Below are 36 free ISEE practice questions for the Middle, Upper and Lower Level, covering all four scored sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Mathematics Achievement. Each has four answer choices and an explanation. The ISEE has no penalty for wrong answers, so answer every question.
We wrote every question ourselves in the style of the real test; none is copied from an official ISEE. The format, timing and scoring facts on this page come from E3n, the organization that makes the ISEE, on admission.org, checked November 9, 2026.
The Middle and Upper Level sets have 14 questions each: 2 synonyms, 2 sentence completions, 2 word problems, 2 quantitative comparisons, a short passage with 3 reading questions, and 3 math achievement questions. The Lower Level set has 8, without quantitative comparisons, which the Lower Level doesn't use. Questions run in the real test's section order. To feel the real pace, allow about 30 seconds per verbal question and just under a minute for everything else.
ISEE practice questions by level
Pick the level for the grade you're applying to: Lower for grades 5–6, Middle for 7–8, Upper for 9–12. Choose an answer to see whether it's right and why. Each question has four choices, as on the ISEE.
14 questions at this level.
Verbal Reasoning (2)
Synonyms: choose the word closest in meaning to the word in capital letters. Sentence completions: choose the word or words that best complete the sentence.
Quantitative Reasoning (2)
Reasoning more than calculation. No calculator; use scratch paper.
Reading Comprehension (2)
Read the passage, then answer the questions about it.
Passage: Science
The waggle dance
When a honeybee finds a patch of flowers full of nectar, she flies back to the hive to tell the others. She cannot speak, so she dances. On the wall of the hive, she runs in a straight line while shaking her body from side to side. Then she circles back and does it again, over and over.
The direction of her straight run tells the other bees which way to fly, compared with the position of the sun. The length of the shaking run tells them how far away the flowers are: the longer she shakes, the farther they must fly. Scientists call this the waggle dance.
Other bees crowd around the dancer, touching her with their antennae. Within minutes, many of them leave the hive and head straight for the flowers, even though they have never been there before.
Mathematics Achievement (2)
Curriculum math: you may need to calculate. No calculator.
Verbal Reasoning (4)
Synonyms: choose the word closest in meaning to the word in capital letters. Sentence completions: choose the word or words that best complete the sentence.
Quantitative Reasoning (4)
Reasoning more than calculation. No calculator; use scratch paper.
Quantitative comparisons: compare Column A with Column B. The four choices are always the same: (A) the quantity in Column A is greater; (B) the quantity in Column B is greater; (C) the two quantities are equal; (D) the relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
Reading Comprehension (3)
Read the passage, then answer the questions about it.
Passage: Science and contemporary life
Why cities run hot
On a summer afternoon, the center of a city can feel several degrees warmer than the farms and forests just outside it. Scientists call this an urban heat island, and its causes are mostly the materials cities are built from.
Asphalt streets and dark rooftops absorb sunlight during the day and release the stored heat slowly, long after sunset. Brick and concrete do the same. In a forest, by contrast, much of the sun's energy is spent evaporating water from leaves, a process that cools the air around the trees much as sweat cools skin. A city block with few plants loses that natural air conditioning.
Tall buildings add to the problem. They block breezes that might carry warm air away, and they trap heat between their walls. Even air conditioners contribute, pushing hot air out of buildings and into the streets.
The good news is that the same knowledge points to solutions. Some cities now paint rooftops white or light gray so that they reflect sunlight instead of absorbing it. Others plant trees along streets, both for shade and for the cooling effect of their leaves. Parks, green roofs covered in plants, and pavement that lets rainwater soak through can all help. None of these changes is dramatic on its own, but together they can make a hot neighborhood noticeably more comfortable, and safer, during a heat wave.
Mathematics Achievement (3)
Curriculum math: you may need to calculate. No calculator.
Your Middle Level results
Answer questions above and your results by section appear here. Like the real ISEE, your raw score is simply the number you get right.
Answer everything: the ISEE doesn't take points off for wrong answers. With four choices, a blind guess is right 1 time in 4, and a blank is worth nothing. On the real test, raw scores become scaled scores, percentiles and stanines, which this short set doesn't estimate.
Verbal Reasoning (4)
Synonyms: choose the word closest in meaning to the word in capital letters. Sentence completions: choose the word or words that best complete the sentence.
Quantitative Reasoning (4)
Reasoning more than calculation. No calculator; use scratch paper.
