PSAT 8/9 Practice Test

Unofficial questions for both sections of the test the College Board gives in eighth and ninth grade.

Section

First the sky turned the color of slate. Then the birds went quiet. By the time Rosa had pulled the last shirt off the clothesline, the first heavy drops were hitting the dust. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

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Exam mode: 27 questions, 32 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board, which owns the PSAT 8/9. Bank checked October 9, 2026.

Next step PSAT practice test for grades 10 and 11SAT reading practice test

Reading and Writing: all 33 questions

Craft and Structure 9

  • After a rainy spring, blackberries were ______ along the fence, and the neighbors picked buckets of them without making a dent. Which word fits the blank most logically and precisely? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Words in Context. Word meaning: Wiktionary, "abundant".
  • Bioluminescence is the production of light by a living organism. A firefly is one familiar example. In the ocean, creatures that glow are found from the surface to the deep seafloor. They typically use their light to warn or escape predators, to lure or find prey, and to communicate with their own kind. Which choice best names the text's main purpose? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Text Structure and Purpose. Facts in the text: NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is bioluminescence?"
  • First the sky turned the color of slate. Then the birds went quiet. By the time Rosa had pulled the last shirt off the clothesline, the first heavy drops were hitting the dust. Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Text Structure and Purpose. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
Show all 33 questions (30 more)

Craft and Structure, continued

  • The gym's drinking fountain broke in September. For weeks, players left practice thirsty. Then the booster club set a cooler of water by the door before every practice, and the grumbling stopped. Which choice best describes the function of the last sentence? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Text Structure and Purpose. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • Mateo was skeptical of his cousin's story about a fish as long as the rowboat, so he asked to see a photo. In this text, which meaning is closest for the word "skeptical"? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Words in Context. Word meaning: Wiktionary, "skeptical".
  • The team chose canvas for the tents because it is ______: the same tents have come through ten summers of wind and rain. Which word fits the blank most logically and precisely? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Words in Context. Word meaning: Wiktionary, "durable".
  • Text 1: Homework lets students practice what they learned in class, so teachers should assign it every night. Text 2: Practice matters, but students given an hour of homework every night often rush through it. Shorter assignments a few times a week would give better practice. Based on the texts, both writers would most likely agree with which statement? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Cross-Text Connections. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • Text 1: Our town should build the new skate park by the river. The land is empty, and nobody lives close enough to be bothered by noise. Text 2: The riverside lot floods almost every spring. A skate park there would be under water for weeks each year. Based on the texts, how would the writer of Text 2 most likely respond to Text 1? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Cross-Text Connections. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • Theo was ______ to join the choir. He liked singing, but he dreaded standing in front of a crowd. Which word fits the blank most logically and precisely? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Craft and Structure, Words in Context. Word meaning: Wiktionary, "reluctant".

Information and Ideas 9

  • A class planted the same kind of seeds in two trays and watered them equally. Tray A sat on a sunny windowsill, and Tray B sat in a dark closet. After two weeks the seedlings in Tray A were green and sturdy, while those in Tray B were pale and thin. The results suggest that ______ Which choice fills the blank most logically? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Inferences. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • A class recorded the temperature at noon for five days. Table, day and temperature: Monday, 61°F; Tuesday, 64°F; Wednesday, 70°F; Thursday, 73°F; Friday, 75°F. A student says the week grew warmer day by day. Which choice uses data from the table to support the student's statement? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Command of Evidence (quantitative). The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • A middle school replaced the large trays in its lunchroom with smaller ones. A student claims that the change has cut the amount of food that students throw away. Which finding, if true, would best support the student's claim? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Command of Evidence (textual). The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • A student is writing about a story in which a girl named Ada runs her first race. The student wants to show that Ada is determined to finish. Which quotation from the story best shows that Ada is determined? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Command of Evidence (textual). The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • An estuary is a body of water usually found where a river meets the sea. There, fresh water draining from the land mixes with salty seawater. The mixture is called brackish water, and the plants and animals of an estuary have adapted to it. Many animals rely on estuaries for food, for places to breed and as stopovers during migration. According to the text, what is brackish water? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Central Ideas and Details. Facts in the text: NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is an estuary?"
  • The community radio station began in a garage with one microphone and a signal that barely reached the end of the street. Ten years later it broadcasts from the old post office, and listeners across the county tune in for its Saturday request show. Which choice best sums up the text's main idea? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Central Ideas and Details. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • Jun's dog barks at every delivery truck that passes the house. This afternoon a truck stopped right outside, and the dog did not make a sound. Jun went to look for it at once. Jun most likely went looking because ______ Which choice fills the blank most logically? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Inferences. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • Marcus had wanted to play goalkeeper. Instead the coach handed him the scorebook and a pencil. He almost quit the team. But by midseason he could tell from his own pages which opponents tired late in a game, and the coach began asking to see his notes before every match. Which choice best sums up the text's main idea? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Central Ideas and Details. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • The trail to the waterfall is usually crowded on Saturdays. Last Saturday, though, the parking lot was empty, and a sign at the gate read "Bridge out." Most likely, the trail was empty because ______ Which choice most logically completes the text? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Information and Ideas, Inferences. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.

