The specific purpose of the HiSET® exam is the measurement of the educational development of adults who have not completed their formal high school education. Adults may earn a High School Equivalency Certificate and thus qualify for admission to colleges or other educational institutions, meet educational requirements for employment or promotion, satisfy educational qualifications for induction into the armed services, fulfill requirements of local or state licensing boards, or gain personal satisfaction.
Due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, and its impact on physical testing locations, Educational Testing Service is offering an online-proctored option for the HiSET® exam, called HiSET® Exam at Home.
The HiSET® Exam at Home option will launch on Monday, June 15, 2020. Registration will begin on Monday, June 15th, with the earliest testing dates available on Wednesday, June 17th.
If you are interested in taking the HiSET® exam online, please read this information carefully as eligibility and testing requirements differ from the in-person HiSET® exam. Additional information is available on the ETS (HiSET®) website: https://www.ets.org/s/cv/hiset/at-home/
ELIGIBILITY
Age:
Candidates must be at least 18 years of age to participate in HiSET® Exam at Home.
This increased age requirement is due to the technical requirements of the exam. All online-proctored exams are recorded for quality and security checks, and additional on-camera parental or guardian consent for recording and monitoring would be required for minors.
If online testing is expanded to accommodate minors, those candidates would be required to meet Illinois guidelines for testing as posted on the ICCB website: https://www.iccb.org/adult_ed/illinois-high-school-equivalency/students-test-takers/the-hiset-test/
Residency:
Pursuant to the Illinois School Code, all high school equivalency test takers in Illinois must be a resident of Illinois for a minimum of 30 days prior to testing. Candidates will be required to certify their residency at the Illinois address they provide during registration.
If it is found that a candidate has falsified their address and does not meet the residency requirements, the candidate’s exam scores will be revoked and the candidate may not be eligible to retest through the online-proctored model.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS
To take the HISET® Exam at Home, you will need:
- A laptop or desktop computer with a microphone and camera. The camera (webcam) may be internal or external and connected to the computer.
- A stable internet connection. All pop-up blocking settings must be disabled.
- One of the following operating systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, or MAC OS X 10.5 or higher. For MAC users, the MAC OS 10.13 High Sierra is recommended.
- One of the following internet browsers: Chrome or Firefox.
Candidates may not use a mobile device, tablet, or Chromebook for the HiSET® Exam at Home.
Candidates will be required to complete a system test to ensure their system is compatible with the HiSET® Exam at Home/Proctor U proctoring system prior to registration.
REGISTRATION
Test takers wishing to use the HiSET® Exam at Home option will register for their test subject(s) through their ETS account on the ETS website: https://hiset.ets.org/myhiset
After the test taker logs into their HiSET account, they should find the My-HiSET home page and select “Register/Find Test Centers”. From there, select “Test Centers and Dates”, and choose the option for “HiSET Exam at Home”. The test taker will select a date and time for testing and follow the directions to continue registration and pay for the test(s).
Once the test taker has registered for their test(s), they will receive an email from ETS confirming payment as well as an email from ProctorU® with registration instructions. The email from ProctorU® will provide a link and a temporary password to be used to create an account on the ProctorU® website in order to schedule a testing appointment. Completing this step is required to complete registration for the HiSET® Exam at Home. Therefore, test takers should use an email address they can access consistently and check regularly to receive important information from both ETS/HiSET and ProctorU®.
If test takers need to reschedule an existing appointment or cancelled appointment for an in-person test center to be taken online, they must contact HiSET® Customer Service at 1-855-MyHiSET (1-855-694-4738), Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
COST
The cost to take the HiSET® Exam at Home is $28.25 per test module.
A total of 5 test modules comprise the HiSET® exam, meaning the full HiSET® battery, if taken entirely online, costs $141.25. Test fees must be paid online at the time of registration.
RESCHEDULING OR CANCELING AN ONLINE EXAM
Candidates are eligible to reschedule their HiSET® Exam at Home at any time before their appointment date and time by logging into their ProctorU® account and selecting the “Reschedule” button.
