Fall 2024
SAT WEEKEND
Understanding
Scores
For Students and Families
SAT Score Resources
Congratulations to your student for taking the SAT® Weekend. Included is information about
scores that may be helpful for students and their families.
What’s Included Contact Us
This document delves deeper into the meaning of your FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
student’s scores, including what the assessment measures,
sat.org/inquiry
how it is scored, and how students and their families can
use the data to monitor their progress. The document also 866-756-7346
provides a sample PDF score report walk-through so you CUSTOMER SERVICE MAILING ADDRESS
can interpret your student’s score reports.
College Board SAT Program
P.O. Box 025505
Related Resources
Miami, FL 33102
Visit our website to find information about:
Score release dates
FOR EDUCATORS
[email protected] Managing access to online scores
[email protected] Resources for online score reports
866-502-6384
Downloadable Understanding Scores for
Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m. ET
Students and Families documents
2
The SAT Suite
of Assessments
How the SAT Suite of Assessments How the SAT Is Scored
Works The SAT Suite uses adaptive test design with item response
The SAT Suite of Assessments is an integrated system theory (IRT) pattern scoring. Adaptive testing allows for
of tests that includes the SAT (for students in grades 11 fewer questions, in less time, than traditional paper tests.
and 12), the PSAT/NMSQT® and the PSAT™ 10 (for grades Pattern scoring allows for precise measurement of students’
10 and 11), and the PSAT™ 8/9 (for grades 8 and 9). The knowledge and skills. Students’ scores are determined
tests measure the same skills and knowledge in grade- by whether they answer questions right or wrong, and by
appropriate ways. They work together to show college considering attributes of the questions, including difficulty
readiness over time so educators, students, and parents can level, the questions’ ability to differentiate between
monitor student progress. Their content reflects the kind of students with various levels of content knowledge, and the
meaningful, engaging, and challenging work that students probability that a student is guessing based on their pattern
find in middle school and high school courses taught today. of responses. Every test includes a standardized set of
question types and measures the same content domains,
How the SAT is Organized so all students have equitable opportunity to demonstrate
The digital SAT Suite uses multistage adaptive testing their strengths. For most students who are trying their best
(MST). Relying on MST means we can fairly and accurately on every question, it is better to guess than leave a question
measure the same things with a shorter, more secure test blank, especially if the student can eliminate 1 or 2 answer
while preserving test reliability. Both the Reading and Writing options before guessing.
section and the Math section are divided into 2 equal length
and separately timed stages, each composed of a module of
questions. The first module contains a mix of easy, medium,
and hard questions. Based on how a student performs
on the first module, the second module of questions will
either be more difficult or less difficult. By adapting to
a student’s performance level, the responsive test will
provide students with a more efficient assessment of their
academic strengths.
3
SAT Scores
SAT Score Using SAT Scores to Understand
Reported Details Score Range Scores on Other Assessments
The SAT Suite—from the PSAT 8/9 through the SAT—uses
Section Scores Reading and 200–800
(2) Writing (RW) a common score scale for the total and section scores. The
ranges reported for each assessment reflect grade-level
Math (M) 200–800 appropriateness within the common score scale.
Total Score Sum of the 2 400–1600 This common score scale means that a student who took
section scores the SAT and received a Math section score of 500 would be
expected to also get a 500 if they had taken any of those tests
Accessing Official Student Scores on that same day; a score of 500 represents the same level
Your student’s school has access to a downloadable PDF of academic achievement on all 4 assessments.
called Your Score Report for every SAT test taker. Students This also means that student growth across the SAT Suite
can review this score report with educators at their school is easy to determine. If a student took the PSAT/NMSQT or
and share it with their families. PSAT 10 last year and received a 500 Math section score,
As always, students age 13 and older may use a personal then took the SAT this year and earned a 550 Math section
College Board student account to view additional insights score, that student has shown a growth of 50 points, which
online. likely resulted from hard work both in and out of school.