Quantitative comparisons: compare Column A with Column B. The four choices are always the same: (A) the quantity in Column A is greater; (B) the quantity in Column B is greater; (C) the two quantities are equal; (D) the relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
Reading Comprehension (3)
Read the passage, then answer the questions about it.
Passage: Arts and humanities
The restorer's dilemma
When a centuries-old painting arrives in a conservation studio, it rarely looks the way its painter intended. Varnish applied to protect it has yellowed, turning blue skies green and white collars the color of weak tea. Earlier repairers may have painted over damaged areas, sometimes adding details the original artist never imagined. The restorer's task seems simple: remove what does not belong and return the painting to its original state. In practice, almost every step of that task requires a judgment call.
Consider the varnish. Removing it can reveal colors that have not been seen in generations, and viewers are often astonished by how bright an old painting really was. Yet some critics argue that the aging of a painting is part of its history. A cleaned canvas, they say, can look harsh and flat, stripped of the soft glow that generations of viewers knew. They also point out that no one can be certain how the colors looked on the day the paint dried; pigments themselves change over centuries, so the "original" painting may no longer exist to be recovered.
Most conservators today try to steer between these positions. They clean cautiously and test small areas first. When they fill a missing patch, they use materials that can be removed later, so that a future restorer with better tools can undo their work. And they keep detailed records of every change. The goal is no longer to make a painting look new, but to make it legible: to let a viewer see what the artist made without pretending that the centuries in between never happened.
Mathematics Achievement (3)
Curriculum math: you may need to calculate. No calculator.
Last verified against E3n's ISEE pages on admission.org and the ISEE Quick Facts Guide: November 9, 2026.
The Lower, Middle and Upper Level ISEE each have four scored multiple-choice sections, always in the same order (Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics Achievement), followed by an unscored 30-minute essay, with two 10-minute breaks. The Middle and Upper Levels share one structure; the Lower Level is shorter.
| Section | Lower (grades 5–6) | Middle (grades 7–8) | Upper (grades 9–12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Reasoning | 34 in 20 min | 40 in 20 min | 40 in 20 min |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 38 in 35 min | 37 in 35 min | 37 in 35 min |
| Reading Comprehension | 25 in 25 min | 36 in 35 min | 36 in 35 min |
| Mathematics Achievement | 30 in 30 min | 47 in 40 min | 47 in 40 min |
| Essay (unscored) | 1 prompt, 30 min | 1 prompt, 30 min | 1 prompt, 30 min |
| Total | 127 questions, 2 hr 20 min + two breaks | 160 questions, 2 hr 40 min + two breaks | 160 questions, 2 hr 40 min + two breaks |
Two things surprise families who know the SSAT or school tests. First, the level is set by the grade the student is applying to, not the grade they're in now, so a seventh grader applying to ninth grade takes the Upper Level. Second, the pace varies a lot by section. Middle and Upper Level Verbal Reasoning gives you 30 seconds per question; Mathematics Achievement gives about 51 seconds, and Quantitative Reasoning and Reading Comprehension a little under a minute. Our how long is the ISEE guide covers the full test-day schedule, and ISEE test levels explained covers the Primary levels too.
Online and paper tests have the same question counts and timing. Calculators aren't allowed (unless a student has an approved accommodation), but scratch paper is, so practice every question here with a pencil (Quick Facts Guide).
Every ISEE multiple-choice question has four answer choices, A to D. Verbal Reasoning uses synonyms and sentence completions; Quantitative Reasoning uses word problems, plus quantitative comparisons at the Middle and Upper Levels; Reading Comprehension asks about passages; and Mathematics Achievement tests curriculum math. Here's what each rewards, using the questions above as examples.
A synonym question gives one word in capital letters and asks for the closest meaning. E3n's guides note that one-word choices are listed alphabetically, so it helps to think of a meaning first and then scan for it. The traps are predictable: a look-alike or sound-alike (sugary for CANDID, obvious for OBSTINATE), a related idea (intelligent for DILIGENT, spoken for VERBOSE) and the opposite. Our ISEE synonyms strategy guide goes further, and the roots, prefixes and suffixes list helps with words you've never seen.
The sentence always contains the clue. Find it before you read the choices: a contrast word such as "although" (Middle question 3), a result ("so … that even her younger brother understood," Middle question 4) or a definition after a colon (Upper question 3). Predict your own word, then match it. At the Upper Level, E3n's guide says some sentences have two blanks; check both words in the sentence, because one wrong half makes the whole choice wrong (Upper question 4). More in our sentence completion strategies.
