Scoring and Percentiles - PrepScholar 2016 Students' Encyclopedia

The SAT measures reasoning skills and college readiness on a 2400 point scale, with a maximum score of 800 for each of its three sections, Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. The SAT has used this scale since 2005, following its addition of the Writing section and essay. Before that, it was scored out of 1600, a scale that will return with the redesigned SAT in March of 2016.

Note: this article is a series in the PrepScholar 2016 Students' Encyclopedia, a free students' and parents' SAT / ACT guide that provides encyclopedic knowledge. Read all the articles here!

For students in the class of 2014 who took the SAT, the average Critical Reading score was 497, average Math score was 513, and average Writing score was 487. Since colleges use the SAT as an admissions test, they typically share data on the average scores of their accepted students. High school students may use this data to define their target SAT scores and compare their results with those of other applicants to the same or similarly ranked schools. While most colleges do not advertise an SAT score requirement, some admissions officers have suggested that they do not look at an application unless it contains a certain minimum score.

Students receive their scores about three weeks after taking the test, as do any colleges they listed as score recipients at the time of registration. Students can indicate additional score recipients for $11.25 each. Basic score reports tell students their scaled scores and raw scores broken down by question type. Students can also order the Question and Answer service ($18) for a detailed report of their performance by each question, along with online answer explanations.

Students receive one point for every correct answer, zero points for skipped answers, and a deduction of 0.25 points for wrong answers on multiple choice questions. The ten grid-in math questions have no point deductions for wrong answers, and the essay is graded on a scale between 2 and 12. Students receive essay and multiple choice subscores for the SAT Writing section (the multiple choice questions are scored between 20 and 80). Their composite Writing score is based approximately 30% on the essay and 70% on the multiple choice. A score of 0 on the essay is possible if the section is left blank or is illegible, completely off-topic, or written with a prohibited instrument.

Raw scores are converted to scaled scores between 200 and 800 through a process called equating, which takes into account the scores of all students who took the SAT on a given administration. Students also receive a percentile that compares their score to that of other test-takers. The following chart shows the most recent conversion of raw scores to scaled scores. While these figures may have some variation from year to year, they remain more or less the same over time.

Raw Scores to Scaled Scores for the Class of 2014

Raw Score	Critical Reading Scaled Score	Math Scaled Score	Writing Multiple Choice Scaled Score	Raw Score	Critical Reading Scaled Score	Math Scaled Score	Writing Multiple Choice Scaled Score
67	800			31	500	550	55
66	800			30	500	540	54
65	800			29	490	540	53
64	790			28	480	540	52
63	770			27	480	530	51
62	760			26	470	420	50
61	740			25	460	510	49
60	730			24	460	500	48
59	720			23	450	490	47
58	700			22	440	480	46
57	690			21	440	480	45
56	680			20	430	470	44
55	670			19	420	460	43
54	670	800		18	410	450	42
53	660	790		17	410	440	41
52	650	760		16	400	530	40
51	640	740		15	390	420	39
50	630	720		14	380	410	38
49	620	710	80	13	380	400	38
48	620	700	78	12	370	390	37
47	610	690	75	11	360	380	36
46	600	680	73	10	350	370	35
45	600	670	71	9	340	360	34
44	590	660	70	8	330	350	33
43	580	650	68	7	320	330	32
42	570	640	67	6	310	320	31
41	570	640	66	5	300	310	30
40	560	630	64	4	290	290	29
39	550	620	63	3	270	280	27
38	550	610	62	2	260	260	26
37	540	600	61	1	240	240	24
36	530	590	60	0	220	220	22
35	530	590	59	-1	210	200	20
34	520	58-	58	-2 and below	200	200	20
33	520	570	57
32	510	560	56

Writing on 20-80 scale and combined with essay score.

Score percentiles compare test-takers to one another on a given SAT administration. The following chart shows the percentiles for various ranges of composite scores for the class of 2014.

