ISEE, SSAT, & HSPT prep for Philadelphia-area families.
Private-school and high-school admissions prep that builds real skills and calm confidence for younger students facing high-stakes tests, planned around the dates your schools actually use.
- Pitched to a younger student, not scaled-down adult prep
- Targeted practice for each exam format
- Parents kept in the loop throughout
Sound familiar?
First high-stakes test
Often the first time a child has faced a test that carries real consequences. Confidence gets coached alongside the content.
Applying to selective schools
The score is one piece of an application with a deadline. Prep is planned backwards from the test date the school requires.
Anxious about testing
Capable students who freeze on timed work. Familiarity with the format does most of the work here.
In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the HSPT is in September and October.
There is no national HSPT date. The diocese sets the calendar, and Philadelphia’s is one of the earliest in the country, months ahead of Chicago or the Bay Area. The Archdiocese covers Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, so if you are applying to one of its high schools for fall 2027 entry, these are your dates.
The Archdiocese runs it as the Collaborative Scholarship Testing Process. 8th graders across the greater Philadelphia area sit for one standardized test, the HSPT, and send their scores to up to three of the 15 Archdiocesan high schools to be considered for academic scholarships.
You get one attempt, and scholarships ride on it.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is explicit: students applying to its high schools may take the HSPT one time. Unlike the SAT or ACT, there is no superscore, no best sitting, and no second try in the spring. Whatever a student scores on that one morning is the score that goes to their schools, and it is the score those schools weigh for academic scholarships.
It also means a 7th grader should not sit for it casually to see how it goes. Dioceses treat that score as final, and the student cannot test again the following year.
The ISEE and SSAT work differently. ERB allows the ISEE once per testing season, up to three times a year. EMA allows the SSAT as many as ten times a year at the Middle and Upper levels. The HSPT is the outlier: one sitting, ever.
Registration
- Opens
- August 1, 2026
- Closes
- Two days before each test date
- Scores to schools
- Up to 3
- Results
- November 20, 2026, by end of day, emailed from STS
Free. The Archdiocese states the test is offered at no cost to the family.
Where your child registers
It depends on where they go to school now.
Students at the 102 Archdiocesan elementary schools or the 14 Independence Mission Schools
Pre-register through your current school. Students test in their own building between Monday, September 21 and Thursday, September 24, 2026. Each school administers the test on its own date inside that window.
Everyone else: public, charter, private, independent, online, or homeschool
Pre-register to test at one of the 15 Archdiocesan high schools, on that school's date in late September or early October.
High school test dates, 2026
For students not attending an Archdiocesan or Independence Mission elementary school.
| Testing site | Dates |
|---|---|
| Bishop Shanahan | September 26 & 30 |
| St. Hubert | September 26 & 28 |
| Archbishop John Carroll | September 28 |
| Cardinal O'Hara | September 29 & October 3 |
| Father Judge | October 1 & 6 |
| Bonner & Prendergast | October 3 & 5 |
| Little Flower | October 3, 4 & 5 |
| Roman Catholic | October 3 |
| Pope John Paul II | October 3 |
| West Catholic | October 3 |
| Archbishop Ryan | October 4 & 6 |
| Lansdale Catholic | October 7 |
| Archbishop Wood | October 10 |
| Conwell-Egan | October 10 |
| Neumann Goretti | October 10 |
Testing accommodations
Nine Archdiocesan high schools offer testing accommodations to students who don't attend an Archdiocesan or Independence Mission elementary school: Archbishop Carroll, Archbishop Ryan, Archbishop Wood, Bishop Shanahan, Conwell-Egan, Lansdale Catholic, Pope John Paul II, St. Hubert, and Roman Catholic. Contact the high school directly to arrange them.
Documentation has to be in before the deadline. Late or walk-in registration generally forfeits accommodations entirely, so this is the one part of the process not to leave until the end.
ISEE levels follow the grade you are applying to. SSAT levels follow the grade you are in.
The ISEE names its levels by the grade a student is applying TO. The SSAT names its levels by the grade a student is currently IN. So the same child taking both tests in the same year is a Middle Level candidate on one and an Upper Level candidate on the other, depending on the year. It is the most common source of a family registering for the wrong level.
ISEE
Named by the grade you are applying to
| Level | Who takes it |
|---|---|
| Primary 2, 3, 4 | Applying to grade 2, 3, or 4 |
| Lower | Applying to grades 5 to 6 |
| Middle | Applying to grades 7 to 8 |
| Upper | Applying to grades 9 to 12 |
SSAT
Named by the grade you are currently in
| Level | Who takes it |
|---|---|
| Elementary | Currently in grades 3 to 4 |
| Middle | Currently in grades 5 to 7 |
| Upper | Currently in grades 8 to 11 |
How many times you can take each one
These three tests could not be more different on this point, and it should shape which one a student prepares for and when.
