100+ Free ICFES Saber 9° Practice Questions

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Colombia ICFES Saber 7°

Practice Questions100 questions

2026 Statistics

Key Facts: ICFES Saber 9° Exam

Grade 9

Ninth-grade component of Pruebas Saber 3°, 5°, 7° y 9°

ICFES

5 tests

Lectura, Matemáticas, Ciencias, Ciudadanas, and Escritura

ICFES/MEN

2025 guide

Guía de Orientación Saber 9° 2025 listed 23 October 2025

ICFES program page

~40% literal

Share of grade-9 Lectura items on literal information recovery

ICFES lenguaje marco

Not Saber 11

Basic-education quality assessment, not the media Examen de Estado

ICFES

Escritura

Official writing task is constructed-response, not MCQ

ICFES lenguaje marco

No candidate fee

Not listed on ICFES 2026 individual tarifas tables

ICFES tarifas

Colombia's grade-9 national Saber assessment: Spanish reading and writing, mathematics, natural science and environment, and citizenship, with more evaluative reading than earlier grades.

Sample ICFES Saber 9° Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your ICFES Saber 9° exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Read: «El colegio debería ampliar el horario de la biblioteca. Muchos estudiantes de noveno terminan clases a las cuatro, pero la biblioteca cierra a las tres.» According to the text, when does the library close?

A.A las cuatro de la tarde

B.A las tres de la tarde

C.A las ocho de la mañana

D.El texto no da ninguna hora

Explanation: The second sentence states that the library closes at three (cierra a las tres). Grade-9 Lectura still includes literal recovery of explicit facts, about 40% of items in the ICFES lenguaje marco, before students relate or evaluate the argument.

2Read this literary fragment: «Camila subió al mirador. El viento frío le revolvió el cabello y, abajo, la ciudad parecía un mapa de luces.» Where is Camila in this scene?

A.En un mirador por encima de la ciudad

B.Dentro de un bus con las luces apagadas

C.En una playa al mediodía

D.En la cocina de su casa

Explanation: The narrator places Camila at a lookout (mirador) with cold wind, looking down at city lights. Recovering setting from a literary description is literal reading of a continuous literary text, a text type ICFES includes at grade 9.

3A school poster lists: «Feria del libro — Viernes 9:00 inauguración. Sábado 14:00 taller de poesía. Domingo 11:00 cierre.» When is the poetry workshop?

A.El viernes a las 9:00

B.El domingo a las 11:00

C.El sábado a las 14:00

D.El lunes al mediodía

Explanation: The poster pairs Saturday 14:00 with taller de poesía. Locating a fact in a discontinuous text (aviso/horario) is an official Lectura process at Saber 9°.

4Read: «Creció el caudal del río; por eso se canceló la salida de campo.» What relationship does por eso mark between the two clauses?

A.A contrast between two opposite opinions

B.A cause-and-result link: the river rise led to the cancellation

C.A simple list of two unrelated events

D.A comparison of two river depths

Explanation: Por eso introduces a consequence: the field trip was cancelled because the river rose. Relating parts of a text through connectors is a core Saber 9° Lectura process beyond locating a single word.

5Read: «El editorial denuncia el recorte, pero no ofrece cifras.» In this sentence, denuncia most nearly means the editorial:

A.Publicly criticizes or reports the budget cut as a problem

B.Celebrates the budget cut as a victory

C.Measures the temperature of the school

D.Ignores the budget cut completely

Explanation: In argumentative Spanish, denunciar is to call out a wrong or problem. The contrast with no ofrece cifras keeps the meaning in a public-criticism frame, which is vocabulary-in-context at grade 9.

6Read: «Según la columnista, el recorte del presupuesto escolar reduce los laboratorios, no los partidos de fútbol.» What does the columnist say the budget cut reduces?

A.Los partidos de fútbol

B.Las vacaciones de diciembre

C.Los laboratorios

D.El número de buses del municipio

Explanation: The clause reduce los laboratorios states the cut's effect; no los partidos de fútbol denies that sports matches are what gets reduced. Literal recovery of the claimed effect is the first Lectura process.

7Read: «Debemos plantar más árboles en la ladera. En 2018, después de una quema, el suelo se erosionó y el barrio se inundó.» How does the second sentence relate to the first?

A.It tells a past event that serves as a reason supporting the planting proposal

B.It contradicts the proposal by proving trees are useless

C.It lists the price of each seedling in COP

D.It changes the topic to a sports championship

Explanation: The 2018 fire, erosion, and flood supply a historical reason for planting trees on the slope. Relating a claim to a supporting example is the ICFES 'relating parts of a text' process used more heavily at grade 9 than at grade 3.

8An opinion piece claims: «Todas las cafeterías escolares son caras.» The only support is: «Ayer pagué COP 8,000 por un jugo en la mía.» What is the main weakness of this argument?

A.It treats one personal purchase as if it proved a claim about every school cafeteria

B.A first-person story is automatically enough evidence for a 'todas' claim

C.Any price stated in COP makes a nationwide claim true

D.The argument fails only because 8,000 is a round number

Explanation: Evaluating content at grade 9 includes judging whether evidence is adequate. A single anecdote cannot establish a universal claim about all school cafeterias. That is argument evaluation, not a spelling check.

9Read: «Julián guardó la carta sin abrirla. Caminó de largo frente a la ventana y apagó la lámpara temprano.» How does Julián most likely feel?