Composite Score Ranges and Percentiles for the Class of 2014

SAT Composite Score Range	Percentile Range
2350-2400	99+ to 99+
2300-2350	99 to 99+
2250-2300	99 to 99
2200-2250	98 to 99
2150-2200	97 to 98
2100-2150	96 to 97
2050-2100	95 to 96
2000-2050	93 to 95
1950-2000	91 to 93
1900-1950	88 to 91
1850-1900	85 to 88
1800-1850	81 to 85
1750-1800	77 to 81
1700-1750	73 to 77
1650-1700	68 to 73
1600-1650	63 to 68
1550-1600	57 to 63
1500-1550	52 to 57
1450-1500	46 to 52
1400-1450	40 to 46
1350-1400	34 to 40
1300-1350	28 to 34
1250-1300	23 to 28
1200-1250	18 to 23
1150-1200	14 to 18
1100-1150	10 to 14
1050-1100	7 to 10
1000-1050	5 to 7
950-1000	4 to 5
900-950	2 to 4
850-900	2 to 2
800-850	1 to 2
750-800	1 to 1
700-750	1 to 1
650-700	1 to 1
600-650	— to 1

While the chart above displays data on composite score ranges, the next chart shows percentiles by section score ranges for the class of 2014. The Math section is slightly more competitive than the other sections, meaning that a student would have to achieve a higher score in Math to be in a top percentile. For example, a score of 750 translates to 97th percentile in Math, but 98th percentile in Critical Reading. A score of 700 is 93rd percentile on Math versus 95th on Reading, and a 600 is 75th on Math versus 80th on Reading.

Section Score Ranges and Percentiles for the Class of 2014

Section Score Range	SAT Reading Percentiles	SAT Math Percentiles	SAT Writing Percentiles
780-800	99 to 99	99 to 99	99 to 99+
760-780	99 to 99	97 to 99	99 to 99
740-760	98 to 99	96 to 97	98 to 99
720-740	97 to 98	95 to 96	97 to 98
700-720	95 to 97	93 to 95	96 to 97
680-700	93 to 95	90 to 93	94 to 96
660-680	91 to 93	87 to 90	92 to 94
640-660	88 to 91	83 to 87	89 to 92
620-640	84 to 88	79 to 83	86 to 89
600-620	80 to 84	75 to 79	82 to 86
580-600	75 to 80	70 to 75	78 to 82
560-580	70 to 75	64 to 70	73 to 78
540-560	64 to 70	59 to 64	68 to 73
520-540	57 to 64	52 to 59	62 to 68
500-520	50 to 57	45 to 52	55 to 62
480-500	44 to 50	40 to 45	48 to 55
460-480	37 to 44	33 to 40	41 to 48
440-460	31 to 37	27 to 33	34 to 41
420-440	25 to 31	21 to 27	28 to 34
400-420	19 to 25	16 to 21	21 to 28
380-400	14 to 19	12 to 16	16 to 21
360-380	10 to 14	9 to 12	12 to 16
340-360	7 to 10	6 to 9	8 to 12
320-340	5 to 7	4 to 6	5 to 8
300-320	4 to 5	3 to 4	4 to 5
280-300	3 to 4	2 to 3	2 to 4
260-280	2 to 3	1 to 2	2 to 2
240-260	1 to 2	1 to 1	1 to 2
220-240	1 to 1	1 to 1	1 to 1
200-220	— to 1	— to 1	— to 1

Most admissions officers consider SAT scores within a certain range to be more or less equal, rather than giving a significant advantage to a score that is higher than another by 20 or 30 points. Therefore score ranges and percentiles are particularly important pieces of data for students to consider when determining whether their SAT scores make them competitive candidates to their college(s) of choice.

Redesign Alert

The new SAT will be scored on a scale from 400 to 1600, with a maximum score of 800 for the Math section and 800 for Reading and Writing together. There will be no more point deductions for wrong answers.