Frequently asked questions

To start taking practice tests:

1. Go to the Exams page from the navigation menu
2. Select the exam type you want to practice (e.g., ISEE, HSAT, SAT, ACT)
3. Choose your test settings:
   • Test Mode: Diagnostic (baseline assessment), Practice (random questions), or Adaptive (difficulty adjusts to your performance)
   • Section: Full Exam or a specific section
   • Feedback Mode: At end of test or after each question
4. Click "Start Test" to begin

Yes! You can try a demo test on our home page without creating an account. The demo gives you a feel for the test-taking experience, question format, and interface.

"Flag for Review" is a way to report issues with questions. If you notice a question that seems incorrect, confusing, has a typo, or any other problem, you can flag it and add a comment explaining the issue. Our team reviews flagged questions and fixes them as soon as possible.

Flagged questions appear yellow in the progress bar. This helps us maintain quality across our thousands of practice questions. Your feedback is valuable in helping us improve the platform!

Yes! Click the "Pause" button to temporarily stop the timer. You can resume anytime, or exit the test if needed. Note: If you exit a test, it cannot be resumed later, but your progress will be saved.

When time runs out, your test will automatically submit with the answers you've selected so far. Any unanswered questions will be marked as incorrect. The timer turns red when less than 5 minutes remain to give you a warning.

A Test Review is an analysis of your test performance. It provides personalized insights including:

• Your strengths and areas for improvement
• Specific recommendations based on your performance
• Actionable next steps to help you improve

Test Reviews use credits from your package. You can generate a review after completing any test.

The Readiness Report is a comprehensive analysis that combines data from all your tests. It includes:

• Overall performance assessment
• Progress trends over time
• Strengths and areas to improve across all tests
• Personalized recommendations
• Difficulty analysis

Important: The Readiness Report updates automatically after every Test Review generation, so it always reflects your latest performance.

Readiness Overview shows your current exam readiness calculated using our proprietary algorithm. It displays:

• Overall Exam Readiness: Based on all questions from full exams and section tests
• Section-Specific Readiness: Based only on tests taken for specific sections
• Ability Score (0-100): Your current skill level
• Readiness Labels: "Exceeding expectations", "Ready for the exam", "Approaching readiness", "Developing skills", or "Building foundation"

This helps you understand if you're ready for the actual exam and which areas need more practice.

The Progress page (/progress) includes several tabs:

• Overview: Quick stats, readiness overview, recent tests, and performance highlights
• Readiness Report: Comprehensive analysis of all your tests
• Performance: Charts and trends showing your progress over time by section
• Test History: Complete list of all your completed tests
• Details: Question breakdowns by difficulty and concepts

Click the info icons (ℹ️) next to each section for a guided tour explaining what each part means.

Readiness is calculated using our proprietary algorithm which uses all data from your tests, including:

• Question difficulty level
• Whether you answered correctly
• Time spent on each question
• Test performance data
• Consistency across multiple questions
• And many more factors

The system tracks your ability score (0-100) and maps it to readiness labels. Taking full exams vs. section-specific tests both contribute to your overall readiness, but section tests also create separate section-specific readiness scores.

Every monthly plan includes:

• A monthly quota of practice tests (Basic 7 · Plus 15 · Pro 50)
• A monthly quota of AI Test Reviews (matching your test quota)
• Access to every supported exam (SSAT, ISEE, SAT, HSPT)
• Adaptive question selection + explanations on every question
• Progress tracking, analytics, and the Readiness Report
• AI Tutor on Plus and Pro (3,500 – 5,000 credits/month)

Annual plans cost 2 months less than paying monthly for a year. Check your plan page to see your current plan and usage.

Test Review credits are used when you generate a Test Review for a completed test. Each Test Review uses 1 credit. The Readiness Report updates automatically after each Test Review and does not use additional credits.

Your monthly plan gives you a fresh quota of tests and Test Reviews on each billing cycle. Unused tests/reviews from the current month do not roll over. To upgrade or downgrade, use the "Manage billing" button on your plan page.

Yes — you can cancel your subscription at any time from the "Manage billing" button on your plan page. You'll keep full access to everything in your current tier until the end of the paid period, and won't be charged again after that.

We don't offer refunds for partial months (or the unused portion of an annual plan). If you're not sure a plan is right for you, start with the monthly option and upgrade or switch to annual later.

If you encounter issues during a test:

• Try refreshing the page (your progress is saved)
• Check your internet connection
• Make sure JavaScript is enabled in your browser
• Try using a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge)

If problems persist, please contact support with details about the issue, including which test you were taking and what happened.

UnofficialPrep works best on Chrome. We support Chrome browser and recommend using the latest version for the best experience.