Yeshiva High School Placement Exam (The BJE's)

History of the Exam:

In 1974, The Jewish Education Project (then known as The Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York) developed a uniform Yeshiva high school placement exam (known to many as the BJE exam). Each November, we produced and administered a placement exam in both General and Judaic Studies for students in locations throughout the Greater New York Metropolitan Area. This exam allowed an average of 1,800 eighth graders to take a single exam to fulfill the admissions requirement of many local Jewish high schools.

As educational standards and priorities shift, we continue to seek the best opportunities for our schools and students to limit the challenges associated with high school applications. Therefore, we have made the following changes to the uniform Yeshiva high school placement exam program.

We encouraged the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools (CoJDS) to expand beyond their fifth grade Judaic Studies Achievement Test (JSAT Level 5) and create the JSAT Level 8. As of 2019, the JSAT Level 8 serves as both a national exam for Yeshiva day schools to evaluate the success of their Judaic studies curriculum as well as a uniform Judaic Studies high school placement exam.

Since most elementary schools already administer a standardized exam in general studies, we worked with the high schools to encourage their acceptance of existing data and minimize over-testing of students.

Moving Forward: Yeshiva High School Placement Exams for 2020 and beyond

Judaic Studies Exam:

Participating elementary schools and parents of students in non-participating elementary schools should order / register for the JSAT Level 8 directly from COJDS.

  • The end of October is generally the deadline for all schools to order the JSAT Level 8. Students from non-participating schools will have a slightly longer period of time to register.
  • The Monday of Thanksgiving week is generally the uniform date for the JSAT Level 8 administration in participating elementary schools.
  • For more information, please visit the JSAT Level 8 website or contact Rabbi Tzvi Daum.

General Studies Exam:

There will no longer be a required uniform Yeshiva high school general studies placement exam. Instead, participating high schools will accept the scores from standardized exams administered by elementary schools.