Free PSAT 8/9 practice tests

Format, dates and practice-test links checked against College Board: October 29, 2026

You can take a free, full-length PSAT 8/9 practice test online at Test Ninjas. Practice Test 1 has all 98 questions in the digital, adaptive format and gives you an estimated score on the 240–1440 scale when you finish, with an explanation for every question. It's free with a free account. College Board also publishes official practice: full-length digital tests in its Bluebook app and three paper tests as PDFs, with answers and scoring guides.

Everything is linked below, along with six questions from our Practice Test 1 to try right here, what the PSAT 8/9 covers, and how to read your score.

Your free PSAT 8/9 practice tests

There are three free ways to take a full-length PSAT 8/9 practice test. Take at least one digital test before test day, because the real PSAT 8/9 is digital and adaptive.

Test Ninjas · online

PSAT 8/9 Practice Test 1

98 questions, adaptive modules, timed like test day, scored the moment you finish, with an explanation for every question.

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College Board · Bluebook app

Official digital tests

Full-length adaptive PSAT 8/9 practice tests in the same app you'll test in. Download Bluebook from College Board's practice page.

College Board · PDF

Three paper tests

Printable, nonadaptive tests with answer explanations and scoring guides. See all three below.

Test Ninjas PSAT practice test: a Reading and Writing passage with two highlights, choice A crossed out, choice B selected, Mark for Review on and 14:34 left in the module — A Reading and Writing question in a Test Ninjas PSAT practice test: highlights, answer cross-out, Mark for Review and the module timer work like Bluebook.

Official PSAT 8/9 practice test PDFs with answers

College Board publishes three official PSAT 8/9 paper practice tests as free PDFs. Each has a test booklet, answer explanations and a scoring guide that converts your correct answers into section scores. They're nonadaptive, so every student gets the same questions.

Official PSAT 8/9 paper practice tests. All files are on College Board's paper practice tests page.

Practice test	Test	Answers	Scoring
PSAT 8/9 Practice Test 1	PDF	Explanations	Scoring guide
PSAT 8/9 Practice Test 2	PDF	Explanations	Scoring guide
PSAT 8/9 Practice Test 3	PDF	Explanations	Scoring guide

Printing a paper test? Time each part the way the real test does (Reading and Writing, then a 10-minute break, then Math) and score it with the PDF's scoring guide or our PSAT 8/9 score calculator.

Try six questions from Practice Test 1

These six questions are from the first module of our PSAT 8/9 Practice Test 1: three Reading and Writing and three Math, one per main skill area. Pick an answer and check it to see the explanation. Math questions without choices are type-in questions, like on the real test.

Sample 1 · Reading and Writing · Words In Context

After the wildfire swept through the forest, scientists were amazed by the ______ of the local plants. Within a single year, green shoots had pushed up through the ash, and many trees that seemed dead began to grow new leaves.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

AfragilityBresilienceCscarcityDvariety

Sample 2 · Reading and Writing · Central Ideas and Details

Many songbirds that live in cities sing at a higher pitch than the same species living in the countryside. For years, researchers assumed this difference was simply a response to traffic noise, since higher-pitched songs can be easier to hear over the low rumble of cars. However, biologist Dana Reyes suspected the explanation might be more complicated. In a recent study, she found that some city birds raised their pitch even in quiet parks far from busy roads. Reyes suggests that features of the city itself, such as buildings that echo sound, may shape birdsong in ways that noise alone cannot explain. Her work indicates that the causes of urban birdsong are less straightforward than scientists once believed.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

AReyes discovered that traffic noise is the only reason city birds sing at a higher pitch.BReyes's research suggests the causes of city birds' higher-pitched songs are more complex than assumed.CReyes found that birds living in quiet city parks sing at a lower pitch than other birds.DReyes proved that echoing buildings, not traffic noise, are what cause city birds to change songs.

Sample 3 · Reading and Writing · Form, Structure, and Sense

Jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams moved to New York City in the 1940s, where her apartment became a gathering place for younger musicians. During those years, she wrote hundreds of arrangements for famous bandleaders and ______ rising stars such as Thelonious Monk in her home.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

AmentoringBmentoredCto mentorDhaving mentored

Sample 4 · Math · Ratios Rates Proportions

A bottling line at the Aldermere plant fills $27$ bottles per minute at a constant rate. At this rate, how many bottles does the line fill in $1$ hour?

Type your answer

Sample 5 · Math · Nonlinear Equations

$\sqrt{3x - 2} = 5$ Which number, when substituted for $x$ , makes the equation true?

\frac{7}{3}

\frac{25}{3}

9

27

Sample 6 · Math · Inference from Sample Statistics

A wildlife agency studied the Cascadia coastal region, which contains $40{,}000$ nesting sites. From a random sample of sites, the agency estimated the proportion of active sites this season to be $0.42$ , an estimate accurate to within $0.05$ . Which value below could plausibly equal the total number of active nesting sites in the region?

