How Do You Calculate Digital SAT Score? Raw and Scaled (2024)

You know your SAT score is important for college admissions and even things like scholarships, but how does your SAT score get calculated? I'll show the steps to calculating your final SAT score so you can get an accurate idea of how well you're doing on the exam. This article is fully updated for the new, digital SAT!

What Is Adaptive Testing?

Before the SAT moved to being a digital test, it was fairly easy to calculate your SAT score. You'd first simply add up the number of questions you answered correctly (one point for each correct answer). This is called your raw score. Then, you'd use a chart to see what score from 200-800 that raw score corresponded with. The new score would be your converted score. Do that for both sections, add them together, and you had your SAT score!

However, when the SAT became digital, the College Board also implemented adaptive testing. With adaptive testing, an exam’s difficulty is modified in real-time based on a student’s performance. Questions on later sections of the exam depend on a student’s performance on previous sections of the exam. Test questions get harder if a student does well, and test questions get easier if the student doesn’t do as well.

To adapt each student’s exam, the digital SAT is divided into modules of test questions. Both SAT Reading and Writing and SAT Math consist of two modules: Module 1 and Module 2.

On both exam sections, students answer all of the questions in Module 1 first. Module 1 is made up of a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. Based on the student’s performance on Module 1 questions, the exam then assigns them one of the following second modules: a set of questions that are generally more difficult than the questions in Module 1, or a set of questions that are generally less difficult than the questions in Module 1.

What does this mean for calculating your SAT score? It makes it more complicated. The College Board generally keeps their exact score calculation procedures fairly secret, and this is especially true with the digital SAT. We do know that more challenging questions are weighted more heavily, meaning if you get a harder question right, it'll be worth more than a correct response on an easier question.

What this means in terms of exact calculations is still unknown. It does mean we can't offer an exact chart for you to add up the number of questions you answered correctly on a digital SAT practice test and see what your final score would be. There just isn't enough information available. However, we can explain how the current version of the paper SAT (which is only available to students with a testing accommodation) is scored and how you can use that information to estimate your digital SAT score.

First, let's dive into scoring for the paper SAT.

How Are Paper SATs Scored?

The first step is calculating your raw score. As mentioned above, your raw score on the paper SAT is simply calculated using the number of questions you answered correctly.

For every question you answer correctly on the SAT, you receive one point.
There is no penalty for guessing or skipping.

The maximum possible raw score varies by section (and depends on the total number of questions asked). For example, for the Reading and Writing section on the paper SAT, there are 66 questions total, so the maximum raw score is 66. If you answered all 66 questions correctly, you would have a raw score of 66. For Math on the paper SAT, there are 54 questions. This is different than the digital SAT, which has 54 Reading and Writing questions and 44 Math questions.

How Are Raw Scores Converted to Scaled Scores?

The raw score is converted into the scale score (on the 200 to 800 scale for each section) using a table. This table varies by SAT test date. The table is used as a way to make sure each test is "standardized". The table is a way of making "easier" SAT tests equal to the "harder" SAT tests. For instance, a raw score of 51 in Math might translate to an 800 on one test date and 790 on another.

You cannot know what the raw to scale score conversion will be in advance. While the exact raw to scale score conversion will vary by testing date, here are example charts from one of the official College Board SAT Practice Tests:

