applying for grade 9 sits the same exam as one applying for grade 11. The percentile is what corrects for that, not the questions.

The essay

An unscored thirty-minute essay opens the real Upper Level. No stanine, no percentile, and it still goes to every school on the list, which for a high school application is usually the part read most closely. Our practice exam is the four scored sections; the essay is not in it and we would rather say that than let you assume otherwise.

Two forms, no shared questions

We sell two full ISEE Upper Level forms and they have no questions in common, so a second sitting measures learning rather than recall. Every wrong option carries its own explanation saying what a student who picked it was probably thinking. A free ten-question sample is on the samples page if you want to see the format before paying for anything.