SAT Grading Scale

The scale at a glance

Score	Range	Made of
Total	400–1600	Reading and Writing + Math
Reading and Writing	200–800	54 questions, two adaptive modules of 27
Math	200–800	44 questions, two adaptive modules of 22

Scores move in steps of 10. Both sections weigh equally in the total, even though Math has fewer questions, which is why each Math question is worth a little more of the scale. The minimum, 400, is what you get with nothing correct; 1600 is perfect.

Raw score to scaled score

Your raw score is the number of correct answers. It is converted to the 200–800 scale by equating, which adjusts for the difficulty of the specific test form, and by the adaptive route you took (see how the SAT is scored). The reference points below are for the harder Module 2 path; treat each as the centre of a range about 30 points wide.

Reading and Writing

Correct / 54	Score
54	800
52	780
50	750
48	730
45	690
42	650
40	620
36	560
32	510
27	450
22	400
16	340
10	280
0	200

Math

Correct / 44	Score
44	800
42	780
40	750
38	720
36	700
34	670
31	620
28	570
24	510
20	450
16	390
12	340
8	300
0	200

What each band on the scale means

Total score	Percentile at low end	Reads as
1500–1600	97	Exceptional; in range at the most selective colleges
1400–1490	93	Excellent; strong for selective universities and scholarships
1300–1390	85	Very good; competitive at most selective public universities
1200–1290	75	Good; above average and solid for most four-year colleges
1100–1190	62	Above average
1000–1090	47	Around the national average
900–990	32	Below average
400–890	1− to 30	Well below average

The scale is not linear

Ten raw points do not always equal the same number of scaled points. Near the middle, each extra correct answer is worth roughly 10–15 scaled points; near the top it can be worth 20 or more, because few students score there and the scale has to spread them out. That has a practical consequence: a student at 550 gains faster from the same amount of study than a student at 750, and the last few points of a section are the hardest to earn.

Old scales you may still see

The 2400 scale (2005–2016) had three sections. The pre-2005 test was also out of 1600 but was built differently. If a college’s published range predates 2016, it is not comparable with today’s scores. For the PSAT, the same 10-point scale applies but the ceiling is 1520; see PSAT to SAT. For the ACT’s 1–36 scale, use the ACT to SAT concordance.

Last updated September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the SAT scored out of?

1600. Each of the two sections, Reading and Writing and Math, is scored from 200 to 800, and the total is their sum, from 400 to 1600.

What is the lowest possible SAT score?

400: a 200 in each section, which is what you get with zero correct answers. Simply sitting the test earns the minimum.

Why do SAT scores end in 0?

Section scores are reported in 10-point steps (200, 210, 220 …), so totals are also multiples of 10. There is no such thing as a 1355.

How does the 1600 scale compare with the old 2400 scale?

The 2400 scale (2005–2016) had three 800-point sections: Critical Reading, Math and Writing. The 1600 scale merged reading and writing into one section. A rough comparison is to take two-thirds of a 2400-scale score, but College Board published a proper concordance at the time, and any college range from that era is long out of date.

Is a 1600 a perfect score?

Yes. A 1600 means 800 in both sections. Well under 1% of test-takers reach it in a single sitting, and superscoring across dates makes it a little more common.