About this app

The CPS admissions test is now the PreACT 9 Secure, made by ACT, taken once in October of 8th grade (first administration: October 7, 2026). It is computer-based with four timed sections in fixed order: English (48 questions, 35 min), Math (38 questions, 45 min), Reading (33 questions, 40 min), and Science (36 questions, 35 min) — 155 questions in about 2 hours 35 minutes. A calculator is allowed in Math only; Math questions have five choices (A-E), all other sections four. There is no penalty for wrong answers — always answer.

Each section is scored on the ACT-aligned 1-32 scale, and the composite is the average of the four sections. Admissions still use a 900-point composite: 450 from 7th-grade core grades and 450 from the test — but CPS has not yet published how PreACT scores convert to the 450 test points. Official details are expected near the start of the 2026-27 school year; treat any point projection as an estimate until then.

Questions are original or adapted from public-domain state assessments (NYSED, Massachusetts MCAS, Illinois IAR, Smarter Balanced) aligned to 8th-grade Common Core State Standards. Vocabulary is curated from frequency lists used by major test-prep providers.

Spaced repetition follows the SM-2 algorithm (the basis of Anki), proven to roughly double long-term retention compared to massed study.

Everything you do in this app stays on your device, in your browser's storage. We do not run a backend, we do not collect telemetry, we do not have analytics. There are no accounts and no logins.

If you uninstall the app or clear your browser site data, your progress is gone. To keep progress on multiple devices, use the same browser profile or take screenshots of your dashboard.