SSAT preparation, live online
The SSAT is reported as a percentile against other candidates in the same grade, and that is the fact that reframes everything else. A raw score that looks strong can sit at an unremarkable percentile, because the comparison group is other applicants to selective schools rather than the general population. There is also a penalty for wrong answers on the multiple choice, so knowing when to leave a question blank is worth real marks.
Exam format
What the SSAT actually looks like
The structure, the timing and the scoring, stated plainly — before anything about a course.
- Length
- Around three hours including breaks
- Questions
- Verbal, two Quantitative sections, Reading, and a writing sample
- Scored
- Reported as a percentile against candidates in the same grade
Three levels
Elementary, Middle and Upper, set by the grade you are applying from. Sitting the right level is the first decision, and it is determined by your current grade rather than by ability.
Verbal — synonyms and analogies
The section that rewards reading over drilling. Analogies test relationships between words rather than definitions, which is a skill that grows over months and not over a weekend.
Quantitative — two sections
Arithmetic, elementary algebra and geometry at the level appropriate to the tier, with the difficulty in the pace and the phrasing rather than in the mathematics.
Reading and the writing sample
Comprehension across passage types, plus an unscored writing sample that is sent to the schools you apply to. Unscored is not the same as unread.
- The score is a percentile against other candidates in the same grade — and those candidates are other applicants to selective schools, not the general population. A raw performance that feels strong can sit at an unremarkable percentile.
- Wrong answers on the multiple choice are penalised, so knowing when to leave a box empty is worth as much practice as the content itself — and it is the opposite of the habit school tests build.
Before you start
Is SSAT preparation right for you?
Who it suits. Students preparing for an SSAT requirement as part of a school application, with an age-appropriate study plan.
When to check another option. Treating all SSAT levels as interchangeable. Confirm the level and the receiving school's requirements before starting.
Why it matters
What a SSAT score is for
The SSAT is the admissions test for selective independent schools in the United States and at a growing number of international schools, and it does something a school report cannot: it places a candidate on one scale against everyone else applying. For a family applying from outside the US that is the point — an admissions office with no way to read your current school's grading can read a percentile. It is also sat young, which makes the technique gap between prepared and unprepared candidates unusually wide.
Coverage
What the preparation covers
The ground a course goes over. A group course takes it in its published order; for one-to-one lessons, how much of it you need and in what order is what the diagnostic decides.
- Elementary, Middle or Upper Level, whichever your schools require
- Verbal: synonyms and analogies, which reward reading more than drilling
- Quantitative: two sections, and the arithmetic pace they assume
- Reading comprehension across the passage types that recur
- The unscored writing sample, which schools do read
- Percentile scoring and the guessing penalty, as strategy rather than a footnote
Where marks go
Where candidates lose marks on the SSAT
Not a list of study tips. These are the specific ways this particular test takes marks off people who know the material.
Guessing freely
Wrong answers are penalised. The habit most students bring from school tests — answer everything, never leave a blank — actively costs marks here, and unlearning it is worth more than another month of content.
Reading the percentile as a mark
A score that looks strong in isolation can be an ordinary percentile, because the comparison group is other applicants to selective schools. Families who target a raw score rather than a percentile are aiming at the wrong number.
Learning analogy vocabulary as definitions
Analogies test the relationship between two words. A student who knows both definitions and has never thought about relationships gets the question wrong knowing every word in it.
Treating the writing sample as optional
It is unscored and it is sent to the schools. For a young candidate it is often the only sample of unedited writing an admissions office sees.
Preparing at the wrong level
Elementary, Middle and Upper are set by grade. Practising at the wrong tier produces either false confidence or unnecessary discouragement, and both waste the preparation.
Long preparation with no pacing work
The quantitative sections are not conceptually hard for a well-taught student; they are fast. Accuracy practised untimed does not survive the clock, and that is usually discovered late.
Lesson format
One-to-one, or a private group
Private group · about 39 hours over 12 weeks
There is no open SSAT group course, but three or more students preparing together can have a group of their own, with the lesson days and times agreed with them. What it covers and what it costs are in the prices below.
One-to-one
One-to-one suits an exam sat at three levels by students several years apart in age: the right starting point is the level, not the syllabus.
