PSAT Practice Tests: A Complete Guide

Mar 7, 2024

Are you preparing for the PSAT exam and investing money in purchasing the contents and practice test? With the change from the paper version to the digital version, practice tests, and contents are modified. You can benefit from them now for free on the College Board’s approved application for the test, Bluebook.

However, several students face trouble in preparation and prefer guidance along with practice tests from diverse platforms. This issue can be resolved by several authentic platforms for PSAT preparation, including Turito. First, we will help you dive into the world of PSAT and the importance it holds in the life of candidates, and then we will discuss the solutions for better guidance through this article.

What is the PSAT?

PSAT or NMSQT, elaborated as the Preliminary SAT or National Merit Scholarship Test is a practice version of the SAT exam. It is a standardized test typically for 10th and 11th-grade students. The test is 2 hours and 45 minutes long and evaluates student’s math, reading, and writing skills. The exam is specifically designed to enhance the preparation process for the SAT and gauge college readiness.

In addition, high performers in the PSAT exam qualify for a scholarship worth $180 million, which is awarded to students each year. Qualified students have a chance to become a Commended Scholar, which increases the weightage of their application. However, a candidate can take the PSAT exam once a year.

Understanding the PSAT NMSQT Practice Test

Did you know that the highest possible score for the PSAT exam is 1520? To score higher and become eligible for a scholarship, students are required to practice PSAT questions consistently. PSAT is specifically designed for candidates appearing for the practice PSAT exams to get used to the pattern, structure, and questions asked in the exam. With the practice test, students get the same environment as they are taking the real test.

With the change from the paper version to the digital version exam, the new format has been introduced and led to huge modifications in the contents. This upgrade has resulted in the whole new PSAT practice materials that recently became available to the candidates.

The College Board, via the Bluebook application, offers full-length official PSAT practice tests for free for better practice. However, several authentic websites guide field experts and help students become well-versed in PSAT subjects like math, reading, and writing.

When to Take the PSAT Practice Test?

The version of the practice PSAT comprises two sections: Reading and Writing and Mathematics. The two sections hold reading and writing language tests where students’ comprehensive grammar and reading and writing skills are tested. The other two sections hold PSAT questions from math, one with no calculator math problems and the other using a calculator.

The students prepare a module-wise schedule for preparation before the examination to understand and practice. After completing each module, full-length practice can be done for free from the dashboard of the Bluebook application. In addition, experts from authentic platforms like Turito also provide an organized pattern for better preparation and good practice before appearing for the PSAT examination.

How Many Questions are on the PSAT?

We know there are four sections covered in the PSAT examination: math, reading, and writing. Each possesses a different number of questions and time duration to attempt the same. Let us explore how many questions are on the PSAT through the table below.

The reading and writing section (Table 1) of the PSAT test helps to evaluate the candidate’s ability to understand and analyze the passage’s primary ideas. The passage generally comes with respect to physical sciences, political documents, social science, and fiction. Here, candidates need to determine the perspective of the author, word meanings through clues from the context, and interpret and analyze distinct concepts.

Some questions are composed of graphics and charts that need to be interpreted and understood along with the written part. The particular section assesses the candidate’s ability to enhance the writer’s message quality, portraying the better way to develop, organize, and write the narrative and argumentative answers. Here, candidates are also required to identify and correct the errors and issues in grammar, words, tone, style, mechanics, and usage.

Table 1: Reading and Writing

No. of Questions	Duration in Minutes
54	64

Students are permitted to use a calculator in this section of math (Table 2). The majority of the questions are in MCQ form. However, some questions ask to enter the answer in a grid. The calculator may be provided by the test platform itself, i.e., the Bluebook app.

Table 2: Math

No. of Questions	Duration in Minutes
44	70

What is a Good PSAT Score?

A good PSAT score over the 75 percentile is typically preferred. The score is a competitive test score on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). However, a good score varies with the goal of the candidates. The majority of colleges demand high scores. On the other hand, there is a huge competition for the National Merit Scholarship. In the PSAT exam, the percentile compares the performance of the candidate with the other candidates. For instance, if you get 88 percentile in the PSAT exam, it determines that you are 88% better or equal in performance with other candidates and worse than the remaining 12% of the candidates. Scores change every year with each percentile.

The scores highlighted in the PSAT report are in different colors. The green shows that the score meets or exceeds the academic benchmark. The yellow portrays that the score is close to the academic benchmark. In contrast, the red display score is below the academic benchmark.

Let us quickly review the scores and percentile of the PSAT exam through the following table for reference.

Table 3: Percentile and Score in PSAT exam

Percentile	PSAT Total Score for 10th Grade	PSAT Total Score for 11th Grade
50 (Median)	920	1010
75 (Good)	1060	1150-1160
80	1090-1100	1190
85	1130	1230
90	1180	1280-1290
95	1250-1260	1360-1370
99	1370-1420	1450-1480
99+	1430-1520	1490-1520

Importance of PSAT Practice Test

Practice tests for the PSAT are crucial to developing skills and time management to perform better in the main exam. Here are some important practice tests for your reference.

Consistently solving practice tests familiarizes one with the PSAT exam pattern.
Practice tests enable candidates to build a strategic ability to solve the same question with a better approach and time management next time.
Practice tests allow candidates to solve the full-length paper in the provided time. This helps them to have better time management during the main PSAT exam.
Regular practice helps candidates to identify their gaps and weak topics to work on and make improvements. This ability enables them to not repeat the same mistake in the main PSAT examination.

Tips for Effective PSAT Practice

Learning requires hard work, consistency, and perseverance. If one of these key skills is absent in a candidate, they face challenges in learning during practice for the PSAT exam. Candidates have to take full-length practice tests from the Bluebook app regularly. However, certain tops and tricks may help you to stand ahead of other candidates.

Create your own schedule based on your preparation level and environment.
Focus on the weak portions. Give extra time and effort to improvise the modules you think are hard. Practice more from other authentic websites like Turito.
Review your mistakes and never ignore them by taking them as minor ones. A minor mistake can lead to a major error during the mains.
Try different practice materials. With Turito, you will get a plethora of content to practice on and boost your confidence in the topics you want.
Track progress by evaluating your scores after each practice test. The improvement at a good scale portrays your hard work is in the right direction. If you feel you are not improving, do not worry. Take guidance from experts. You can visit Turito for the same.
Stimulate test conditions by adjusting the timer for test durations, complexity levels, and test rules.

Conclusion

Mastering the PSAT practice test can lead you to get high scores and percentiles in the main PSAT exam. With dedication, hard work, and enthusiasm, you can practice enough to get skilled and boost your confidence in the math, reading, and writing sections. However, certain topics are quite challenging to deal with and need expert guidance. However, ignoring the same can lead to huge losses during the PSAT exam.

We at Turito provide you with field experts who not only eliminate your doubts or gaps in the topic but also teach you the strategies and time management to stay ahead in the exam. If you are planning to enroll for the PSAT exam, get your plethora of content, including practice tests covering each module and expert guidance. In addition, we provide several other courses like IIT, JEE, IELTS, Study Abroad Courses, PSAT, SAT, Universal programs, AP, and much more. Contact us if you have any queries. We are happy to help you prepare and turn your dream into reality.