How Scores Are Calculated

Total Score

Your total score is a number between 400 and 1600. The total score is the sum of the two section scores: Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and Math. Each of these two section scores has a possible range of 200–800. The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score is composed of the Reading Test and the Writing and Language Test, and each of those tests contributes equally to the section score. The Math section score is made up of the Math Test only.

How the Section Scores Are Calculated

Section scores are based on your raw score in each section, which is the number of questions you got right. Then, the raw score is converted to a scaled score between 200 and 800. This process accounts for the fact that different versions of the SAT given are slightly easier or harder.

For example, there are always 58 questions on the Math Test. On some versions of the test, a raw score of 57 will earn you a scaled score of 800; on other versions, you would need to get all 58 questions correct. This process of balancing different versions of the test into equivalent scaled scores is called equating.

How Test Scores Are Calculated

Your test score is a number between 10 and 40. Like the section scores, it’s calculated by converting the raw score (number of questions answered correctly) to a scaled score from 10 to 40. Again, scoring accounts for slight differences in difficulty between different versions of the test. To get the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section score, you multiply the test scores for Reading and for Writing and Language by 10 and then add them together. To get the Math section score, you multiply the Math Test score by 20.

Subscores

The seven subscores on the SAT each have a possible score in a range of 1–15. The actual number of questions on the test that contribute to each subscore is different. For example, there are 19 Heart of Algebra questions and 16 Passport to Advanced Math questions. As a result, the raw scores for each subscore are scaled to a number between 1 and 15 to make them equivalent.

Cross-Test Scores

Cross-test scores are drawn from more than one of the three tests. There are two cross-test scores: Analysis in History/Social Studies and Analysis in Science. Both scores are made up of 21 questions on the reading test, 6 on the writing and language and 8 on the math test, for a total of 35 questions on the SAT contributing to each of these scores. The raw score from 1 to 35 for each test is converted to a scaled score between 10 and 40.