• 50 questions

Accuplacer Test

Unofficial practice across all five Accuplacer tests, with a score for each test.

At the Calder Street bike shop, a mechanic’s first task each morning is to read the repair tags left the night before. The owner insists on it. A mechanic who starts with the easiest job, she says, ends the day with the hardest ones still waiting and the customers already at the door. According to the owner, what happens to a mechanic who begins with the easiest job?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with College Board. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

Accuplacer key facts to print 25 lines, made to print

Accuplacer key facts: the five multiple-choice tests

What College Board’s own pages say about the five tests, read October 12, 2026. An unofficial summary: ask your college which tests it gives and what your scores mean there.

How the tests work

  • Format Multiple choice on all five tests. The essay, WritePlacer, is a separate test.
  • Time limit None.
  • Computer adaptive Your answer to each question decides how hard the next one is.
  • Length 20 questions on Reading and on each math test; 25 on Writing.
  • Scores 200 to 300 on each test. No one passes or fails.
  • Placement Each college sets its own placement scores. College Board recommends none.
  • Calculator No handheld calculator on the math tests unless approved as an accommodation. A question that allows one shows a calculator icon on screen.

Reading: 20 questions

  • Passages One literary passage with 4 questions, one pair of informational passages with 4, and 12 single questions on informational passages.
  • Information and Ideas 35 to 55 percent: reading closely, central ideas and themes, summarizing, relationships.
  • Rhetoric 35 to 55 percent: word choice, text structure, point of view, purpose, arguments.
  • Synthesis 10 percent: questions that connect two related passages.
  • Vocabulary 10 to 20 percent: the meaning of a word or phrase where it is used.

Writing: 25 questions

  • Passages Five passages with 5 questions each: one literary nonfiction, four informational. Each question asks for the best revision or edit, or for no change.
  • Expression of Ideas 56 to 64 percent: development, organization, effective language use.
  • Standard English Conventions 36 to 44 percent: sentence structure, usage, punctuation.

Arithmetic: 20 questions

  • Five areas, 15 to 25 percent each Whole number operations, fraction operations, decimal operations, percent, number comparisons and equivalents.

Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS): 20 questions

  • 15 to 20 percent Ratio and proportional relationships.
  • 10 to 20 percent each Linear equations; linear applications and graphs.
  • 10 to 15 percent each Exponents; algebraic expressions.
  • 5 to 15 percent each Rational numbers; probability and sets; descriptive statistics.
  • 5 to 10 percent each Geometry concepts for Pre-Algebra; geometry concepts for Algebra 1.

Advanced Algebra and Functions (AAF): 20 questions

  • 10 to 20 percent Functions.
  • 10 to 15 percent each Linear equations; linear applications and graphs; quadratics.
  • 5 to 15 percent each Radical and rational equations; polynomial equations; exponential and logarithmic equations; trigonometry.
  • 5 to 10 percent each Factoring; geometry concepts for Algebra 1; geometry concepts for Algebra 2.

Source: College Board: Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Version 2.0, https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/accuplacer/pdf/next-generation-test-specifications-manual.pdf (questions per test, content areas and their share of each test); What’s on the Tests, https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/students/prepare-for-accuplacer/whats-on-tests; Understand My Scores, https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/students/scores/understanding-scores; Set Course Placement Scores, https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/educators/implementing-accuplacer/set-course-placement-scores; Get Ready for Test Day, https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/students/before-test-day/test-day. All read 2026-10-12. Checked October 12, 2026.

Next step More reading: 60 Accuplacer reading questions

All 50 questions

Reading 10

  • At the Calder Street bike shop, a mechanic’s first task each morning is to read the repair tags left the night before. The owner insists on it. A mechanic who starts with the easiest job, she says, ends the day with the hardest ones still waiting and the customers already at the door. According to the owner, what happens to a mechanic who begins with the easiest job? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Information and Ideas (35–55% of the test), reading closely. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • At the Calder Street bike shop, a mechanic’s first task each morning is to read the repair tags left the night before. The owner insists on it. A mechanic who starts with the easiest job, she says, ends the day with the hardest ones still waiting and the customers already at the door. The passage mainly serves to College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Rhetoric (35–55% of the test), analyzing purpose. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • Each fall, students at Ridgeview School weigh the leaves they rake from the same maple. The totals changed little for nine years. In the tenth, after a dry summer, the tree dropped its leaves three weeks early and the pile weighed a third less. The students now record rainfall as well. The sentence “The totals changed little for nine years” mainly serves to College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Rhetoric (35–55% of the test), analyzing text structure. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
Show all 50 questions (47 more)