Standard English Conventions 9

  • The bus was ______ still reached the museum before it opened. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Boundaries. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses, coordinating conjunctions and comma splices.
  • Last weekend my cousins ______ a kite and flew it on the hill. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Form, Structure, and Sense. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Verb Tense Consistency, no shift within one time frame.
  • Mr. Whitlock, our band ______ plays five instruments. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Boundaries. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Appositives, punctuation of appositives.
  • My grandmother grows three kinds of herbs on her ______ mint, and thyme. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Boundaries. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Brief Overview of Punctuation, colon.
  • The players on the team ______ every day after school. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Form, Structure, and Sense. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Making Subjects and Verbs Agree, rule 5.
  • Running for the bus, ______ Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Form, Structure, and Sense. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Dangling Modifiers and How To Correct Them, strategy 1.
  • The science fair is on ______ projects must be set up by Thursday afternoon. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Boundaries. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses, comma splices and fused sentences.
  • The twins forgot ______ lunches on the kitchen counter. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Form, Structure, and Sense. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Using Pronouns Clearly, point 1, agree in number.
  • We have one dog, and the ______ bowl was empty, so Kai filled it with water. Which choice fills the blank in keeping with the conventions of Standard English? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Standard English Conventions, Form, Structure, and Sense. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, The Apostrophe, forming possessives of nouns.

Expression of Ideas 6

  • A student took these notes: Sponges are simple animals that live in water. There are about 8,550 living species of sponges. Some sponge fossils are about 600 million years old. The student wants to emphasize how long sponges have existed. Which choice most effectively uses the notes to reach this goal? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Expression of Ideas, Rhetorical Synthesis. Facts in the text: NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is a sponge?"
  • A student took these notes: The bus to the museum takes 40 minutes and costs $2. The train to the museum takes 15 minutes and costs $5. Both leave from Central Station. The student wants to emphasize a difference between the two ways of getting to the museum. Which choice most effectively uses the notes to reach this goal? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Expression of Ideas, Rhetorical Synthesis. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • A student took these notes: The Lincoln School book fair runs from March 3 to March 7. It is held in the gym. Money raised will buy new books for the library. The student wants to tell readers what the money from the fair will be used for. Which choice most effectively uses the notes to reach this goal? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Expression of Ideas, Rhetorical Synthesis. The answer rests on the text printed in the question.
  • The corner hardware store sells more than tools. ______ shoppers can buy birdseed, kites and even fresh eggs. Which transition fits the blank most logically? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Expression of Ideas, Transitions. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Transitional Devices, to give an example.
  • The forecast promised sunshine for the whole weekend. ______ it rained from Saturday morning until Sunday night. Which transition fits the blank most logically? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Expression of Ideas, Transitions. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Transitional Devices, to compare and to show exception.
  • The storm knocked down a power line on our street. ______ the houses on the block had no electricity until morning. Which transition fits the blank most logically? College Board, SAT Suite content domains: Expression of Ideas, Transitions. Rule: Purdue Online Writing Lab, Transitional Devices, to summarize or conclude.

How this list was compiled: Our own texts and questions, written to the College Board's published outline of the PSAT 8/9 (https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/in-school-assessments/whats-on-the-test/psat-8-9 with its structure, Reading and Writing and Math pages, read 2026-10-09) and its Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite (https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/assessment-framework-for-digital-sat-suite.pdf), Tables 10 and A34: Craft and Structure about 28%, Information and Ideas about 26%, Standard English Conventions about 26% and Expression of Ideas about 20% of the section. The bank holds 9, 9, 9 and 6 questions. Unless a question names a source, the people, places and stories in the texts are invented for practice and each answer rests on the text printed with it. Three texts restate facts from the NOAA National Ocean Service page named in the question (oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts, read 2026-10-09). Word meanings were read at Wiktionary and rules of grammar, punctuation and transitions in the Purdue Online Writing Lab page each question names (read 2026-10-09). Licence: Texts, questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

Math: all 28 questions

Algebra 11

  • A kayak rental costs $12 for a life jacket plus $9 for each hour on the water. Which equation gives the total cost C, in dollars, for h hours on the water? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear equations in two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A line passes through the points (−2, 3) and (2, 11). What is the slope of the line? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear equations in two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A phone plan costs 25 + 10g dollars a month, where g is the number of gigabytes of data used. What does the number 10 represent? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear functions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
Show all 28 questions (25 more)

Algebra, continued

  • Adult tickets cost $9 each and child tickets cost $4 each. A family bought 6 tickets in all and paid $39. How many adult tickets did the family buy? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, systems of two linear equations in two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • An elevator can carry at most 2,000 pounds. A cart that weighs 350 pounds is already on it. Which inequality gives the weight w, in pounds, that can still be added? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear inequalities in one or two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • The function f is defined by f(x) = 7x − 12. What does f(6) equal? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear functions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • If 3x + y = 22 and x − y = 2, what is the value of x? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, systems of two linear equations in two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • If 4(x + 3) = 2x + 26, what is the value of x? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear equations in one variable. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • If 5x − 8 = 32, what is the value of x? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear equations in one variable. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • What is the y-intercept of the line with equation y = −4x + 9? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear equations in two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • Which value of x satisfies the inequality 3x − 4 < 11? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Algebra, linear inequalities in one or two variables. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.