Benchmarks
What the Benchmarks Mean
The College and Career Readiness Benchmarks for the
SAT predict a 75% likelihood of achieving a C or higher
in related first semester, credit-bearing college courses.
The benchmarks are set at the section level, so there is a
benchmark for Reading and Writing and a benchmark for
Math.
COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS BENCHMARKS
Reading & Writing Math
480 530
4
Overview of the
Score Report PDF
In the official score report PDF, the student can view the 3 Knowledge and Skills
scores available from their SAT assessment—total score,
Students can view a graphic showing their performance on
Reading and Writing section score, and Math section score.
each of the 8 content areas measured on the SAT. There are
For each score, the official score report PDF also includes: 4 content areas in Reading and Writing, and 4 in Math.
The range of possible scores: 400–1600 for total score, In each content area, students can view:
and 200–800 for section scores.
The approximate number of questions in the content area
An average score of all testers in any grade who took and what percentage of the section that represents (e.g.,
this test during the last three years. 12–14 questions would be about 26% of the Reading and
The All Tester Percentile (formally called the “User Writing section).
Percentile”) of each score. For example, if a student’s A visual indication of how the student performed in each
score is in the 70th percentile, 70% of a comparison content area.
group achieved scores at or below that student’s score.
Students can use this section to identify content areas they
All Tester Percentiles are based on the actual scores of the may want to focus on to practice and improve.
past 3 cohorts of students who took the SAT in 12th grade
during a weekend or in-school administration, for tests Additional Support
completed anywhere in the world. For students attending school in the U.S. and non-U.S.
DoDEA schools, the score report includes a Career Insights
Score Sends Held Snapshot, a list of growing careers in a student’s state that
If you see Score Sends Held at the top of your score report, connect to their scores. These careers are examples, not
it means College Board was unable to confirm a complete recommendations, and can inspire career exploration earlier
set of responses. Incomplete responses could negatively in high school.
affect your scores, and we will not report them to colleges,
The last section of the score report PDF focuses on next
universities, or scholarship programs unless you contact us
steps the student can take after reviewing their scores. A QR
to request otherwise.
code or link will provide them more information on tools and
Individual Score Ranges services related to these next steps, which include reviewing
additional insights on their scores, Official Digital SAT Prep
A student’s ability is better represented by score
on Khan Academy®, and college and career exploration.
ranges than points. Score ranges are derived from the
standard error of measurement and show how much a
student’s scores would likely vary if they took a different ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE
administration of the test under identical conditions. For a detailed breakdown of the score report,
see the case study on pages 6-7.
From recent administrations of the SAT, these ranges are
approximately:
Total: ±40 points
Section: ±30 points
5
The SAT Score Report
A Case Study: Sample SAT Score Report
Take a look at the sample score report below and on the next page. Use the corresponding
information to help you interpret your student’s SAT score report.
WHAT ARE SOPHIE’S SCORES?
Sophie’s Reading and Writing score is
620, and her Math score is 500, for a
total score of 1120.
Below her individual scores, she can see
a score range, which shows the range
of scores she might expect to get if she
took the SAT multiple times. She can
also see an average score of all testers
in any grade who have taken the SAT in
the last three years.
WHAT ARE SOPHIE’S SCORE
PERCENTILES?
Sophie is in 11th grade, but the
percentiles compare her scores with
those of all SAT testers in 12th grade
from the last 3 years, including all SAT
Weekend and in-school administrations.
Sophie scored as well or better in
Reading and Writing than 60% of a
globally representative group of 12th
grade students. In Math, she scored
as well or better than 70% of a globally
representative group of 12th grade
students. Putting both scores together,
Sophie scored as well or better than
75% of students in her grade on the SAT
as a whole.
WHAT DOES THIS
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
SECTION MEAN?
This section shows Sophie a graphical
progress bar in each of the 8 content Score Report
domains measured on the SAT. The filled
in part of each progress bar represents Sophie’s level of
mastery in that content domain, not her actual score. Under
each content domain, Sophie can also see what percentage
of the test and number of questions cover that domain.