ISEE
Once per testing season, up to three times a year
ERB runs three seasons: fall from August to November, winter from December to March, and spring and summer from April to July. Test in September and the earliest retake is December.
SSAT
Up to ten times a year at Middle and Upper level
Six standard Saturday sittings, plus one Flex administration, two at a Prometric center, and one at home. Elementary level is capped at three.
HSPT
Once. Ever.
No retake, no superscore, no second attempt the following year. This is the outlier and it is why preparation matters more here than for the other two.
Accommodations are the other thing to settle before registering. The ISEE and the SSAT both make you wait for the decision first, and registering ahead of it is how families end up paying to reschedule.
ISEE scores
Scaled scores from 760 to 940, percentile ranks, and stanines from 1 to 9
Stanines are what schools look at. One to three is below average, four to six average, seven to nine above.
The comparison group is students who took the ISEE in the past three years applying to the same grade. ERB says outright that this is a competitive group and that a student may score lower here than on tests with a broader comparison group. That sentence is worth showing an anxious parent.
SSAT scores
Scaled scores by level, plus percentiles
The percentile is the number schools weigh, and it is a harder comparison than it looks.
You are ranked against first-time test takers in your grade over the past three years, in the US and Canada only. Repeat sittings are excluded from the pool, which means the comparison group is stronger than the full population of test takers.
One of them punishes a guess
The ISEE has no penalty for a wrong answer, so a student should answer every question. The SSAT deducts a quarter point for a wrong answer at Middle and Upper level, so random guessing costs you. Eliminate two of the five choices and an educated guess is still worth making. The Elementary SSAT has no penalty.
Which test the schools around here want
Most Philadelphia-area independent day schools accept either the ISEE or the SSAT and let the family choose. Two do not.
ISEE only
- Friends' Central School
- The Shipley School
Both accept the ISEE only. If either is on your list, that decides it.
Which is why, absent a specific reason to prefer the SSAT, the ISEE is the safer default in this market. It is accepted everywhere either test is accepted, and at a couple of schools where the SSAT is not. Catholic schools are a separate question: Archdiocesan high schools use the HSPT, while some independent Catholic schools accept the HSPT or the ISEE.
School requirements change, and this is a short list rather than a survey. Confirm against your own school list before registering.
How long to prepare, and why nobody can tell you precisely
There is no independent research on how long to prepare for these three tests in particular. The figures in circulation range from two months to over a year, and every one of them, ours included, is judgment rather than evidence. So what matters is what the judgment is anchored to.
We anchor ours to something factual: how many times your child can take the test. That differs sharply across the three, and it is the honest reason a runway should be longer or shorter.
HSPT
Four to six months
One attempt, ever. There is no second sitting to fall back on, which is the only real argument for a long runway among these three. For an Archdiocese of Philadelphia family testing in late September, that means starting in the spring of 7th grade.
ISEE
Three to four months
Once per testing season, up to three times a year. Prepare for a fall sitting and keep the winter season genuinely in reserve, rather than burning both on the same level of readiness.
SSAT
Two to three months
Up to six standard sittings a year at Middle and Upper level. You can iterate, so the first sitting does not have to carry everything, and a shorter runway is usually enough.
Hours are not the lever
The research that does exist is on the SAT and ACT, not on these tests, so treat it as direction rather than proof. What it consistently finds is that time alone is not what moves a score. In ACT's own study of nearly ten thousand students, the strongest predictor was performance in core coursework, not hours spent on test prep. That is the argument for building the underlying skills rather than logging hours, and it is how we prepare students.
What the HSPT's own publisher says
Scholastic Testing Service, which writes and scores the HSPT, tells families plainly that they are best advised to avoid expensive preparation materials and to trust that a well-rounded education is the best form of test preparation.
We think they are largely right, and it is why our prep is built on the underlying skills rather than on tricks. Where we help is narrow, and worth naming precisely: knowing the format so test day is not the first encounter with it, pacing under a clock, and shoring up the specific gaps a diagnostic exposes.
If you are already inside the window
Plenty of families find this page in August with a September test date. Starting late is still worth doing, and it is worth being clear about what it buys: familiarity with the format, pacing practice, and a calmer test day. On a six-week runway it is optimization rather than transformation, which is worth knowing going in rather than afterwards.