A.Eager to celebrate with neighbors

B.Unwilling to face whatever the letter contains

C.Relieved because he already knows the letter brings good news

D.Proud that he has already read every line

Explanation: Leaving the letter unopened, avoiding the window, and turning the light off early together suggest avoidance, not curiosity. Inferring a character's attitude from actions is literary reading at grade 9, still below Saber 11 Lectura Crítica philosophy items.

10A table titled «Kilogramos de plástico reciclado en mayo» shows: Colegio A 120; Colegio B 80; Colegio C 150; Colegio D 90. Which school recycled the most plastic in May?

A.Colegio A

B.Colegio B

C.Colegio C

D.Colegio D

Explanation: Colegio C's 150 kg is the largest of the four values. Comparing quantities in a table is literal recovery on a discontinuous text, a format ICFES uses in Lectura.

About the ICFES Saber 9° Exam

The ICFES Prueba Saber 9° is the ninth-grade component of Colombia's Pruebas Saber 3°, 5°, 7° y 9°. ICFES applies it through schools to students in noveno. Officially, grade 9 students sit Lectura, Matemáticas, Ciencias Naturales y Educación Ambiental, Competencias Ciudadanas, and Escritura, plus auxiliary questionnaires. ICFES published a 2025 grade-9 orientation guide and marcos de referencia for Saber 3°, 5° y 9°. Compared with grade 3, Lectura places less weight on literal retrieval (~40%) and more on relating and evaluating texts. The exam is a Spanish-language system-quality assessment, not Saber 11. This free bank is an English-language four-option MCQ study adaptation: Spanish reading and language items keep Spanish text; it is not an official ICFES translation or a simulation of Escritura.

Assessment

Grade 9 sits Lectura, Matemáticas, Ciencias Naturales y Educación Ambiental, Competencias Ciudadanas (Pensamiento Ciudadano and acciones y actitudes), and Escritura, plus auxiliary questionnaires (ICFES/MEN).

Time Limit

School-based sessions during the ICFES application window; see the 2025 grade-9 orientation guide for session details

Passing Score

No pass/fail cut score; ICFES reports niveles de desempeño for system-quality measurement.

Exam Fee

No individual candidate fee published; schools register students through Prisma (ICFES). (ICFES (Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación))

ICFES Saber 9° Exam Content Outline

20%

Competencias Comunicativas en Lenguaje: Lectura

Literal retrieval (~40% at grade 9), relating parts of a text, and evaluating content in more complex Spanish texts.

20%

Matemáticas

Algebraic relationships, percentages, geometry, and data with genuine calculations in COP and metric units.

20%

Ciencias Naturales y Educación Ambiental

Living systems, physical science, and environmental/CTS issues at grade-9 DBA level, including ecosystems of Colombia.

20%

Competencias Ciudadanas

Constitutional and civic knowledge, argument evaluation, multiperspectivism, and systemic thinking about social conflicts.

20%

Competencias Comunicativas en Lenguaje: Escritura

Officially a constructed writing task. This bank uses MCQs on thesis, organization, and Spanish written language as a study aid.

How to Pass the ICFES Saber 9° Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: No pass/fail cut score; ICFES reports niveles de desempeño for system-quality measurement.
Assessment: Grade 9 sits Lectura, Matemáticas, Ciencias Naturales y Educación Ambiental, Competencias Ciudadanas (Pensamiento Ciudadano and acciones y actitudes), and Escritura, plus auxiliary questionnaires (ICFES/MEN).
Time limit: School-based sessions during the ICFES application window; see the 2025 grade-9 orientation guide for session details
Exam fee: No individual candidate fee published; schools register students through Prisma (ICFES).

Keys to Passing

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ICFES Saber 9° Study Tips from Top Performers

1In Lectura, expect more evaluation items than in Saber 3 or 5 — about 40% of grade-9 items are still literal, but relating and judging texts matters more.

2Practise algebra, percentages, and data interpretation with genuine calculations; Saber 9 mathematics is not definition-only.

3For Ciencias, use grade-9 DBA: ecosystems of Colombia, matter and energy, and environmental impact, not Saber 11 chemistry depth.

4For Ciudadanas, practise analysing a conflict from more than one stakeholder view and connecting it to constitutional rights without inventing article numbers you have not checked.

5Practise planning an argumentative Spanish text; the official Escritura task is writing, which these MCQs cannot replace.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ICFES Saber 9° test?

It is the ninth-grade component of Colombia's Pruebas Saber 3°, 5°, 7° y 9°, administered by ICFES through schools. It measures language, mathematics, natural science, citizenship, and writing for education-quality reporting, not university admission.

How is Saber 9° different from Saber 11?

Saber 9° is a basic-education quality assessment in grade 9. Saber 11 is the Examen de Estado de la Educación Media used for the high-school diploma and higher-education admission. They share some competency names but are different exams with different booklets and uses.

Which subjects does Saber 9° include?

Lectura, Matemáticas, Ciencias Naturales y Educación Ambiental, Competencias Ciudadanas, and Escritura, plus auxiliary questionnaires (ICFES/MEN).

Is there a passing score?

No. ICFES reports performance levels for students and schools. Saber 9° does not replace Saber 11 for the bachiller diploma or university entry.

Is this practice bank in the same language and format as the real exam?

No. The official test is in Spanish and Escritura is constructed-response. This bank is an English-language four-option MCQ study adaptation; Spanish reading and language items keep Spanish text because that is the skill being tested.