Test Dates
HSPT test dates 2026
There is no national HSPT test date. Each Catholic high school — or, in a few dioceses, a coordinated admissions office — sets its own sitting, usually between mid-November and mid-January of 8th grade. This page publishes only current-cycle dates already verified against a school source. If a sitting is missing, treat it as unpublished and confirm with the school’s admissions office.
Page updated September 5, 2026. Each row below shows the date we last checked the school’s site (latest source check August 25, 2026). We do not invent HSPT dates.
How to cite this page.HSPT Prep, “HSPT test dates 2026,” https://hsptprep.app/hspt-test-dates, updated September 5, 2026. Quote only sittings that list a source and an as-of date, then confirm with the school before reprinting a day.
Verified current-cycle sittings
These 7schools have a verified 2026–27 HSPT sitting in our records. The day comes from the school’s own site; the source column opens that official URL. Always reconfirm before you register.
| School | Metro | Published sitting | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop Blanchet High School | Seattle, WA | Saturday, November 14, 2026 (9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.) or Sunday, November 15, 2026 (1:00–4:30 p.m.) — administered on campus | 2026-07-30 | School website |
| Archbishop McNicholas High School | Cincinnati, OH | Saturday, November 21, 2026 | 2026-08-10 | School website |
| Aurora Central Catholic High School | Chicago, IL | December 5 or December 12, 2026 (alternate: Saturday, January 9, 2027 at 8:00 a.m.) | 2026-08-25 | School website |
| St. Ignatius College Preparatory | San Francisco, CA | December 5, 2026 (9:00am-12:30pm) | 2026-07-20 | School website |
| Archbishop Mitty High School | San Jose, CA | January 9 or January 23, 2027 (9:00am) | 2026-08-21 | School website |
| Bishop O'Dowd High School | Oakland, CA | January 9, 2027 | 2026-08-23 | School website |
| Loyola High School | Los Angeles, CA | Saturday, January 9, 16, or 23, 2027 (choose one date at registration) | 2026-08-21 | School website |
Included only when the school record is verified, carries an “as of” date, and is not a last-cycle or scrape fragment. There is no national HSPT date.
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Dates we do not publish
Most Catholic high schools have not yet earned a verified current-cycle row. We omit a day when the record is unverified, last-cycle (2025 or January 2026), conflicting, or a scrape fragment. That includes:
- Denver. Arrupe Jesuit, Bishop Machebeuf, and Mullen have no verified current-cycle sitting. See the Denver Catholic high school directory and confirm with each admissions office.
- Kansas City. No verified current-cycle sitting. A Bishop Miege scrape fragment is not a published date. Compare schools on the Kansas City Catholic high schools page, then ask each school.
- Chicago-area listings still unverified. St. Ignatius College Prep and Loyola Academy are not yet verified for this cycle, so we omit the day. The one verified Illinois sitting is Aurora Central Catholic, in the table above.
- Last-cycle calendars (Philadelphia-area October and November 2025 sittings, and similar “most recent cycle” notes) stay off this page until a 2026–27 source is verified.
For the full HSPT school directory — without invented days — start at verified HSPT schools or the free HSPT practice test.
What a good HSPT score means for these dates
A 50th-percentile score is the national midpoint. Whether a score is “good” depends on the school that set the date: some use the HSPT only for placement, and some consider it for merit aid. We do not publish school-specific cutoffs unless the school has already stated them. See what is a good HSPT score, and how scholarships work, plus the verified 2026–2027 scholarship-deadline calendar.
HSPT scores and scholarships: what is a good HSPT score?
The average HSPT score is the 50th percentile. What it means for admissions, what counts as a good score, and how schools use scores for merit aid.
Catholic high school scholarship deadlines 2026-2027
A verified month-by-month calendar of Catholic high school scholarship and financial-aid deadlines for the 2026-2027 admission cycle, linked to each official school page.
School hubs with a verified sitting
Use these hubs to compare nearby schools, then return here for the sourced date.
- San Francisco Bay Area — St. Ignatius, Archbishop Mitty, and Bishop O’Dowd sittings
- Los Angeles — Loyola High School January sittings
- Chicago — Aurora Central Catholic is the verified Illinois sitting
- Cincinnati — Archbishop McNicholas / archdiocesan November sitting
- Seattle — Bishop Blanchet November sittings
Common questions about HSPT dates
When is the HSPT given?
There is no single national HSPT date — each Catholic high school (or diocese) schedules its own sitting. Most exams fall between mid-November and mid-January of 8th grade, with early December the most common window. Schools publish their date on their admissions page, usually by early fall.
Is there a national HSPT test date?
No. Scholastic Testing Service writes the exam, but Catholic high schools and dioceses choose the day. Treat any “national HSPT date” list that does not name a school source as unpublished.
Can my child take the HSPT more than once?
Most schools accept only one sitting, and some dioceses share scores across their schools so one exam covers every school you apply to. Policies differ — confirm with each school before assuming a retake is possible.
When should we start preparing?
Working back from a late-November or December test date, 8–12 weeks of short daily practice means starting in September — or late August for a January exam. Cramming the week before rarely moves a percentile.
How do we register?
Registration runs through the high schools themselves, not through a central testing agency. Families typically register on their first-choice school’s admissions site once the date is posted.
Why is a school missing from this list?
We only publish a sitting when the school record is already verified in our codebase, carries an as-of date, and is not a last-cycle or scrape fragment. Missing means unpublished here — ask that school’s admissions office.
Plan backward from the date
HSPT timing: when to start prep
How far ahead to start, based on your test date, school list, and how much prep your child can realistically sustain.
4-week HSPT study plan
A realistic one-month plan for families starting late but still trying to move the score before test day.
6-week HSPT study plan
The middle-ground schedule: enough time to cover every section without turning fall into one long cram.
Test date on the calendar? Work backward from it with a free diagnostic.
Start the 25-question diagnostic, then use a verified date on this page to choose a 2-, 4-, 6-, or 8-week plan.
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