For the youngest test takers
Counterintuitively, a longer runway can suit a younger student better, not because they need more drilling but because it lets the work stay light and spread out. Short, frequent sessions over several months beat concentrated cramming at any age, and for a 10-year-old facing their first real exam, the difference between the two is also the difference between building confidence and burning it.
What a session includes.
In a session
- Targeted practice for the specific exam format
- Timed-section pacing
- Reviewing mistakes while they are fresh
- Building familiarity so test day is not the first time
Alongside the content
- Pitched to a younger student, not scaled-down adult prep
- Steadying nerves on timed work
- Parents kept in the loop throughout
How admissions prep works
Free diagnostic
We start with a full-length diagnostic and a conversation. It reveals exactly where a student stands, and where the fastest gains are hiding.
A plan with purpose
Telos means purpose. Every student gets a clear, personalized roadmap tied to a concrete score goal, tracked in TestTracker so progress is never a mystery.
Weekly accountability
Focused sessions plus daily practice and check-ins. We target the weak points from the week, then work toward true mastery of each skill.
Confidence on test day
Preparation builds calm. Students walk in knowing the material and the strategy, and walk out with scores that reflect the work.
What it costs.
1:1 hourly and pay-as-you-go, with no minimum commitment. Your rate is locked when you enroll and stays unchanged for as long as you keep the service.
| Service | Associate Instructor | Lead Instructor |
|---|---|---|
| ISEE, SSAT, & HSPT Prep* | $140 | $180 |
* Plus a one-time materials fee. The amount depends on the test and level, and we confirm it before you enroll.
Common questions.
Which test does my child need?
The school sets it. Archdiocese of Philadelphia high schools use the HSPT. Independent day schools around here generally accept either the ISEE or the SSAT and let you choose, though Friends' Central and Shipley take the ISEE only, which makes the ISEE the safer default across this market. Bring your school list to the free consultation and we'll confirm before prep begins.
My child is taking both the ISEE and the SSAT. Which level do they register for?
Check carefully, because the two tests name their levels by opposite conventions. The ISEE names levels by the grade you are applying to; the SSAT names them by the grade the student is currently in. A student applying to 9th grade from 8th grade registers for ISEE Upper Level and SSAT Upper Level, but the logic getting there is different, and at other grades the labels diverge. Registering for the wrong level is the most common administrative mistake we see.
Can my child retake the HSPT?
No. Students applying to Archdiocese of Philadelphia high schools may take the HSPT one time, and the other dioceses that administer it enforce the same rule. There is no superscore and no second sitting in the spring. It also means a 7th grader shouldn't sit for it as a trial run. That score counts as final and they cannot test again the following year. The ISEE and SSAT have their own, different retake rules.
When is the HSPT in Philadelphia?
Late September into early October, which is unusually early. Most of the country tests in December or January. Registration opens August 1 and closes two days before each sitting, and results are emailed to parents on November 20. Exact dates by testing site are listed above.
How far in advance should we start?
It depends on which test, and the honest reason is retake structure rather than difficulty. The HSPT is one attempt with no second chance, so four to six months is warranted. The ISEE allows one sitting per season, so three to four months with a later season held in reserve. The SSAT allows up to six sittings a year, so two to three months is usually enough. We give ranges rather than one number because there is no independent research on prep length for these three tests, which makes the retake structure the firmer thing to plan around.
Is my child too young for test prep?
No, but the coaching has to suit the age. This is not scaled-down adult test prep. For most younger students the biggest gain is simply knowing what the test looks like and how it feels to work against a clock, so test day is not the first time they meet either.
Will I know how it's going?
Yes. Parents are kept in the loop throughout, and progress is tracked in TestTracker so it's visible rather than something you have to ask about.
What does prep cost?
ISEE, SSAT, and HSPT prep are all $140/hour with an Associate Instructor and $180/hour with a Lead Instructor. There is also a one-time materials fee, and because materials differ by test and level, we confirm that amount before you enroll. Sessions are pay-as-you-go with no minimum commitment.
What are your affiliations and credentials?
AffiliateTutor Program
ACT's own program and directory for tutoring providers, which ACT runs in partnership with the National Test Prep Association, licensing us to use official ACT test questions in our test prep materials.
The professional association for test prep. Every member subscribes to its code of ethics, and Telos belongs as an organizational member.
Performance Specialist certification in leading performance psychologist Dr. Ben Bernstein's model for overcoming self-doubt, overwhelm, and distraction.
Start with a free consultation.
No obligation, no pressure. You leave understanding where the student stands and what a plan would look like.