Easy
One idea, a short path, and wrong answers you can rule out. The kind of question you should get right every time before moving up.
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Difficulty levels
How we rate SHSAT question difficulty
Every question on SHS Prep is scored on the rubric below and cut into one of three levels. The rubric is public, the cut points are calibrated against released official SHSAT questions, and nothing in it depends on how other students did.
Medium
The heart of the SHSAT. A concept applied in a new setting, a few steps, and at least one answer choice built from a common mistake.
Hard
As demanding as the hardest questions on released official exams. Several concepts, a model you have to build yourself, or wrong answers that are almost right.
The official exam is roughly 20% easy, 60% medium, and 20% hard. Our Standard section practice and mock exams match that mix.
The method
How a rating is built
It works the way a good prep book explains its star ratings in the front matter, except we show every score.
- 1
A fixed set of aspects
Each question family (math, reading comprehension, revising and editing) has its own short list of aspects: the kind of thinking it takes, how many steps, how close the wrong answers are, and so on. The full lists are below.
- 2
Each aspect scores 0, 1, or 2
Every aspect has a plain description of what a 0, a 1, and a 2 look like. A scorer reads the question, the answer choices, and the solution, and picks one.
- 3
Some aspects count double
The aspects that most decide how demanding a question is are weighted twice. In math that is the type of thinking and the number of concepts combined; in reading it is what the question asks; in revising and editing it is the rule being tested and how close the choices are.
- 4
The scores are summed and cut into a level
For math the maximum is 18. A total of 0 to 4 is Level 1, 5 to 10 is Level 2, and 11 or more is Level 3. The cut points were set by scoring released official SHSAT questions with the same rubric, so a Level 3 here is as demanding as the hardest questions on the real exam.
- 5
The reason travels with the question
The aspect scores are saved on the question, so under every difficulty badge you see a one-line reason built from the aspects that scored highest.
Worked example
A store raises the price of a jacket by 25%, then puts the jacket on sale for 20% off the new price. The sale price is $36. What was the original price?
| Aspect | Score | Weight | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of thinkingApply a concept in a setting you have not seen it in before | 1 | x2 | 2 | You know percents, but you have to apply them in reverse, from the final price back to the start. |
| Steps to solve3 to 4 steps | 1 | x1 | 1 | Write the markup, write the discount, combine them, solve. Three or four steps. |
| Concepts combinedTwo concepts | 1 | x2 | 2 | Percents and solving an equation. Two concepts. |
| Setting up the problemWord problem with a straightforward setup | 1 | x1 | 1 | A word problem whose equation is not written out for you, but the setup is direct. |
| Arithmetic loadFractions, decimals, and percents together | 1 | x1 | 1 | 1.25 times 0.8 is where careless work goes wrong. |
| Trap answersOne wrong answer targets a common mistake | 1 | x1 | 1 | One answer choice is $36, for anyone who assumes a 25% markup and a 20% discount cancel. |
| Answer formatMultiple choice | 0 | x1 | 0 | Multiple choice. |
| Total | 8 of 18 | Level 2, Medium | ||
Under the question, the badge and reason line read: Medium · applies a concept in a new setting, combines two concepts, 3 to 4 steps
The rubric
Every aspect, every level
These are the exact descriptions our scorers use. Aspects marked as counting double are weighted twice in the total.
Mathout of 18
Every math question, multiple choice and grid-in, in practice and on the mock exams.
| Aspect | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
Type of thinkingCounts double | Recall a fact or run one familiar procedure | Apply a concept in a setting you have not seen it in before | Reason strategically through a non-routine problem |
Steps to solve | 1 to 2 steps | 3 to 4 steps | 5 or more steps |
Concepts combinedCounts double | One concept | Two concepts | Three or more concepts |
Setting up the problem | Given directly in math notation | Word problem with a straightforward setup | Word problem or figure you have to turn into a model yourself |
Arithmetic load | Whole numbers and simple fractions | Fractions, decimals, and percents together | Algebraic manipulation or messy values |
Trap answers | Wrong answers are easy to rule out | One wrong answer targets a common mistake | Several trap answers, or "which must be true" logic |
Answer format | Multiple choice | Grid-in or a single interactive answer | Multi-part interactive answer |
Reading comprehensionout of 14
Questions attached to a passage or poem. Two aspects describe the passage and are shared by every question in that set.
| Aspect | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
Passage length and sentences Shared by every question on the passage | Short passage with simple sentences | Grade-level length and sentence structure | Long, dense, old-fashioned, or technical language |
Passage style Shared by every question on the passage | Straightforward informational text | Fiction or argument with a clear structure | Poetry, a historical voice, or shifting perspectives |
What the question asksCounts double | Find something stated directly in the text | Make an inference from a paragraph | Analyze the author's craft, purpose, tone, or structure |
Where the evidence is | One sentence | One paragraph | Across paragraphs or the whole passage |
How close the wrong answers are | Wrong answers are clearly wrong | One wrong answer is partly true | Several wrong answers are partly true |
Answer format | Multiple choice | Select two answers | Interactive answer |
Revising and editingout of 12
Standalone sentence questions and the passage-based revising set.
| Aspect | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
The rule being testedCounts double | A common rule (subject-verb agreement, basic commas) | A less common rule (semicolons, parallel structure) | A rare or subtle rule (dangling modifiers, tricky pronouns) |
How much you have to read | One sentence | One paragraph | The whole passage |
How close the choices areCounts double | One choice is clearly right | Two choices compete | You have to weigh all four |
Answer format | Multiple choice | Choose from a dropdown inside the sentence | Drag, reorder, or select several |
In the app
Where you will see it
Targeted practice
Pick Level 1, 2, 3, or Mixed for any topic. Or choose the ramp, which starts you on Level 1 and climbs to Level 3 as you go.
Section practice and mock exams
Standard matches the real exam's mix, about 20% easy, 60% medium, 20% hard. Foundation is about 40/50/10 for building confidence. Challenge is about 10/50/40 for students chasing a top-school cutoff.
Under every question
The level badge and a one-line reason built from the aspects that scored highest, so you know why a question is rated the way it is. Lessons are unchanged.
What we do not do
We do not rate difficulty from other students' results
It sounds objective: call a question hard if most students miss it. In practice that data is noisy. Students click through questions when they are tired, abandon mock exams halfway, and drill the topics they are worst at, so a question in a weak topic looks hard when it is only unfamiliar. A rating built that way drifts every week and cannot tell you why a question is hard.
A rubric is a property of the question. It is stable, it is explainable, and it can be checked by a person. When a teacher disagrees with a rating and overrides it, the override is recorded on the question, so the rubric itself can be improved instead of quietly patched.
FAQ
Common questions
Why does a Level 2 question sometimes feel harder than a Level 3?
The rubric rates the question, not you. A Level 2 question in your weakest topic will feel harder than a Level 3 in your strongest one. That is useful information: it tells you where to drill, which is exactly what the topic and level filters in Targeted Practice are for.
Are the levels the same in practice and on the mock exams?
Yes. One rubric, one set of cut points, both question banks. A Hard question in a topic drill is scored the same way as a Hard question on Form C of the mock exams.
Do the levels change as I improve?
No. Because a rating is a property of the question and not a statistic of who answered it, it stays put. What changes is your accuracy at each level, which the analytics track per topic.
What if I think a rating is wrong?
Report it from the question. A person reviews every report against the rubric. If we agree, the rating is overridden and the override is recorded on the question, so we can see later where the rubric itself needs work.