How it runs
How the teaching works
A diagnostic before one-to-one lessons are planned
One-to-one lessons start by finding out where the marks are actually going. That is not a formality: on most of these tests the gap a student describes and the gap the diagnostic shows are different, and hours spent on the described one are hours wasted.
Teaching in the order your deadline allows
One-to-one lessons follow your order, not a syllabus's. We start with whatever is costing you most and work outwards rather than marching through material you have already half covered.
Timed work from early, not saved for the end
Untimed accuracy is a poor predictor of a timed score, and finding that out three weeks before the test is too late. Timed sections start in the first fortnight, short at first.
Review and progress checks
Review looks beyond the mark: which errors recur, whether the reasoning is clearer and how accuracy holds under time pressure. Bring earlier attempts to the discussion so the next practice has a specific purpose.
All of it runs in the browser, live, with a teacher on the other end. There are no recordings sold as a course and no premises to travel to.
Timeline
How long SSAT preparation takes
A rough shape rather than a promise. People arrive at different starting points and the plan is built around yours, but this is what a full run usually looks like.
- 1
Three to six months out — level and diagnostic
Confirm the level from the grade, then a full timed test. For a young candidate the diagnostic also serves to make the format unsurprising, which matters more at this age than at any other.
- 2
Early months — vocabulary through reading, maths through practice
Vocabulary built by reading widely with deliberate attention to word relationships, because that is what analogies test. Quantitative topics taught and then practised to time.
- 3
Final six weeks — timed sections and the guessing rule
Full sections under time, with explicit work on when to leave a question blank. This is the phase where percentiles move.
- 4
The last fortnight — writing sample and consolidation
Two or three writing samples under timed conditions, and a reduction in load. Over-preparing a young candidate in the final week costs more than it gains.
FAQ
SSAT questions we get asked
- Which level should my child sit?
- It is set by the grade you are applying from, not by ability: Elementary, Middle or Upper. Confirm it against the awarding body's current definition before booking, because sitting the wrong level cannot be corrected afterwards.
- What is a good SSAT score?
- It depends entirely on the schools, and it is a percentile rather than a mark. Selective schools publish or indicate ranges; ask the schools on your list what they actually look for before setting a target.
- Does the writing sample count?
- It is not scored, and it is sent to the schools. For a candidate this age it is often the only piece of unedited writing an admissions office will see, which makes it worth preparing even though it carries no number.
- Should my child guess?
- Not freely. There is a penalty for wrong answers, so an educated guess between two options is usually worth taking and a guess between five is not. Learning that distinction is part of the preparation.
- How long should preparation take?
- Three to six months is typical, largely because the verbal section rewards reading, which is slow. A shorter run can still fix pacing and technique.
- Is it taught one-to-one?
- Usually. The three levels span several years of age and ability, so the starting point differs from one candidate to the next. Three or more students at the same level can form a private group instead: 39 one-hour lessons over twelve weeks, with Middle Level and Upper Level taught separately.
Pricing
What SSAT preparation costs
Shown in US dollars. Charged in US dollars — there is no conversion at checkout to be surprised by.
One-to-one lessons
One-to-one suits an exam sat at three levels by students several years apart in age: the right starting point is the level, not the syllabus.
Single lesson
One 90-minute lesson, to see how it goes.
$100Book10 lessons
Prepaid, usable across subjects where the exam has them.
20 lessons
The usual choice for a full preparation run.
Private group · about 39 hours over 12 weeks
There is no open SSAT group course. When three or more of you are preparing together, we open a group of your own, in 60-minute lessons.
- Three one-hour lessons a week, one on a weekday evening and two on Saturday: Verbal 11, Reading 11, Quantitative 12, Writing Sample 2
- Three official SSAT practice tests in weeks 4, 8 and 12, each followed by a review lesson
- Middle Level and Upper Level are taught as separate groups, and parents get a short report after every lesson
- Opens once three or more students come together
- Lesson days and times agreed with the group
- Every lesson recorded, to rewatch for 14 days
- One payment, no instalments
- Per student$570
Paid by card on this site, in US dollars, through Stripe. The exact amount is shown before you pay.