In order to cancel a HiSET® Exam at Home and receive a full refund, test takers must contact ProctorU® Customer Service by live chat within their ProctorU® account, or by calling 1-855-772-8678. Test takers must cancel by 11:59 p.m. local time the day before their scheduled appointment in order to receive a test fee refund.
Candidates will be unable to cancel on test day, and will be unable to reschedule after the test appointment has passed. If a test taker does not cancel or reschedule within the time frames above, they would lose their payment. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged to thoughtfully select an appointment time and to complete a system check in advance of the scheduled appointment.
TEST CONTENTS
The HiSET® exam consists of five content areas:
- Language Arts – Reading(65 minutes)
- Format: 40 multiple choice questions
- Language Arts – Writing(120 minutes)
- Part 1 – 50 questions, multiple choice
- Part 2 – 1 essay prompt
- Mathematics(90 minutes)
- Format: 40 multiple choice questions
- Science(80 minutes)
- Format: 40 multiple choice questions
- Social Studies(70 minutes)
- Format: 40 multiple choice questions
Tests are administered in English and Spanish.
You can test three times on each subject without waiting. After the third attempt, you must wait until the next calendar year.
Candidates may mix and match the English and Spanish language options, as well as the online and in-person formats of the exam.
HiSET® TESTING ACCOMMODATIONS
Not all individuals can be fairly tested under standard conditions. If you have a documented learning, physical or emotional disability, you may qualify for accommodations for a HiSET® test administration. If approved, accommodations are provided at no additional charge.
For information on how to request accommodations for the HiSET® exam, visit http://hiset.ets.org/take/disabilities or email disability.reg@ets.org.
Accommodation forms and supporting documentation can be sent to ETS by:
Mail: ETS Disability Services
P.O. Box 6054
Princeton, NJ 08541-6054
Email: disability.reg@ets.org
Due to the online format of the HiSET® Exam at Home, available accommodations may vary from the in-person versions of the HiSET® Exam. Please review the HiSET® website for information on available accommodations.
CHECK-IN PROCESS
Candidates should check-in for their online-proctored exam 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled appointment time in order to leave enough time for the check-in process.
If candidates are late to their appointment, they will not be able to reschedule the online exam and will lose their payment.
Instructions for launching the exam are available in the candidate’s ProctorU® account after scheduling an exam. All test takers should review those instructions carefully prior to their exam.
DURING THE TEST
Candidates must be in a private, walled room with a closed door. No one is permitted in the room with the candidate for any reason, and candidates may not leave their work areas for any reason. Unscheduled breaks are not allowed during the HiSET® Exam at Home.
Candidates may not use an external calculator, take notes on regular paper, or talk during the exam.
- Test takers will be able to use an onscreen calculator during the Math subtest.
- Test takers may use a whiteboard with a dry erase marker, or a blank sheet of paper inside a transparent sheet protector with an erasable marker, to take notes during the exam. The whiteboard must be shown to the proctor prior to the exam to verify it is clear of all writing. At the end of the test, the whiteboard must be erased in view of the proctor.
Personal items, mobile phones, headphones, watches, and jewelry must be kept out of reach.
Food, drinks, smoking, and gum are prohibited during the test. Ears must remain visible and not covered by hair, clothing, or accessories during the test.
Breaking any exam rules will result in the exam being revoked, loss of payment, and a ban from online-proctored testing in the future.
Please review all testing guidelines on the HiSET website prior to starting your exam.
HiSET® TEST PREPARATION
HiSET® preparation classes are offered free of charge at local adult education programs. For more information call 1-800-321-9511 or you can visit the Program Locator. HiSET® study materials are also available at hiset.ets.org/prepare/overview.
CONSTITUTION TEST REQUIREMENT
The Illinois Community College board has suspended the administration of the U.S. and Illinois State Constitution and Flag Test effective February 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. Please click the link below to learn more about this suspension and what it means for you.
U.S. and Illinois State Constitution and Flag Test