At Xavier and Fordham Prep,
the HSPT is the scholarship.
You can be admitted to both on the TACHS. You cannot be considered for a merit scholarship at either one unless you sit the HSPT. It is a different exam, far faster than the TACHS, and it is taken once.
Why families sit it even when the TACHS would do.
Most Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn/Queens admit on the TACHS. A smaller group, Regis, Xavier, Fordham Prep, Loyola, Xaverian, Fontbonne Hall, St. Joseph Hill, uses the HSPT, and at Xavier and Fordham Prep it is the route to merit money specifically. One sitting at Regis, Xavier, Fordham Prep or Loyola sends scores to the others.
- 298 questions in 2 hours 21 minutes, roughly half the time per question the TACHS gives
- Verbal Skills is the crux: 60 questions in 16 minutes, about sixteen seconds each
- Five subtests: Verbal Skills, Quantitative Skills, Reading, Mathematics and Language
- No penalty for a wrong answer, so a blank is a wasted mark, never leave one
- Taken once, usually late November or early December. There is no retake
- Confirm with each school which exam it requires, and whether a scholarship depends on it
Exam details are summarized from publicly available information from the organization that administers it. Confirm current requirements with your school or the testing organization before registering.
Four complete HSPT practice exams.
Full length, original and calibrated, all five subtests, timed as the real exam is. No question or passage appears on more than one practice exam, so a student can sit them all without ever meeting a repeat.and will be held to the same standard, full length, properly timed, every wrong answer explained.
Written from scratch
Every question original, reviewed against the published scope for this exam. Nothing licensed or adapted from another publisher.
Full length and properly timed
The real question count and the real clock, in the format students will meet on the day.
Every wrong answer explained
Each incorrect choice carries its own explanation of the mistake behind it.
Reports for parents
Results go to you, with the same care about what a score does and does not mean.
Comparable practice exams
Multiple exams calibrated against each other, so progress across sittings is real.
Accommodations respected
Extra time to match an IEP, 504 or ELL plan, with conditions printed on the report.
Try ten real questions before you pay.
Taken straight out of the exams we sell, not written to be easy. Every wrong answer carries its own explanation naming the mistake behind it. No account, no card.
Sitting the SHSAT as well?
Many students preparing for HSPT sit the SHSAT in the same autumn. Our SHSAT exams are built to the fall 2026 computer-adaptive format.
What HSPT percentile do schools look for?
Schools use the HSPT for three separate things, admission, course placement and scholarships, and each sets its own bar. Drag through the percentiles to see what each band typically means.