The SHSAT for 9th graders: a second sitting, and the last one
A first-time 9th grader in New York City can sit the SHSAT for a place in 10th grade at one of the eight testing specialized high schools. It is the same exam, with math that goes one year further, on a different day, against its own table of cutoffs. Below: who can register, the day, and the 2026 lowest qualifying scores for 10th grade next to the 9th grade ones, school by school.
Registration closes Friday, October 30
Registration is open in MySchools until Friday, October 30, in 3 days, and there is no second window. Registered 9th graders test on Saturday, November 21. How to register on MySchools.
Who can take the SHSAT in 9th grade
New York City Public Schools sets two conditions, both required: the student lives in New York City, and is either in 8th grade or a first-time (not repeating the grade) ninth grade student. A student repeating 9th grade cannot register. The type of school does not decide eligibility: a 9th grader at a public, charter, private or parochial school, or homeschooled, can register.
| Registration, in MySchools | October 6 to October 30, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Test day for every registered 9th grader | Saturday, November 21, 2026 |
| Where | A central NYCPS site, named on the test ticket |
| Cannot test on a Saturday | The city gives an alternate date |
| An offer means | A seat in 10th grade from September 2027 |
The same eligibility rule opens the audition for LaGuardia High School, the ninth specialized high school, which does not use the SHSAT. Every published SHSAT date, including the 8th grade sittings, is on our Fall 2026 SHSAT calendar, and the MySchools steps, with how to rank the eight schools, are under how to register for the SHSAT.
A second chance after 8th grade, and the last one
A student who sat the SHSAT in 8th grade and did not get an offer can sit it again the next fall, as a first-time 9th grader. The rule is about the grade, so a 9th grader who did not test in 8th grade can sit it too. After 9th grade there is no further sitting. The city’s guide says so in its section on test conduct:
“Grade 8 students will not be allowed to take the test again until the following school year. Grade 9 students will not have any additional opportunities to take the test after Grade 9.” (NYC Guide to the SHSAT for 2027 Admissions)
The exam itself is the one 8th graders take: computer-adaptive from fall 2026, ELA and math, 180 minutes. What changes is the math. The guide states that math questions on the Grade 9 test forms are based on standards through Grade 8, where the Grade 8 forms stop at Grade 7. A student who sat the test last year is preparing for a year more of content, not repeating the same test.
The city publishes sample Grade 9 questions on the NYC SHSAT Portal, to be used together with the four full practice tests, not instead of them. The four tests, with our answer checker for the printed versions, are on the official SHSAT practice tests page.
10th grade cutoffs next to 9th grade, by school
New York City Public Schools publishes two tables, both titled “Lowest Qualifying SHSAT Score for 2026 Admissions”: one for 9th grade entry, then one introduced as “the lowest qualifying SHSAT score for 10th grade”. Each figure is the lowest score that received an offer that year. It is not a passing mark and it moves every year. In 2026 admissions, the lowest score that received a 10th grade offer was higher than the 9th grade one at all eight schools: 1 point higher at Stuyvesant, 157 points higher at Brooklyn Latin.
| School | 10th grade entry | 9th grade entry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staten Island Technical High SchoolStaten Island · 31R605 | 530 | 517 | +13 |
| High School of American Studies at Lehman CollegeBronx · 10X696 | 535 | 507 | +28 |
| Queens High School for the Sciences at York CollegeQueens · 28Q687 | 537 | 531 | +6 |
| Brooklyn Technical High SchoolBrooklyn · 13K430 | 543 | 506 | +37 |
| High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City CollegeManhattan · 05M692 | 554 | 539 | +15 |
| Stuyvesant High SchoolManhattan · 02M475 | 562 | 561 | +1 |
| The Bronx High School of ScienceBronx · 10X445 | 652 | 525 | +127 |
| The Brooklyn Latin SchoolBrooklyn · 14K449 | 652 | 495 | +157 |
Read in 10th grade order, the list is not the 9th grade one. The lowest 10th grade figure was 530 at Staten Island Tech; the highest, 652, at Bronx Science and Brooklyn Latin. Your child ranks the schools at registration exactly as an 8th grader does, and offers go down the list in score order until each school’s seats are filled. The specialized high schools have no waitlists.
The same two columns sit next to offers and average SAT scores on our table of the eight testing specialized high schools. To place a practice score against the 10th grade figures, use the SHSAT score calculator; to fit the practice tests into the weeks left before November 21, the SHSAT study plan for 10th grade entry.
How many 10th grade seats? The city does not say
New York City Public Schools does not publish the number of 10th grade seats at any of the eight schools. Its yearly SHSAT summary on InfoHub counts offers per school without separating 10th grade from 9th grade, and the specialized high schools page gives only the lowest qualifying scores. A seat count for 10th grade that you read elsewhere does not come from the city.
What the published scores do show is the direction: at every school, in 2026 admissions, the score that took the last 10th grade offer sat above the 9th grade one. For a 9th grader, the number to work from is the 10th grade column.
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Questions about the SHSAT in 9th grade
Can 9th graders take the SHSAT?
Yes, if they live in New York City and are in 9th grade for the first time. A student repeating 9th grade cannot register. Registration runs in the same MySchools window as for 8th graders, October 6 to October 30, and a 9th grader who receives an offer enters the school in 10th grade.
When do 9th graders take the SHSAT?
On Saturday, November 21, 2026, at a central NYCPS site, whatever school the student attends now. New York City Public Schools states that a student who cannot test on a Saturday is given an alternate test date. The test ticket, available in MySchools after registration closes, names the day and the site.
What score does a 9th grader need for a specialized high school?
There is no fixed score. The city publishes the lowest score that received a 10th grade offer the year before: for 2026 admissions it ran from 530 at Staten Island Tech to 652 at Bronx Science and Brooklyn Latin. In 2026 admissions, the lowest score that received a 10th grade offer was higher than the 9th grade one at all eight schools: 1 point higher at Stuyvesant, 157 points higher at Brooklyn Latin. Those numbers describe a past year, not this one.
Is the 9th grade SHSAT harder than the 8th grade one?
The format is the same exam, but the content goes a year further. The city’s guide states that math questions on the Grade 9 test forms are based on standards through Grade 8, where the Grade 8 forms stop at Grade 7. The city publishes sample Grade 9 questions on the NYC SHSAT Portal, to be used together with the four full practice tests.
Can my child take the SHSAT again in 9th grade after taking it in 8th?
Yes, as long as the student is in 9th grade for the first time. The city’s guide treats the 9th grade sitting as the last one: “Grade 9 students will not have any additional opportunities to take the test after Grade 9.”
How many 10th grade seats are there at the specialized high schools?
New York City Public Schools does not publish it. Its yearly SHSAT summary gives offers per school without separating 10th grade from 9th grade, so any seat count you read elsewhere is not from the city. What the city does publish is the lowest qualifying score for 10th grade, school by school.
Sources, read on October 27, 2026: New York City Public Schools, Specialized High Schools (eligibility, test dates and both tables of lowest qualifying scores); NYC Guide to the SHSAT for 2027 Admissions (Grade 9 math content, Grade 9 sample questions, retesting). GeniusPrep is an independent tutoring company, not affiliated with New York City Public Schools.
How we prepare students for the SHSAT, in 8th or 9th grade, is on our SHSAT prep page.