The Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT) is a standardized test used by private and independent schools to assess the academic ability and potential of students applying for admission in grades 5 to 12. The SSAT provides schools with a fair and objective way to evaluate a student's academic ability and potential to succeed in a private or independent school setting.
Taking the SSAT is an important step for Taiwanese students to enter private and independent schools. Many private schools use test scores along with other factors such as grades, teacher recommendations and extracurricular activities to determine a student's admissions eligibility. The SSAT is divided into three different levels:
• Students applying for grades 3-4 to participate Elementary Level take an exam.
• Students in grades 5-7 apply to participate Middle Level take an exam.
• Students in grades 8-11 applying to participate Upper Level take an exam.
Our SSAT courses are separated by grade level. Our comprehensive teaching materials and courses are carefully designed to effectively cover the content of the SSAT, meaning students can strive to achieve the highest possible score. We have SSAT experts who not only teach our courses but also continually update and revise our teaching materials for all three levels so that our students can be best prepared.
Most of our students take the SSAT to attend top private schools in the US and Canadaㄇ
By taking AEI's SSAT program, our students have attended some of the most competitive schools, including Milton Academy, The Taft School, Brooks School, Concord Concord Academy, Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul's School.
exam format
The SSAT assesses students' verbal, quantitative and reading skills:
• The Quantitative (Mathematics) section assesses students' understanding of basic mathematical concepts and includes questions designed to prepare students for higher-level mathematics study.
• The speaking section is considered to be the easiest and fastest section and it measures students’ ability to think critically and constructively.
• The Reading Comprehension section assesses students' ability to understand written material and requires students to answer multiple-choice questions based on a provided passage.
• The writing section assesses the student's writing ability but is not scored.
• The lab section includes a mix of speaking, reading, and math questions, but this section does not count toward the reported score.
Elementary SSAT (ELEMENTARY LEVEL)
The primary school level test is taken by students applying to enter third or fourth grade. The exam time is 2 hours and 5 minutes (including breaks):
| Examination Content | Number of questions | Time limit (minutes) |
|---|---|---|
| math | 30 | 30 |
| spoken language | 28 | 30 |
| rest | ||
| read | 28 | 30 |
| writing | Essay topic*1 | 30 |
| experiment | 15-17 | 15 |
Intermediate SSAT (MIDDLE LEVEL)
Students applying to attend fifth, sixth or seventh grade may take the Intermediate Level Test. The exam time is 3 hours and 5 minutes (including breaks):
| Examination Content | Number of questions | Time limit (minutes) |
|---|---|---|
| writing | Essay topic*1 | 25 |
| rest | ||
| Quantitative Mathematics 1 | 25 | 30 |
| read | 40 | 40 |
| rest | ||
| spoken language | 60 | 30 |
| Quantitative Mathematics 2 | 25 | 30 |
| experiment | 16 | 15 |
UPPER LEVEL
Students applying to attend eighth, ninth, 10th or 11th grade may take the senior exam. The exam time is 3 hours and 5 minutes (including breaks):
| Examination Content | Number of questions | Time limit (minutes) |
|---|---|---|
| writing | Essay topic*1 | 25 |
| rest | ||
| Quantitative Mathematics 1 | 25 | 30 |
| read | 40 | 40 |
| rest | ||
| spoken language | 60 | 30 |
| Quantitative Mathematics 2 | 25 | 30 |
| experiment | 16 | 15 |
SSAT score
SSAT scores are calculated by considering the number of correct answers on the exam, in addition to the unscored writing section and any lab questions.
Senior and middle grade candidates will be deducted 0.25 points for each wrong answer and 1 point for each correct answer. In the primary exam, there are no points deducted for incorrect answers, and the raw score is the number of correct answers. The raw fraction is then converted into a proportional fraction. The scaled scores for each level of the SSAT are as follows: Senior (partial scores are 500-800 points, quantitative scores are 1500-2400 points), middle school (partial scores are 440-710 points, quantitative scores are 1320-2130 points) and junior ( The partial score is 300-600 points, and the quantitative score is 900-1800 points).
The scaled scores are then converted into percentile rankings, and the student's score is compared to the scores of other students in the same grade who took the test over the past three years. For example, a ninth grader's score can only be compared to other ninth graders, not to eighth through 11th graders taking the same test.