SAT Weekend Understanding Scores 6
WHAT CAN SOPHIE LEARN
FROM THIS CAREER SNAPSHOT?
Since she is based in the U.S., Sophie’s
score report includes Career Insight
examples — helpful information about
growing careers in her state that
connect to her scores. Whether Sophie
sees a career she’s curious about or
not, the examples can spark her interest
in learning more about what careers
are out there and key information like
median yearly income, expected growth
rate for new job openings in her state
over the next 5 years, and the most
common education level for people
in that career. While these might be
careers worth watching in Sophie’s
state, she can learn more about
careers that reflect her interests at
satsuite.org/whatsnext.
HOW CAN SOPHIE LEARN MORE
ABOUT HER SCORES?
If she’s under age 13, Sophie can talk
to her school counselor to see her full
score report and learn how to prepare
for future assessments in the SAT Suite.
If Sophie is age 13 or older, she can
also choose to visit sat.org/myscore to
personally find out this information.
HOW CAN SOPHIE MEASURE HER
PROGRESS?
As a student in 11th grade, Sophie may
choose to take the SAT again at her
school or on another weekend test date
if she wants to improve her score.
Sophie can continue to take advantage of practice
resources by visiting satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice.
SAT Weekend Understanding Scores 7
How to Use Scores
How Students May Send How Students and Families
Their Scores May Use Scores
When students register for and take the SAT, they have Help your student think of ways to develop each of the
the ability to designate up to 4 colleges, universities, or skills they have identified for focus and improvement.
scholarship programs to receive their scores from that Khan Academy can help supplement this work, and
day's test for free. If a student wants to change where their when your student is ready, they can take practice tests
scores are sent, they have until 9 days after the SAT in Bluebook™ and review the results on My Practice.
Weekend test date to alter their 4 free score reports at no Use the career examples to talk about career interests
charge. and options with your student.
Sending scores to additional colleges, universities, or Compare your student’s scores to the grade-level
scholarship programs can be requested online for a fee benchmarks together to understand what those scores
(unless the student is eligible for a fee waiver). We share the mean.
names of the organizations a student selects for their 4 free
If your student is meeting the benchmark for a
score sends with the student’s school and district. section, remind them to continue to take rigorous
When a student requests that we send their scores to the courses and work hard to stay on track for college
colleges, universities, or scholarship programs they choose, success.
we send their scores, certain demographic information If your student is not meeting the benchmark for a
about them, and other information they provide when taking section, work with their teacher to connect them to
the SAT to those organizations, in accordance with sat.org/ classroom work that is focused on areas that need
scores. These organizations may use this information to improvement
send students information about admissions, educational,
Benchmarks shouldn’t be used to assign academic tracks,
financial aid, and scholarship opportunities. Being
to discourage students from pursuing college, or to keep
contacted by these organizations does not mean a student
students from participating in challenging courses. Rather,
has been admitted or is eligible for a scholarship or financial
the benchmarks are intended to help all students better
aid program. Students must submit an application to be
prepare for life after high school.
considered for admission at a college or university, and
complete any steps required by any scholarship programs How Schools May Use Scores
to be considered for their opportunities. Through our K–12 score reporting portal, educators can
In certain college and university systems, once a student access the official downloadable score PDF for printing and
submits their score to 1 school, other schools within that sharing with the student. Educators can also see additional
system will also have access to their score. Please note, interpretive insights about the student’s results. The PDF,
however, that if they are applying to more than 1 school titled Your Score Report, (sample shown on page 7) clearly
within a college or university system, it is still important for summarizes a student’s current achievement levels and
them to send their SAT scores to each individual school. encourages next steps to increase college and career
If they are not sure whether the specific school they are readiness. Teachers can review the official score report
applying to is part of such a system, they should contact the PDFs with students to help them understand what their
school’s admissions office. scores mean. Reviewing their scores can also help students
see their strengths, which can increase their confidence and
The scores the student receives and the score reports
help them identify content areas in which they can handle
received by colleges and their high school contain total and
more advanced coursework.
section scores. Additional score sends include all their
available scores unless they choose otherwise, as explained
further in the SAT Weekend Student Guide. College Board
doesn’t use either their raw score or their reported scaled
score by itself or in combination with any other information
to predict their individual future academic performance at
specific postsecondary institutions. However, College
Board does help individual colleges and universities use and
interpret SAT scores.