13{,}600

16{,}400

19{,}600

21{,}600

Take the whole PSAT 8/9 Practice Test 1 free All 98 questions, adaptive modules and a scored report with pacing for every module.

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What's on the PSAT 8/9

The PSAT 8/9 has 98 questions in two sections and takes 2 hours and 14 minutes. Each section has two modules. Everyone gets the same first module; how you do on it decides whether your second module is easier or harder.

PSAT 8/9 structure. Source: College Board.

Section	Questions	Time	Notes
Reading and Writing	54 (27 per module)	64 min (32 + 32)	Short passages, one question each
Break	—	10 min	Between the sections
Math	44 (22 per module)	70 min (35 + 35)	Calculator allowed on every question; some answers are typed in
Total	98	2 hr 14 min	Scored 240–1440

The PSAT 8/9 is scored from 240 to 1440: 120 to 720 for Reading and Writing and 120 to 720 for Math. It's on the same scale as the other SAT Suite tests but tops out lower, because its questions are set at an 8th- and 9th-grade level. See the PSAT format guide for how the adaptive modules work.

How to score your practice test and what it means

Test Ninjas practice tests score themselves; for a paper test, use its scoring guide or the PSAT 8/9 score calculator. Then compare your total with other 8th and 9th graders. These are College Board's percentiles for students who took the test in your grade:

PSAT 8/9 total score percentiles (user group). Source: College Board. Every score: PSAT percentiles.

Total score	8th grade	9th grade
700	26th	19th
800	54th	42nd
900	75th	64th
1000	88th	80th
1100	95th	90th
1200	98th	96th
1300	99th	99th
1400	99th+	99th+

College Board's grade-level benchmarks show whether you're on track for college readiness by the SAT: 8th grade, 390 in Reading and Writing and 430 in Math; 9th grade, 410 in Reading and Writing and 450 in Math. Your score report shows whether you met each one.

How to use your PSAT 8/9 practice tests

Take one test early to find your gaps, practice those skills, then take another test to check your progress. Over about four weeks:

Week 1: take our Practice Test 1 in one sitting, timed, with the 10-minute break. Don't pause the clock.
Week 1–2: review every question you missed or guessed on. Sort them by skill (words in context, transitions, linear equations and so on) and note which mistakes were content and which were rushing.
Week 2–3: practice your two or three weakest skills with short drills, such as our free Reading and Writing and Math practice questions.
Week 3: take an official Bluebook practice test to get used to the app you'll test in.
Week 4: review that test, then do a final timed practice section a few days before test day.

When is the PSAT 8/9?

Schools give the PSAT 8/9 in the fall window (October 1–30, 2026), the spring window (March 1–April 30, 2027), or both, and each school picks its own day. Spring scores reach students on April 1, April 15, April 29 or May 13, 2027, depending on when the school sends its answers.

PSAT 8/9 testing windows and in-school score release dates. Source: College Board.

Window	Test dates	Scores to students
Fall 2026	October 1–30, 2026	October 22, November 5 or November 12, 2026
Spring 2027	March 1–April 30, 2027	April 1, April 15, April 29 or May 13, 2027

You don't register yourself: your school signs you up. State-run tests can follow the state's own schedule. Every window is on our PSAT test dates page.

Prepare for the PSAT 8/9 with a free account Practice tests, section drills and explanations in the digital PSAT format.

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PSAT 8/9 practice test FAQ

Yes. College Board publishes three official paper PSAT 8/9 practice tests as free PDFs, Practice Tests 1, 2 and 3, each with answer explanations and a scoring guide. The paper versions aren't adaptive, so take a digital practice test too before test day.

The PSAT 8/9 has 98 questions and takes 2 hours and 14 minutes: Reading and Writing is 54 questions in 64 minutes and Math is 44 questions in 70 minutes, with a 10-minute break between them. That's the same length as the PSAT 10 and PSAT/NMSQT.

Its questions are set at an 8th- and 9th-grade level, and it's scored from 240 to 1440 instead of 320 to 1520. The format is the same: two sections, two adaptive modules in each, a calculator allowed on all of Math.

On College Board's table, the middle score (50th percentile) is 790 for 8th graders and 840 for 9th graders. A 1000 is the 88th percentile in 8th grade and the 80th in 9th. The grade-level benchmarks are 390 Reading and Writing and 430 Math in 8th grade, and 410 and 450 in 9th.

Yes. The PSAT 8/9 is designed for 8th and 9th graders, and schools sign students up. It has no scholarship or admissions stakes; it shows what to work on before the PSAT 10, PSAT/NMSQT and SAT.

The digital practice tests are. On Test Ninjas and in College Board's Bluebook app, your first module in each section decides whether your second module is easier or harder, like the real test. The paper PDFs aren't adaptive.

Official sources

Related PSAT guides

Practice Test 1 is an independent Test Ninjas practice test, not an official College Board test. PSAT/NMSQT® and PSAT™ are registered trademarks of the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which are not affiliated with, and do not endorse, Test Ninjas.

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