Reading, continued

  • Each fall, students at Ridgeview School weigh the leaves they rake from the same maple. The totals changed little for nine years. In the tenth, after a dry summer, the tree dropped its leaves three weeks early and the pile weighed a third less. The students now record rainfall as well. What led the students to begin recording rainfall? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Information and Ideas (35–55% of the test), understanding relationships. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • The inspector found the wiring adequate: it met the code, though it would not support the larger machines the shop hoped to add. As used in the passage, “adequate” most nearly means College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Vocabulary (10–20% of the test), meaning of a word in context. Word meaning: Wiktionary, "adequate" (adjective).
  • Marta had practiced the speech until her roommate could recite it. At the podium she looked down at the first card and found she did not need it. She set the cards face down, and for the first time that week her hands were still. The detail that Marta’s hands “were still” suggests that she College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Information and Ideas (35–55% of the test), reading closely. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • Marta had practiced the speech until her roommate could recite it. At the podium she looked down at the first card and found she did not need it. She set the cards face down, and for the first time that week her hands were still. The phrase “until her roommate could recite it” emphasizes College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Rhetoric (35–55% of the test), analyzing word choice rhetorically. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • Museums often hang a long label beside each painting. The label means well, but it trains visitors to read first and look second, and many never get to the looking. A painting should be met the way a stranger is: by its face, before anyone tells you its history. The comparison to meeting a stranger suggests that a painting should first be College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Rhetoric (35–55% of the test), analyzing word choice rhetorically. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • Museums often hang a long label beside each painting. The label means well, but it trains visitors to read first and look second, and many never get to the looking. A painting should be met the way a stranger is: by its face, before anyone tells you its history. Which choice best states the central idea of the passage? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Information and Ideas (35–55% of the test), determining central ideas and themes. The answer is read from the passage printed with the question.
  • Passage 1: Homework teaches students to work without a teacher in the room. That habit matters more than any single assignment. Passage 2: A habit built at a kitchen table depends on having a quiet kitchen table. Homework rewards the students whose homes already help them. How would the author of Passage 2 most likely respond to Passage 1? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Reading placement test: Synthesis (10% of the test), analyzing multiple texts. The answer is read from the two passages printed with the question.

Writing 10

  • (1) Radio Meadowlark broadcasts from a room above a hardware store. (2) Its forty volunteers produce every program the station has no paid staff. Which is the best version of sentence 2? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Standard English Conventions (36–44% of the test), Sentence Structure: sentence boundaries. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses.
  • (2) I planted the seeds, watered them, and was checking them every hour. Which is the best version of sentence 2? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Standard English Conventions (36–44% of the test), Sentence Structure: parallel structure. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Parallel Structure.
  • (3) Nothing happened for nine days. Which sentence, added after sentence 3, best develops the writer’s impatience? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Expression of Ideas (56–64% of the test), Development: support. The answer is read from the sentences printed with the question.
  • (3) There is two microphones in the studio, and both are older than most of the volunteers. Which change should be made to sentence 3? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Standard English Conventions (36–44% of the test), Conventions of Usage: subject-verb agreement. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Making Subjects and Verbs Agree.
  • (5) My uncle found me digging up one of the bean’s to look at its roots. Which change should be made to sentence 5? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Standard English Conventions (36–44% of the test), Conventions of Punctuation: possessive nouns and pronouns. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, The Apostrophe.
  • (5) The signal reaches only twelve miles. (6) ______ listeners in three counties follow the station online. Which transition best begins sentence 6? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Expression of Ideas (56–64% of the test), Organization: transitions. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Transitional Devices.
  • (6) He did not scold me or tell me off for what I had done. Which version of sentence 6 is the most concise without losing meaning? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Expression of Ideas (56–64% of the test), Effective Language Use: concision. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Eliminating Words.
  • (7) He handed me a calendar and told me to mark the day I expected a sprout. (8) I marked a day four days ahead and was wrong by one. Which sentence, added after sentence 8, best concludes the essay? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Expression of Ideas (56–64% of the test), Organization: conclusions. The answer is read from the sentences printed with the question.
  • (7) The station pays its bills with a yearly fund drive. (8) Last spring’s drive was really good. Which revision of sentence 8 is the most precise? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Expression of Ideas (56–64% of the test), Effective Language Use: precision. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Conciseness.
  • (9) New volunteers train for six weeks before they go on the air. (10) They learn to run the sound board and to speak without rushing. (11) The hardware store downstairs closes at six. (12) By the end, each has recorded a practice show. Which sentence should be deleted because it does not fit the paragraph? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Writing placement test: Expression of Ideas (56–64% of the test), Development: focus. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, On Paragraphs.

Arithmetic 10

  • 63 is what percent of 420? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Percent” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • A $60 pair of shoes is taxed at 7%. What is the total price? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Percent” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • A farm packs 2,304 eggs into cartons of 12. How many cartons does it fill? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Whole number operations” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is 2 1/4 ÷ 3/8? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Fraction operations” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is 4.05 × 0.6? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Decimal operations” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is 7/9 − 5/12? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Fraction operations” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is 9/25 written as a decimal? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Number comparisons and equivalents” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is 40 − 2 × (3 + 5) ÷ 4? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Whole number operations” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is 46.385 rounded to the nearest tenth? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Decimal operations” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Which is the greatest: 0.7, 11/16, 68% or 2/3? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Arithmetic placement test: content area “Number comparisons and equivalents” (15–25% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.

