Some New York City students hoping to gain entry to one of the city’s exclusive high schools next fall hit a snag on Saturday when the online system used for the admissions test failed.
The Specialized High School Admissions Test, or SHSAT, is the sole admissions criterion for the city’s eight specialized high schools, which include Stuyvesant High School and the Bronx High School of Science.
A note handed to parents who picked up their children from one of the testing sites at Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene said that the “testing sites experienced a technical issue” and so “testing was discontinued.”
The New York City Department of Education later said in a statement that “the vendor experienced technical issue with the testing platform that kept many students from accessing and finishing the test,” and so the exam was rescheduled. The department did not say how many students were affected. Pearson, the vendor of the exam, did not respond to a request for comment.
“Every student who was unable to finish will be automatically rescheduled, and testing on a new date will not affect any student’s score or consideration for admission to a specialized high school,” the statement read. “We apologize for the disruption and are working with the vendor to ensure this is fixed and does not happen again.”
According to the D.O.E., approximately 30,000 eighth graders and 5,000 ninth graders take the test each year. The test went online in 2025, a switch from paper tests, and was scheduled this year for Nov. 14, 15 and 21, as well as an in-school testing day on Nov. 18. It was unclear whether future test days would be affected.
Specialized schools educate only about 5 percent of New York City high schoolers.
“This is a pretty complicated, deep exam and everybody gets psyched for today,” said Gregory Comeau, 67, a New York City tutor who has roughly 25 students taking the SHSAT this year. “It’s an emotional thing, and this has to be a letdown.”
It was unclear how many testing sites were impacted on Saturday and how many students would have to retake the test. According to the note given to parents, students who were scheduled to sit for the exam on Saturday would be given a new testing date by Friday, Nov. 20.
Students who were unable to take the test on Nov. 14 will automatically be rescheduled, while any child who completed testing but felt that it was disrupted by the technical difficulties could request a retest, the note said.
Two years ago, the Panel for Educational Policy, a New York City education group, approved a new five-year, $17 million contract with the education publisher Pearson to administer the SHSAT. The test has been a major point of debate in the city for several years. Some see the exam as an opportunity to attend the city’s best schools, while others view it as a contributing factor to school segregation. During his run for mayor last year, Zohran Mamdani said, “We have the most segregated school system in America,” referring to a 2014 finding from the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Kyisha Brooks-Robinson, 45, said that her daughter, Skyla Robinson, sat down to take the test at Brooklyn Technical High School at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, but the computer took until 10 a.m. to produce the test. She began her math section but was interrupted a short time later when a proctor came in to tell the students in the classroom that they would all be rescheduled.
Ms. Brooks-Robinson said that because Skyla had been able to start the test, her name was designated with an asterisk in the record to ensure she would take an entirely new test the next time around since she got through only two questions.
Skyla was worried that the retake might be harder as a result, her mom said. The rescheduling was also a blow to Skyla, Ms. Brooks-Robinson said, because she had been taking SHSAT study classes twice a week in preparation.
“This test is really stressful for the kids,” Ms. Brooks-Robinson said. “All of the ‘good luck, wish you well, this is going to be a great thing,’ and all of a sudden they cannot take it.”
Ms. Brooks-Robinson said she had suffered outages at work this week when Microsoft went down. That, plus the Federal Aviation Administration’s ground stop on Friday night, made her think the district should be prepared for technical difficulties for the test.
“They should have paper tests on hand, considering everything that is happening,” she said.
Mr. Comeau, the tutor, said that in the competitive environment of specialized high schools in the city, students would roll with the punches of a rescheduled test.
“That’s part of the New York City life,” he said. “Admissions is a nightmare. It’s so unique here the way it works.”
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