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
A certified content partner, Test Innovators has teamed up with The Enrollment Management Association 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 learned, and mastering this skill can open doors to opportunities throughout life. 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. We recommend that students takes this test as early as possible, but it is never too late.
No matter how close it is to the test date, a practice test will help test takers know what to expect and provide familiarity with:
- The content on the test
- SSAT question types
- The difficulty of the test
- Section instructions
- Section timing
- SSAT scoring
2. Review practice test results.
Start with overall trends first. Which sections went well, and in which sections would you like to see improvement? Then, consider time management. Did you manage your time effectively on each section? Did you run out of time to answer all questions on any of the sections?
3. Brush up skills.
This is where the most important learning takes place! Review every question you answered incorrectly or skipped. Make sure 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 as 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 with authentic preparation materials, detailed reporting and analysis, and personalized recommendations for targeted practice work. Our guided, individualized practice work helps alleviate anxiety, increase confidence, and ensure student performance on test day is a true representation of what they know.
We support educators with tools to help maximize and ensure student success during their 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 of the Test Innovators features and tools as they practice, with personalized recommendations, full score reports, strategy videos, timing feedback, and more.