E3n describes this section as testing how well students think mathematically rather than how much math they've learned, so many problems need little or no calculation (score report guide). The wrong choices are usually the result of a specific slip: averaging two speeds instead of dividing total distance by total time (Upper question 5), counting an overlap twice (Middle question 6 and Upper question 6), or stopping at an intermediate step. Before you pick an answer that matches your work, reread what the question asks.
Each question shows a quantity in Column A and one in Column B, and the four choices never change: A is greater, B is greater, they're equal, or the relationship can't be determined. Two habits carry most of these. Compare instead of computing when you can (25% of 48 and 48% of 25 are equal without any arithmetic). And when a column contains a variable, test more than one allowed value, including 1 and a larger number, before committing: x² and 2x swap places as x grows, so the answer is D. Our quantitative comparison strategy guide has more examples.
Questions ask about the main idea, supporting details, inferences, vocabulary in context, organization and logic, and tone, style and figurative language (admission.org). E3n's Middle and Upper Level guides describe six passages on the real test, drawn from subjects like arts, contemporary life, history and science. The most common wrong choices go too far (painting roofs white is "the only" solution) or swap in an everyday meaning ("legible" as readable print). For every answer, point to the sentence that proves it.
This is school math: numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis and probability. Unlike Quantitative Reasoning, you may need to calculate, and some questions use math vocabulary directly. Order of operations, equations with the variable on both sides and the Pythagorean theorem (Middle questions 12 to 14) are typical. The Upper Level set adds function notation, slope and a system of equations. Keep our ISEE math formula sheet nearby while you practice; you won't get one on test day.
No. ISEE scores are based only on the number of questions answered correctly, and incorrect answers are not deducted, so E3n tells students to attempt every question (Quick Facts Guide). A blank and a wrong answer both earn zero, which means a guess can only help.
Worked example. A Middle Level student reaches the end of the 20-minute Verbal Reasoning section with 32 of 40 questions answered, 24 of them right, and 8 left blank. Raw score: 24. If the student spends the last 30 seconds filling in a letter for each of the 8 blanks, each guess has a 1 in 4 chance, so they gain about 2 right answers on average and lose nothing. Ruling out even one choice first raises that to 1 in 3.
This is the biggest strategic difference from the Middle and Upper Level SSAT, which takes off a quarter point for each wrong answer. If you've been practicing for both tests, switch off the habit of leaving questions blank for the ISEE. Our ISEE guessing strategy guide covers when to guess quickly and when to come back to a question later in the section.
Your raw score (the number right) in each section is converted to a scaled score from 760 to 940, then compared with other students applying to the same grade over the past three years to give a percentile rank (1–99) and a stanine (1–9) (admission.org, ISEE score reports). Each multiple-choice section also includes a few unscored questions being tried out for future tests; you can't tell which ones they are, so treat every question as if it counts.
| Stanine | Percentile ranks |
|---|---|
| 9 | 96–99 |
| 8 | 89–95 |
| 7 | 77–88 |
| 6 | 60–76 |
| 5 | 40–59 |
| 4 | 23–39 |
| 3 | 11–22 |
| 2 | 4–10 |
| 1 | 1–3 |
Because the comparison group is other independent-school applicants, percentiles can look lower than students are used to from school tests. A practice set this short can't predict a scaled score; use it to find which question types cost you points. Our ISEE stanine guide explains how schools read the four stanines, and the essay, while unscored, goes to every school that receives scores, so it's worth practicing too (ISEE essay guide).
Short sets like this one are best for learning the question types and spotting weak areas; timed full-length tests are what build pace and stamina. A routine that works:
If a question type feels unfamiliar, the level below yours is a gentler place to learn the format before returning to your own. And don't be discouraged by hard words or problems: each student is compared only with other applicants to the same grade.
After this set, practice one section at a time, then take a full-length test. These pages pick up where the 36 questions above leave off:
For official practice, E3n's ISEE preparation page offers a free online sample test for every level and free What to Expect on the ISEE guides (PDFs) for the Lower, Middle and Upper Level, each with a paper practice test.
Last verified against E3n's ISEE About, Score Reports and Preparation pages on admission.org, the ISEE Quick Facts Guide 2026–27 and the What to Expect on the ISEE guides: November 9, 2026. All practice questions on this page are original and written by Test Ninjas.