Research · Entrance exams · October 2026

The ISEE: 160 scored questions, three seasons, once each; 67 tracked schools require or accept it

As of October 2026: The ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) is the admissions test of independent private schools, published by E3n, the nonprofit formed when ERB and EMA merged. The Upper Level, for students applying to grades 9 through 12, has 160 scored multiple-choice questions in four sections plus an unscored essay, runs 2 hours 40 minutes of testing, can be taken once in each of three seasons, and is on the entrance-exam list at 67 of the 154 private and Catholic high schools we track in 14 metros: 23 require it outright and 44 accept it alongside the SSAT or another exam, and 30 of the 67 are in New York.

The tables hold what is on the test, as E3n describes it, and every tracked school that names the ISEE, with the exams each school lists and the test dates and application deadline it states. It is not a census of every school that uses the ISEE.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

What is on the ISEE?

The five sections of the Upper Level ISEE, in testing order, with the number of questions, the minutes allowed and what E3n says each one measures.

Question counts and timing are from E3n's ISEE Quick Facts Guide for 2026-2027; the descriptions are from E3n's score-report page for families. This is the Upper Level, for students applying to grades 9 through 12. The Middle Level, for students applying to grades 7 and 8, has the same sections, counts and timing. The Lower Level, for grades 5 and 6, is shorter: 34, 38, 25 and 30 questions in the four scored sections, 2 hours 20 minutes in all. The essay is sent to the schools the family names and is not scored by E3n.

Which schools require or accept the ISEE, and when do they give it?

Every tracked school whose entrance-exam list includes the ISEE, grouped by metro, with the exams the school names and the test dates and application deadline as each school states them. Where a school's own words say Class of 2031, it means eighth graders in the 2026-27 school year, who start high school in fall 2027; Class of 2030 means the students who started high school in fall 2026.

This is every one of the 67 schools, among the 154 private and Catholic high schools we track across 14 metros in California, North Texas (DFW), the New York area and North Jersey, whose entrance-exam list includes the ISEE as of October 2026: 23 require it outright and 44 accept it alongside the SSAT or, at a few, the TACHS or HSPT; the Exams column shows each school's own list, and the dates column names the exam a school hosts where it is not the ISEE. Dates and deadlines are printed as each school states them on its own admissions page. Where a school's page still shows last cycle's dates, the cell says so and the 2026-27 date is not in our set. A school name links to its Reach page where one exists. This is not a census of every school that uses the ISEE.

What the ISEE is, who takes it, and what is on it

The ISEE is the entrance exam of the independent schools, published by E3n, the nonprofit formed when ERB and EMA merged. E3n says more than 1,200 independent schools accept it. It comes in four levels for students applying to grades 2 through 12. The Upper Level is the high school exam, for students applying to grades 9 through 12. Eighth graders in the 2026-27 school year, who start high school in fall 2027, take it this fall and winter.

Verbal Reasoning is synonyms and sentence completions. Quantitative Reasoning is mathematical thinking with little or no calculation. Reading Comprehension is main ideas, inference and tone. Mathematics Achievement is the math a student has learned, and here calculation may be needed. The essay prompt is drawn at random for each test date; E3n does not score it or send it to the family, only to the schools the family names. Many tracked schools also accept the SSAT.

How the ISEE is scored, and what a good score is

There are no good or bad scores. There are only scores that will help you reach your goals. With that said, here is what the numbers mean. Each scored section gets a scaled score from 760 to 940, a percentile rank from 1 to 99 and a stanine from 1 to 9. The percentile compares the student with other independent-school applicants to the same grade over the past three years.

Test Prep Gurus makes the point on its ISEE page: the students who take the ISEE and SSAT are a self-selecting and generally strong group, so percentile ranks and stanines often read lower than a parent expects. E3n's free Upper Level guide, a 2021 document, puts the gap at 10 to 40 percentile points below a national-norm school test. E3n says there is no passing score and no cutoff; each school decides how to use the report.

When and where it is given, and how to register

E3n runs three testing seasons: Fall (August through November), Winter (December through March) and Spring/Summer (April through July). A student may take the ISEE once in each season, up to three times in a school year. Score reports do not show how many times a student has tested.

It is given at home, at schools, at testing offices and at Prometric centers. The Upper Level fee is $170 at a school or for a school-proctored test at home, $250 for an E3n-proctored test at home or at Prometric, and $225 to $255 at a testing office. Fee waivers come from a school the student applies to, not from E3n.

Online registration closes at least 3 days before the test date; a paper test needs 21 days, and a late registration adds $45. Accommodations take one to two weeks to review; register after the decision to avoid a rescheduling fee.

How to prepare

Give it six to twelve weeks of steady work, one or two sessions a week with practice in between. E3n gives the same advice: prepare over time, not by cramming.

Prepare for the whole test every time, never one section. Every school receives all four scores and the essay.

Take timed practice tests under real conditions; Verbal Reasoning gives 20 minutes for 40 questions. E3n offers a free official guide with a paper practice test for the Lower, Middle and Upper Levels and a free online sample test. Learn the directions for each section before test day, so no test time goes to reading them.

Answer every question: E3n takes nothing off for a wrong answer and tells students to attempt every one and to guess and move on rather than linger. Practice arithmetic by hand, because calculators are not allowed. Pick the season that leaves prep time; a Fall test can be followed by a Winter retest.

We can move these scores

Test Prep Gurus is the company behind Reach. In its own words: "At Test Prep Gurus we teach students how to raise their grades and scores on the ACT, SAT, ISEE, HSPT, APs so they can reach their goals for college and beyond." We can move ISEE scores. ISEE prep with us is 1-on-1, and it begins with a free ISEE diagnostic exam and a consultation to go over the results. Call 949-229-5359 or see the ISEE page at Test Prep Gurus.

What a family should do this month

Find each school in the table and note its application deadline and any test date as the school states it. Pick a season and date that leave six to twelve weeks of prep, and register on time; if the student needs accommodations, file that request first. Take E3n's free online sample test now, or our free ISEE diagnostic, so the prep runs on a plan from the first week.

Related: Which entrance exam does each school require? · The HSPT guide · ISEE and SSAT questions answered by Test Prep Gurus