Algebra and statistics (QAS) 10

  • A drawer holds 6 black socks, 4 white socks and 2 gray socks. One sock is taken at random. What is the probability that it is white or gray? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Probability and sets” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • A line has a slope of −3 and crosses the y-axis at 6. At what point does it cross the x-axis? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Linear applications and graphs” (10–20% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • A paint color is mixed from 3 parts blue to 2 parts yellow. How many quarts of blue go with 7 quarts of yellow? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Ratio and proportional relationships” (15–20% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • A triangle has a base of 14 inches and a height of 9 inches. What is its area? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Geometry concepts for Pre-Algebra” (5–10% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Simplify (5x⁴)² ÷ x³. College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Exponents” (10–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Simplify 5m − 2(3 − m) + 4. College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Algebraic expressions” (10–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Solve (2x + 5)/3 = 7. College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Linear equations” (10–20% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Two angles of a triangle measure 3x and 5x degrees, and the third measures 20°. What is x? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Geometry concepts for Algebra 1” (5–10% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is the median of 12, 7, 9, 15, 7 and 10? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Descriptive statistics” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is −2/3 + 7/8? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics placement test: content area “Rational numbers” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.

Advanced algebra (AAF) 10

  • A shop sells pens for $2 and notebooks for $5. Tia buys 9 items for $30. How many notebooks does she buy? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Linear equations” (10–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • A taxi ride costs $3.50 plus $2.25 for each mile. How much does a 6-mile ride cost? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Linear applications and graphs” (10–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • If f(x) = 2x + 3 and f(a) = 17, what is a? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Functions” (10–20% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • In a right triangle, the side adjacent to angle B is 8 units long and the hypotenuse is 17. What is tan B? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Trigonometry” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Solve 3^(2x) = 243. College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Exponential and logarithmic equations” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Solve √(x + 7) = 4. College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Radical and rational equations” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What are the solutions of (x − 5)² = 36? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Quadratics” (10–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is the center of the circle (x + 4)² + (y − 2)² = 36? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Geometry concepts for Algebra 2” (5–10% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • What is the degree of the polynomial (x² + 1)(x³ − 2x)? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Polynomial equations” (5–15% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.
  • Which is the factored form of 9x² − 49? College Board, Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Advanced Algebra and Functions placement test: content area “Factoring” (5–10% of the test). The answer is worked out from the numbers in the question.

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, ten for each of the five placement tests in College Board’s Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications, Version 2.0 (https://accuplacer.collegeboard.org/accuplacer/pdf/next-generation-test-specifications-manual.pdf, read 2026-10-12), spread over each test’s content areas as its table weights them: Reading (Information and Ideas 4, Rhetoric 4, Synthesis 1, Vocabulary 1), Writing (Expression of Ideas 6, Standard English Conventions 4), Arithmetic (two in each of five areas), Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (one in each of ten areas) and Advanced Algebra and Functions (one in each of ten areas). Reading answers are checked against the passage printed with the question, writing rules at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/index.html) and one word meaning at Wiktionary, both read 2026-10-12; every math answer was worked out a second time from the numbers the question prints. None of these questions is on the five single-test pages of this site. Licence: Passages, drafts, questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site. The people and places in them are made up for practice.

How it works

This unofficial Accuplacer test practice has 50 questions of our own, ten per test: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS), and Advanced Algebra and Functions (AAF). Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by College Board.

Read the full guide

How the real tests work

College Board’s pages, read October 12, 2026, say the tests are multiple choice with no time limit, and computer adaptive: each answer decides how hard the next question is. Reading and each math test have 20 questions and Writing has 25. Each reports a score from 200 to 300, and no one passes or fails.

One test at full length

The real tests are separate, and your college’s testing office can tell you which ones it gives. Each has a longer set here: reading, writing, arithmetic, QAS and AAF.

Questions and answers

Is this a free Accuplacer test?

It is free Accuplacer prep: every question, explanation, exam mode and printable sheet on this page costs nothing and needs no sign-up. The real Accuplacer is given by your school or a test center.

What is on the Accuplacer test?

Five multiple-choice tests: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics, and Advanced Algebra and Functions. College Board also lists an essay, WritePlacer, and four ESL tests. The key facts sheet on this page gives the content areas of each.

Is there an Accuplacer practice test app?

Not from us. This page runs in a phone browser with nothing to install. College Board’s own free practice tests are on the web too, and its practice page says you need an account to use them.

Is there an Accuplacer test study guide?

The key facts sheet under the questions is a one-page study guide: what each of the five tests covers, by content area and share of the test, restated from College Board’s test specifications. It prints on its own.

Is this the next-generation Accuplacer practice test?

Yes. Every question follows College Board’s Next-Generation ACCUPLACER Test Specifications. The older tests they replaced were Reading Comprehension, Sentence Skills, Arithmetic, Elementary Algebra and College-Level Math.

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