Your Score Explained
The student score reports portal lists all score reports available for the assessments you've taken. Once your digital PSAT/NMSQT scores are ready, when you log in to the student score reports portal, you'll be provided with your scores for that test. If you have taken other tests, you'll have the option to view those scores by clicking the Show Additional Scores option near the top of the screen.
Scores Summary
When you access your PSAT/NMSQT scores in the student score reports portal, you'll be provided with a score summary. The top portion of the summary shows the details of your most recent digital test. You'll see the date when you took the test, what grade you were in when it was taken, and a record locator number, which can be used if you have questions on the report. You should have this number handy if you need to contact customer service for help.
The score summary then shows the three scores available for the digital PSAT/NMSQT:
- Total Score (including the score scale of 320–1520)
- Reading and Writing section score
- Math section score
The score summary also includes:
- A note indicating if you met the college and career readiness benchmark in one or both sections.
- A link to See Score Details to find out more detailed information.
- A link to Download Report to save your official PDF score report.
- A link to Show Additional Scores to view other score reports, if you have taken a test previously.
NMSC Selection Index Score
After your scores, you can view information related to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as well as your calculated PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index score, including the index range (48–228).
There will also be a note indicating if your Selection Index score meets the entry requirements for the National Merit® Scholarship Program. You can click See NMSC Details for more information about NMSC and your Selection Index score.
The NMSC Selection Index score is determined by first doubling your Reading and Writing score and adding that value to your Math score. The sum of those two numbers divided by 10 is your Selection Index score. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation uses this score to initially screen students for entry to the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Score Insight
This section provides a comparison of your Total Score to other test takers that took the same test as well as your percentile comparison among those who took the PSAT/NMSQT over the last three years.
This information helps put your scores in context, so you get a better sense of how you performed. You can click the links available in the portal to view more score comparisons and percentiles provided in Score Details for the Total Score as well as the Reading and Writing and Math sections.
Links to additional information related to the Knowledge and Skills measured in the PSAT/NMSQT are also provided.
Your Future, Your Way
After your score insight, you'll find valuable links to explore BigFuture where you can learn more about life after high school, including information about careers, colleges, and over $4 billion in scholarship opportunities.
U.S. students will also be able to see examples of careers in their state with information like the yearly income for those careers, how much those careers are likely to grow, and what sort of education they generally require.
Further Guidance
You can view Next Steps with linked resources to do more with your score, including:
- Getting practice to help to improve your score.
- Registering for the SAT.
- Exploring AP Potential™.
Score Details
You can view more detailed information about your PSAT/NMSQT score by clicking the various links provided in your score summary. Score details consists of three sections: Section Scores, Score Comparisons, and Knowledge and Skills.
At the top of the page are quick links that will take you to each individual section. Review the information in this section to learn more about what you'll see when viewing your detailed score information.
Section Score Details
You can view detailed information about your Reading and Writing section and Math section scores including:
- Your section scores as well as the score scale of each section (160–760).
- The score range in each section, which represents the range of scores you could possibly get if you took the PSAT/NMSQT multiple times on different days.
- Information about the section-level benchmarks, which are 410 for Reading and Writing and 450 for Math.
- The benchmarks help you understand your level of readiness for college and career training programs.
- A projected score for each section that shows an estimation of how you might perform on the SAT if you take it next year.
Score and Percentile Comparisons
Score Comparisons
You can see more contextual comparisons of your scores in the portal. You can compare your total and section scores to the average scores of all test takers that took the same administration as you in your:
- School (as applicable)
- District (public schools, as applicable)
- State (U.S.-based and territories)
- Country
- All Testers (domestic and international)
Percentile Comparisons
The detailed score information also includes percentiles not found in the score summary. The percentiles allow you to compare your score percentile among the following groups of test takers from the past three years:
- Country (all testers in your country)
- State (all testers in your state; available for U.S. and U.S. territories only)
- All Testers (domestic and international)
Knowledge and Skills
You can find out more about the knowledge and skills measured by the digital PSAT/NMSQT by clicking a link to this information from your score summary.
There are four content areas in Reading and Writing and four in Math. In each content area, you can view:
- The approximate number of questions in the content area and what percentage of the section that represents.
- A line infographic that shows how you performed in each content area across seven defined performance score bands.
You can use this information to identify content areas you may want to focus on to practice and improve. You can also dig deeper into your performance by clicking View Skills and Example Questions in Next Score Band, which takes you to College Board's online Skills Insight Tool.