ISEE Lower Level

The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) Lower Level is a standardized admission test for students currently in grades 4 and 5 who are applying to grades 5 and 6 at independent schools. It measures a student's academic readiness in verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, reading, and mathematics, and it gives schools a common measure for comparing applicants. The ISEE is developed and administered by E3n, the nonprofit organization formed when the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) and the Enrollment Management Association merged; families register and find test information on the official ISEE website.

Exam Pattern and Structure

The test has four multiple-choice sections followed by an essay, given in the order below. Every multiple-choice question has four answer choices. Two short breaks are included during the test.

Section	Questions	Time	WhatItMeasures
1 VerbalReasoning .	34	20min	Vocabularyandwordreasoningthroughsynonymandsentence
			completionquestions
2 QuantitativeReasoning .	38	35min	Mathematicalreasoningandproblemsolving includingword ,
			problems
3 ReadingComprehension .	25	25min	Understandingandanalyzingshortfictionandnonfiction
			passages
4 MathematicsAchievement .	30	30min	Mathskillsandconceptstaughtinschool oftenwithdirect ,
			computation
5 Essay .	1prompt	30min	Anunscoredwritingsamplesenttotheschoolsthatreceive
			yourscores
Total	127+essay	2h20min	Plustwoshortbreaks

A small number of questions in each section are experimental and do not count toward your score. Because you cannot tell which ones they are, answer every question as carefully as you can.

Scoring

Each of the four multiple-choice sections receives its own score; there is no single total score, and the essay is not scored. Wrong answers are not subtracted, so you should answer every question. The score report, called the Individual Student Report, shows three kinds of results for each section:

Score	WhatItMeans
Scaledscore	Ascorefrom760to940foreachsection Scalingadjustsforsmalldifferencesbetweenversionsofthe .
	test .
Percentilerank	Anumberfrom1to99thatcomparesyouwithotherstudentsinthesamegradewhotooktheISEEover
	thepastthreeyears Apercentileof70meansyouscoredaswellasorbetterthan70%ofthatgroup It . .
	isnotthepercentageofquestionsansweredcorrectly .
Stanine	Ascorefrom1to9thatgroupspercentileranksintoninebands Stanines4 5 and6coverthemiddleof . , ,
	thegroup;1to3arebelowaverageand7to9areaboveaverage .

Students applying to independent schools are compared with other independent school applicants, a group that tends to score higher than students in general. A percentile or stanine in the middle range is a solid result, and each school considers scores alongside grades, recommendations, interviews, and the essay.

Exam at a Glance

ExamAspect	Details
Administeredby	E3n(formedbythemergerofERBandtheEnrollmentManagementAssociation)
Whotakesit	Studentscurrentlyingrades4and5applyingforgrades5and6
Sections	VerbalReasoning QuantitativeReasoning ReadingComprehension MathematicsAchievement and , , , ,
	anunscoredessay
Questionsandtime	127 multiple-choice questions and one essay prompt in 2 hours 20 minutes plus two breaks ,
Formats	Paper(essayhandwritteninpen)oronline(essaytyped) dependingonwhereyoutest ,
Wheretotest	Ataparticipatingschool ataneducationaltestingoffice ataPrometrictestcenter oronlineathome , , , ,
	dependingonlocation
Calculator	Notallowed(unlessapprovedasatestingaccommodation);blankscratchpaperispermitted
Scoring	Scaled score (760–940) percentile rank (1–99) and stanine (1–9) for each scored section; no penalty , ,
	forwronganswers
Howoften	Once per testing season: Fall Winter and Spring/Summer (up to three times in a 12 -month period) , ,
Registrationfees	Vary by location and format: about $170 at a school or school -administered at home $225–$255 at an ,
	educational testing office and $250 at a Prometric center or at home with E3n; late walk -in , , ,
	rescheduling andcancellationfeesmayapply ,
Accommodations	Availableforstudentswithdocumentedneeds;applywellbeforeyourtestdate

Why the ISEE Matters

For students, a strong performance on the ISEE can strengthen an application to competitive independent schools. Families choose which schools receive the scores, and only those schools receive a copy of the essay.