How Many Questions Are on the SHSAT? 100 in 180 Minutes

How many questions are on the SHSAT in each section?

Section	Questions	What it covers
English Language Arts	50	Reading Comprehension, and Revising/Editing Parts A and B
Math	50	Ratios and proportions, number system and expressions, equations and inequalities, statistics and probability, geometry

Both sections mix multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and technology-enhanced questions. NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) publishes a PDF of sample technology-enhanced items that shows how these SHSAT questions work, though not how hard the real ones are.

The ELA section →The math section →

How long is the SHSAT?

The standard testing time is 180 minutes, and you divide it between ELA and math however you want. Everyone stays in the room for the full 180 minutes, except for bathroom breaks.

With an extended time accommodation, or as an English Language Learner (ELL) or eligible former ELL, you get 360 minutes. There’s a break when the first 180 minutes end and another 90 minutes later. ELLs’ two breaks are 15 minutes each. Extended time counts from when the test starts, not from when you arrive.

How the computer-adaptive test picks your questions

You start with a question or passage set of average difficulty. After each answer, the system re-estimates your score from everything you’ve answered so far. Get one right and the estimate rises, and the next question may be harder. Get one wrong and the next may be easier. Every student still gets the same number of SHSAT questions: 50 per subject.

NYC says not to rush through the last questions with quick guesses. On an adaptive test, it says, that isn’t better than a real attempt at each one.

Moving through the test

You choose whether to start with ELA or math.
You must answer each question before you can move to the next.
In an ELA passage set, you can go back and change answers until you submit the set.
In math, and for stand-alone ELA questions, you can’t go back once you move on.
Once you submit a subject, you can’t return to it.

Language supports and other accommodations

ELLs and eligible former ELLs get translated directions, translated footnotes in the ELA passages, and a paper bilingual glossary. Directions and footnotes come in Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Uzbek. Students can’t bring their own glossary.

Students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan get the testing accommodations listed in it, unless the SHSAT doesn’t need or allow one. Speech-to-text isn’t needed, for example, because there are no essays, and oral interpretation or translation of questions isn’t allowed. Everyone can use the built-in zoom, highlighting and note-taking tools.

Confirming accommodations when you register →

Sources: NYC Public Schools and 3 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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