New York City (GATE) Program Overview

What is the The New York City (Gifted and Talented Education) Program?

The New York City Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program is a specialized program the NYC Department of Education offers that uses an accelerated curriculum designed to challenge students that have demonstrated a higher level of thinking and a capacity to evaluate and analyze specialized subject matter relative to their classmates.


Watch our video to learn more about Mercer Publishing’s Gifted and Talented Test preparation system.


How are students Identified for GATE/TAG programs?

For the 2019/20 school year, the NYC Department of Education will be using a combination of the NNAT3® and OLSAT® abilities exams to identify students who meet the requirements of the Gifted and Talented program. Parents will be required to sign up to have their child tested. The dead line for signing up this year will be November 9, 2019. Testing will begin in January 2020 and results from the testing will be available in March 2020. For more information on the testing process please see the NYC Gifted & Talented handbook.

How do students prepare for these tests?

To assess how well a student will do on these tests and to uncover any areas that a student may need to spend extra time on before the actual exam, Mercer Publishing offers the #1 full-length practice test for both the NNAT3 and OLSAT exams. We have found that practicing the exact question types your child will see on these test is the best way to prepare them for what they will see on the day of the test. Our practice tests are full-length practice tests and offer grade specific questions in the same format as the actual exam. To view sample questions to these two tests, please feel free to visit our sample questions pages.

View our free NNAT3 Sample Questions
View our free OLSAT Sample Questions

If you have additional questions, please feel free to visit our FAQ pages for the NNAT3 and OLSAT exams.

View our NNAT3 Frequently Asked Questions
View our free OLSAT Frequently Asked Questions

To begin preparing your child for success, click on the relevant grade level to view our selection of grade specific practice tests and materials.