How the SHSAT Is Scored: Raw, Scaled & Composite
The SHSAT has no “passing” score — which confuses a lot of families. Your child's raw answers become a scaled score, the two sections combine into one composite, and that single number decides offers. Here's the whole chain, plus what the move to a computer-adaptive test changes.
Step 1 — Raw score
Your raw score is simply how many questions you answered correctly in each section. Two things follow from that:
- No wrong-answer penalty. Nothing is deducted for a miss, so your child should answer every question — never leave one blank.
- Some questions on past forms were unscored field-test items (used to try out new questions) that don't count — but students can't tell which, so the strategy is the same: answer everything.
Step 2 — Scaled score
Raw scores aren't comparable across different test forms (one form might be slightly harder than another), so each section's raw score is converted to a scaled score. Scaling adjusts for difficulty so the same ability earns the same scaled score regardless of which form you took.
Step 3 — Composite
The two scaled scores (ELA and Math) are added into a single composite — the one number that matters for admission. A student can reach the same composite by different routes, so a relative weakness in one section can be offset by strength in the other (though balanced is safest).
Step 4 — How a composite becomes an offer
This is the part families miss. The DOE:
- ranks every test-taker by composite, highest to lowest;
- goes down that list, giving each student the highest school on their ranked list that still has open seats.
So each school's “cutoff” is just the lowest composite that still received an offer there that year — not a fixed bar. It shifts with how many students applied, how they ranked schools, and how everyone scored. For the real numbers, see cutoff scores by year and the per-school profiles.
What the adaptive test changes
Starting fall 2026 the SHSAT is computer-adaptive: it estimates ability in real time and serves harder or easier questions based on how a student is doing. The composite concept is unchanged, but the difficulty of the questions you saw now feeds the score — so two students with the same number correct can score differently if one faced harder items. (More in our guide to the adaptive SHSAT.)
What this means for prep
- Answer everything — there's no penalty for guessing.
- Don't punt a whole section; a balanced composite is the safest path to a high one.
- Practice at the right level of challenge so you're comfortable with harder items (which carry more weight on the adaptive test).
- Rank your schools honestly, in true preference order.
Aiming for one of these scores? claura is adaptive SHSAT prep built for NYC families — full-length practice exams, the Ask claura AI tutor, and a parent dashboard that shows exactly where your child stands.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a penalty for wrong answers on the SHSAT?
No. Your raw score is just the number of questions you get right — there's no deduction for a wrong answer. So a student should answer every question, even if it's a guess on the ones they can't finish.
Why isn't there a passing SHSAT score?
Admission isn't pass/fail. Every test-taker is ranked by composite score, and offers go down that ranked list, matching each student to the highest school on their preference list that still has seats. A school's 'cutoff' is simply the lowest composite that earned an offer that year — it moves every cycle.
What's a good SHSAT score?
A 'good' score is one above the cutoff for a school you'd attend — and cutoffs vary by school and year. The most selective schools (e.g. Stuyvesant) require the highest composites. See our cutoff-scores-by-year and per-school pages for the actual numbers.
Does the computer-adaptive test change how scoring works?
The big idea is the same — a scaled composite that ranks students. What changes is that the adaptive test factors in the difficulty of the questions you saw, estimating your ability in real time. Because of that, two students who answer the same number correct can end up with different scaled scores depending on how hard their questions were.
How are offers and ties decided?
The DOE ranks all test-takers by composite and runs a single matching pass against everyone's ranked school lists. Higher composite = earlier pick of the schools you listed. Rank your schools in true preference order — doing so never lowers your chances.