Hunter College High School entrance exam

Hunter practice tests

Hunter College High School in Manhattan is a public school for intellectually gifted students, and it takes new students only into Grade 7. New York City students who qualify on their Grade 5 state tests sit its entrance exam in January of Grade 6: about three hours on paper, in two booklets. The English booklet is Reading Comprehension, 50 multiple-choice questions on five or six passages, and a Writing Assignment, an essay or a creative piece. The math booklet is 84 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes, licensed from the ISEE Middle Level: Quantitative Reasoning, then Mathematics Achievement.

Our Hunter-style practice follows the exam the school published for January 2026: Reading Comprehension at 50 questions in 70 minutes, the math booklet's two parts at 37 and 47 questions in the ISEE Middle Level's mix and the school's suggested 35 and 40 minutes, and the Writing Assignment as a 40-minute piece of writing marked on the four things Hunter's readers look for. Each test is new when your child starts it, and the score shows straight away.

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A look at the test

Questions in the Hunter style

Written by us in the style of the published Hunter question types.

Quantitative Reasoning: comparison
Column A: 4/7
Column B: 4/5
Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.
1. AColumn A is greater.
2. BColumn B is greater.
3. CThe two quantities are equal.
4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerBColumn B is greater.
1. Work out both columns
  4/7 = 0.571 and 4/5 = 0.8.
2. Compare the two results.
3. Final answer
  Column B is greater.
Remember
Work out each column exactly, or far enough to compare.
Mathematics Achievement: two-way table
The table shows which pet each family at a school owns. Some numbers are missing. Each row and each column adds up to its total. What number belongs in the cell marked ? in the table?
1. A21
2. B26
3. C36
4. D68
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerB26
Blue cells come first, then the orange one: 30 − 9 = 21, then 47 − 21 = 26.
1. The Farm row
  30 − 9 = 21.
2. The Dogs column
  47 − 21 = 26.
3. Final answer
  26.
Remember
Every row and every column adds up to its total.
Mathematics Achievement: area
A rectangular playground is 13 yd long and 9 yd wide. A border of bark chips 2 yd wide runs all the way around the outside of it. What is the area of the border of bark chips?
1. A48 sq yd
2. B88 sq yd
3. C104 sq yd
4. D120 sq yd
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerC104 sq yd
The whole shape is 17 × 13 = 221 sq yd. The playground is 13 × 9 = 117 sq yd. The border of bark chips is the orange band: 221 − 117 = 104 sq yd.
1. Whole shape
  The path adds 2 yd at both ends of each side, so it is 17 yd by 13 yd, and 17 × 13 = 221 sq yd.
2. The playground
  13 × 9 = 117 sq yd.
3. The border of bark chips
  Whole shape minus the playground, 221 − 117 = 104.
4. Final answer
  104 sq yd.
Remember
Find the big rectangle and the small one inside it, then take one area from the other.

The test

Two booklets, four parts

Part	Grades	Questions	Time	What is on it
Reading Comprehension	Grade 6	50	1 hour 10 minutes	Eight passages: stories, nonfiction and poems, with questions on meaning, inference, word choice, tone and structure.
Quantitative Reasoning	Grade 6	37	35 minutes	Word problems and quantitative comparisons, from the ISEE Middle Level. Four choices.
Mathematics Achievement	Grade 6	47	40 minutes	Number, algebra, geometry, measurement, data and probability, from the ISEE Middle Level. Four choices.
Writing Assignment	Grade 6	1 piece	40 minutes	An essay or a creative piece on one prompt, read for originality, effectiveness, correctness and use of detail.

The parts, their lengths and the suggested minutes are the school's published figures for January 2026, and so is the math's source, the ISEE Middle Level. The school does not publish how many answer choices the reading questions have; ours have four, like the math. The passages and questions are ours.

By grade

Free practice for each grade

Grade 6Hunter for Grade 7 entry

Pricing

Three free practice tests. Unlimited tests and answers are US$69.

A free account includes 3 practice tests. A plan opens unlimited tests and shows your child what they got right, the right answers and how to reach them, on every ISEE, SSAT, HSPT, TACHS and Hunter test. Practicing for more than one kind of test? The US bundle covers them all for US$99.

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US$69

for 6 months

Which questions your child got right, after every practice test
The right answer to every question
A worked solution for every question, step by step
ISEE Primary 2 to 4, Lower, Middle and Upper Level, every section
SSAT Elementary, Middle and Upper Level, all three sections
HSPT and TACHS for Catholic high school entry, every part
Hunter-style reading and math for Hunter College High School, with the writing marked

Every US testLaunch price

US$99

for 6 months

Everything in every US pack, in one payment
CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT and NGAT, for gifted and talented programs
SCAT-style practice for the CTY talent search, Grades 2 to 9
InView-style practice for gifted screening, Grades 2 to 12
Matrices-style and spatial reasoning practice
ISEE and SSAT, for private school entry
HSPT and TACHS, for Catholic high school entry
Hunter-style practice, for Hunter College High School
Math contest practice, Grades 1 to 8
MAP Growth practice, by grade and subject
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SHSAT practice for Grades 8 and 9, English and math
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ACT-style English, Math, Reading and Science for Grades 10 to 12
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Questions

What parents ask

Are these real Hunter questions?: No. Hunter's exams are secure. We write our own passages and questions in the style of each part of the exam, at the same length and time. The math follows the ISEE Middle Level, which is where Hunter's math now comes from.
Who can take the Hunter exam?: New York City residents in Grade 6 who reach the school's qualifying scores on their Grade 5 New York State tests (or the 90th national percentile on another approved test). The school's own admissions pages have this year's scores, dates and how to apply; children just below the scores may apply with an Academic Insights Profile.
When is the exam?: Once a year in January of Grade 6, with no make-up date. The next one, for entry to Grade 7 in fall 2027, is on Wednesday, January 27, 2027.
How is the writing marked?: On the real exam, reading and math are scored first, and only the top scorers have their writing read by a panel of Hunter English teachers. Ours marks every piece at once on the four qualities Hunter names, originality, effectiveness, correctness and use of detail, quotes your child's own sentences back as the reason, and gives one thing to do differently next time.
Can my child use a calculator?: No. The Hunter exam allows no calculator, so practice the math booklet by hand with scrap paper.
Is it free?: A free account includes 3 practice tests. A plan opens unlimited Hunter-style tests and shows which questions were right, the right answers and a worked solution for each. The private school pack (US$69 for six months) covers ISEE, SSAT, HSPT, TACHS and Hunter. The US bundle (US$99) covers every US test we offer.
Does a practice score predict a Hunter result?: No. Hunter does not release scores, and admission depends on how every applicant does that year. Our score is the number of practice questions answered correctly, and nothing here says whether a child would be admitted.

Hunter College High School is a public school of Hunter College, The City University of New York. Scholar Tests is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hunter College High School, Hunter College or CUNY. Our Hunter-style practice questions are written by us in the style of the exam's published parts; they are not real Hunter questions, and a practice score is not a Hunter result. ISEE is a trademark of its owner, published by E3n.