8
SAT Weekend Understanding Scores
Additional SAT Insights
Students age 13 or older who already have a personal College Board student account can get
additional insights into their performance on the SAT in the online student scores portal at
studentscores.collegeboard.org.
Putting Scores in Context
SCORE COMPARISONS
Students can gain additional insights into their scores by
meeting with their school counselor to review their score
report. They can also see more contextual comparisons
of their scores in the student scores portal. Students can
compare their total and section scores to the average scores
of all testers across the last 3 years in their:
School (as applicable)
District (public schools, as applicable)
State (U.S.-based and territories)
All Testers (domestic and international)
PERCENTILES
The additional insights provided online include percentiles
not provided in the downloadable score report PDF. The
percentile ranks include:
Country (all testers in the student’s country)
State (all testers in the student’s state, available for
U.S. and U.S. territories only)
All Testers (domestic and international)
For the percentiles above, the student’s score is ranked
among 12th grade testers in the last 3 years, including all
weekend and in-school administrations.
SAT Weekend Understanding Scores 9
Section Benchmarks
Another set of insights students can view in the online
scores portal are the section-level readiness benchmarks.
We will indicate if the student has met the section
benchmark or not, providing links to resources to help
them analyze what skills to focus on for improvement.
Additionally, we show students their score range and
provide a link to information about how a score range more
accurately reflects their level of knowledge and skills than
a single score.
Online score insights
More About Knowledge and Skills
Based on our Skills Insight™ tool, we provide students with
a deeper dive into the knowledge and skills measured by the
SAT. Students may view a breakdown of their knowledge and
skills across 4 content domains in Reading and Writing and
4 content domains in Math.
The online insights go further by helping students view their
performance across 7 defined performance score bands to
get a sense of how they did in each area.
Students can click View Skills and Example Questions
in Next Score Band to access the Skills Insight tool and
see skills and example questions that students in the next
performance score band are typically able to demonstrate,
as well as examples of the kinds of questions that these
students are likely able to answer correctly.
Students can navigate to any other performance score
band in the Skills Insight tool, including their current
performance score band.
Online score insights
10
Career Exploration
Available to students attending school in the U.S. and non-
U.S. DoDEA schools, the Career Insights Snapshot shows
a list of growing careers in a student’s state (or nationally
for non-U.S. DoDEA schools) that connect to their scores.
Students can:
View even more potential careers online at bigfuture.org.
Explore careers tailored to their interests with Career
Quiz.
Find free resources to help them take the next steps on
their career path.
Further Guidance
Students can view next steps with linked resources to do
more with their score, including:
Finding practice resources to improve their score.
Learning more about the SAT Suite of Assessments.
Planning for their future using their SAT score on
BigFuture®.
11
Next Steps for Students
and Parents
View a video walk-through of the score report: satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/scores
Learn more about understanding and using scores: sat.org/scores
Connect to scholarships: collegeboard.org/sat-suite-scholarships
Practice for the SAT: satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice
About College Board
College Board reaches more than 7 million students a year, helping them navigate the path
from high school to college and career. Our not-for-profit membership organization was
founded more than 120 years ago. We pioneered programs like the SAT® and AP® to expand
opportunities for students and help them develop the skills they need. Our BigFuture® program
helps students plan for college, pay for college, and explore careers. Learn more at cb.org.
© 2024 College Board. College Board, BigFuture, SAT, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of College Board. Bluebook, PSAT, and
Skills Insight are trademarks owned by College Board. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of College Board and National Merit Scholarship
Corporation. Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Khan Academy is a registered trademark in the United States and other jurisdictions. 2425-WKD-032