Advanced Math 6

  • A patch has 30 clover plants, and the number of plants triples every year. How many clover plants are there after 3 years? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Advanced Math, nonlinear functions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • The function g is defined by g(x) = x² − 3x. What is the value of g(−2)? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Advanced Math, nonlinear functions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • What are the solutions to the equation x² − 121 = 0? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Advanced Math, nonlinear equations in one variable. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • Which expression is equivalent to (x + 4)(x − 6)? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Advanced Math, equivalent expressions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • Which expression is equivalent to 3x² · 4x⁴? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Advanced Math, equivalent expressions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • Which expression is equivalent to x² + 11x + 24? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Advanced Math, equivalent expressions. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.

Problem-Solving and Data Analysis 7

  • A birdseed mix is made from 2 parts millet to 5 parts sunflower seeds. How many scoops of millet are needed for 35 scoops of sunflower seeds? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, ratios, rates, proportional relationships, and units. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A copier makes 96 copies in 4 minutes at a constant rate. At that rate, how many copies does it make in 7 minutes? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, ratios, rates, proportional relationships, and units. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A debate club won 14 of the 35 rounds it entered. What percent of its rounds did the club win? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, percentages. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A drawer holds 4 black socks, 6 white socks and 2 gray socks. One sock is taken out at random. What is the probability that the sock is white? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, probability and conditional probability. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A store takes 30% off the price of a $60 backpack. What does the backpack cost after the discount? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, percentages. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • The heights, in inches, of six plants are 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 20. What is the median height? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, one-variable data: distributions and measures of center and spread. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • What is the mean of the data set 5, 8, 9, 11, 17? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, one-variable data: distributions and measures of center and spread. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.

Geometry 4

  • A rectangular rug is 13 feet long and 8 feet wide. What is its area? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Geometry, area and volume. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • A storage crate shaped like a rectangular box is 15 inches long, 8 inches wide and 10 inches high. What is its volume? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Geometry, area and volume. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • Two angles of a triangle measure 35° and 85°. What is the measure of the third angle? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Geometry, lines, angles, and triangles, including right triangles. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.
  • The two legs of a right triangle are 5 units and 12 units long. How long is the hypotenuse? College Board, Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, Table 18 (PSAT 8/9 Math): Geometry, lines, angles, and triangles, including right triangles. The answer is arithmetic, worked out again.

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the College Board's published outline of the PSAT 8/9 (https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/in-school-assessments/whats-on-the-test/psat-8-9 with its structure, Reading and Writing and Math pages, read 2026-10-09) and its Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite (https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/assessment-framework-for-digital-sat-suite.pdf), Table 18: Algebra about 42.5%, Advanced Math about 20%, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis about 25% and Geometry about 12.5% of the section, with no trigonometry on this test. The bank holds 11, 6, 7 and 4 questions. Every answer is arithmetic that is worked out again from the numbers in the question; the people and prices in the word problems are invented. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This free PSAT 8/9 practice test has 33 Reading and Writing questions and 28 Math questions of our own. It is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the College Board, which owns the PSAT 8/9.

Read the full guide

The real test

The College Board's outline, read October 9, 2026: Reading and Writing has 54 questions in 64 minutes and Math 44 in 70, each in two equal modules. Exam mode is one module: 27 questions in 32 minutes, or 22 in 35.

One test, two grades

A PSAT 8 practice test and a PSAT 9 practice test are the same thing: one test serves both grades. The College Board's framework keeps the SAT's hardest passages and its trigonometry off this test.

Math by domain

The Math set is a PSAT 8/9 math practice test in the framework's proportions: algebra 11 questions, advanced math 6, problem-solving and data analysis 7, geometry 4. On the real test about a quarter of math answers are typed in.

  • A calculator is allowed on the whole Math section, the College Board says.

Questions and answers

What is on the PSAT 8/9?

Two sections. Reading and Writing asks one question on each short text, in four domains: craft and structure, information and ideas, standard English conventions and expression of ideas. Math covers algebra, advanced math, problem-solving and data analysis, and geometry.

Is there a PSAT practice test for 8th graders?

Yes. The College Board says the PSAT 8/9 is typically given to eighth and ninth graders, and both question sets here follow its outline, not the outline of the tests for older grades.

How is the PSAT 8/9 scored?

Each section is scored from 120 to 720, for a total of 240 to 1440, the College Board's score page says. Nothing on this page converts to those scores.

Is there a PSAT 8/9 practice test PDF?

Yes, by printing. After a round, Print turns the questions into a sheet, with an answer key if you tick it. For a file, pick Save as PDF in the print window. No file of the College Board's is offered here.

Is this the real PSAT 8/9?

No. Every text and question was written for this site from the College Board's published outline. None repeats or rewords a real, released or sample question, and a result here does not forecast a test score.

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