The Best Way to Prepare for the SSAT? Practice, Practice, Practice.

Applying to independent schools can be daunting for students, families, and educators alike, and the testing component is no exception. When they begin the admissions process, few students have experience with high-stakes admissions tests. However, with the right preparation—including sufficient practice test opportunities—students can improve their test scores to help complete the picture of their academic journey and support their pursuit of acceptance into their top-choice schools.

Test Innovators and EMA

Test Innovators is a certified content partner of the Enrollment Management Association (EMA), a non-profit organization that “provides professional development and strategic enrollment tools to more than 1,300 independent schools.” Test Innovators teamed up with EMA back in 2020 to provide official SSAT-developed content on the Test Innovators platform. The partnership serves the shared goal of increasing student familiarity, comfort, and confidence with the SSAT.

At Test Innovators, we believe that test-taking is a skill that can be taught and learned, and mastering this skill can open doors to endless opportunities. With the right tools, a personalized learning path, plenty of practice, and support throughout the process, every student can reach their highest potential.

Helpful Guidelines to Share with Families

1. Take a practice test.

This initial practice test serves as a benchmark, or diagnostic test, and is the jumping-off point for the preparation process. While we recommend that students take this test as early as possible, it is never too late.

No matter how close the official test date is, a practice test will help test-takers know what to expect and provide familiarity with:

• Test Content
• Question Types
• Difficulty 
• Section Instructions
• Section Timing
• SSAT Scoring

2. Review practice test results.

Start by reviewing overall trends. Which sections went well, and where would you like to see improvement? Then, consider time management. Did you manage your time effectively in each section? Did you run out of time on any of the sections?

3. Brush Up on Skills.

This is where the most important learning takes place! Review every question you answered incorrectly or skipped. Ensure you would know how to answer them correctly if you saw them again. This means that you should not only know why the correct answer is correct, but also why the incorrect answers (including the one you chose) are incorrect.

4. Take another practice test, review, and repeat.

Review your test results, examine the questions you missed, and then take another practice test to gauge your progress and determine what areas may require additional focus.

Test preparation is an iterative process. Each practice test should serve as a benchmark of progress and a roadmap for what to work on next. Studying between practice tests promotes growth and improvement.

How Test Innovators Can Help

Test Innovators supports students through every step of the test prep process with authentic preparation materials, detailed reporting and analysis, and personalized recommendations for targeted practice work. Our guided, individualized practice helps alleviate anxiety, increase confidence, and ensure that student performance on test day is a true representation of what they know.

We support educators with tools to help maximize student success during practice and on test day. Our immediate, detailed results and analysis outline student progress, identify areas for improvement, and make it easy to differentiate instruction.

Students can now access Test Innovators practice content and official SSAT practice content side-by-side on the Test Innovators platform. This allows students to utilize all the Test Innovators features and tools as they practice, with personalized recommendations, full score reports, strategy videos, timing feedback, and more.