SAT Reading and Writing Section

Raw Score	Reading and Writing Section Score	Percentage of Questions Correct
66	790-800	100%
65	770-790	98%
64	750-770	97%
63	730-750	95%
62	720-740	94%
61	710-730	92%
60	700-720	91%
59	690-710	89%
58	680-700	88%
57	670-690	86%
56	660-680	85%
55	650-670	83%
54	640-660	82%
53	630-650	80%
52	630-650	79%
51	620-640	77%
50	610-630	76%
49	600-620	74%
48	590-610	73%
47	590-610	71%
46	580-600	70%
45	570-590	68%
44	560-580	67%
43	550-570	65%
42	540-560	64%
41	540-560	62%
40	530-550	61%
39	520-540	59%
38	510-530	58%
37	500-520	56%
36	490-510	55%
35	490-510	53%
34	480-500	52%
33	470-490	50%
32	460-480	48%
31	460-480	47%
30	450-470	45%
29	440-450	44%
28	430-450	42%
27	420-440	41%
26	420-440	39%
25	410-430	38%
24	400-420	36%
23	390-410	35%
22	380-400	33%
21	370-390	32%
20	370-390	30%
19	360-380	29%
18	350-370	27%
17	340-360	26%
16	320-340	24%
15	290-310	23%
14	280-300	21%
13	260-280	20%
12	250-270	18%
11	240-260	17%
10	230-250	15%
9	210-230	14%
8	200-220	12%
7	200-210	11%
6	200	9%
5	200	8%
4	200	6%
3	200	5%
2	200	3%
1	200	2%
0	200	0%

So, if you answered 50 SAT Reading and Writing questions correctly on the paper SAT, you could expect a section score between 610 and 630 (although it may fall slightly outside that range, too).

SAT Math Section

Raw Score	Math Section Score	Percentage of Questions Correct
54	790-800	100%
53	780-800	98%
52	770-800	96%
51	760-790	94%
50	750-780	93%
49	740-770	91%
48	730-760	89%
47	710-740	87%
46	690-720	85%
45	670-700	83%
44	650-680	81%
43	630-660	80%
42	620-650	78%
41	600-630	76%
40	590-620	74%
39	580-610	72%
38	570-600	70%
37	560-590	69%
36	550-580	67%
35	530-560	65%
34	520-550	63%
33	510-540	61%
32	500-530	59%
31	480-510	57%
30	470-500	56%
29	460-490	54%
28	440-470	52%
27	430-460	50%
26	420-450	48%
25	400-430	46%
24	390-420	44%
23	380-410	43%
22	370-400	41%
21	370-400	39%
20	360-390	37%
19	350-380	35%
18	340-370	33%
17	330-360	31%
16	330-360	30%
15	320-350	28%
14	310-340	26%
13	300-330	24%
12	290-320	22%
11	280-310	20%
10	250-280	19%
9	220-250	17%
8	200-230	15%
7	200-220	13%
6	200	11%
5	200	9%
4	200	7%
3	200	6%
2	200	4%
1	200	2%
0	200	0%

How Can This Information Help Estimate Your Digital SAT Score?

All that info is great, but the vast majority of students will be taking the digital SAT now, not the paper SAT. Fortunately, this data is still useful!

If you take a digital practice test on the Bluebook app, you'll see your scores for both sections of the SAT, but if you take unofficial practice tests (which we recommend if you need additional practice!) they may not provide score estimates.

To get a score estimate, you can use the percentage of questions you answered correctly on each section of the SAT. You can't just add up your correct answers and check to see what score that corresponds with on the chart because the test you take will likely have a different number of questions for each section. Remember, the digital SAT has fewer questions than the paper SAT:there are 54 Reading and Writing questions and 44 Math questions.

Say you took an official digital SAT that doesn't give score estimates. If you answered 30 Reading and Writing questions correctly, you'd divide 40 by 54 (or however many questions the Reading and Writing section had), which is 0.74. Multiply that by 100 to get 74% of questions answered correctly on Reading and Writing. Look at the Reading and Writing Section chart above, find that percentage (or the closest one to it), and see what section score that corresponds with. From the chart, we can see that a percentage of 74% corresponds with a Reading and Writing section score of 600-620. Nice! Do the same for Math to get an estimate of your digital SAT score.

What This Means for You

Once you have determined your target SAT score in terms of raw score, you can use it to determine your SAT test strategy options. We have plenty of resources to help you out. Once you know what SAT score you're aiming for and how far you are from that goal score, you can begin to develop a study plan, gather study materials, and get to work on raising your score!

If You Need Help Creating a Study Plan

How to Build an SAT Study Plan

How to Cram for the SAT

How Long Should You Study for the SAT?

If You Need More Study Materials

Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

The 9 Best SAT Prep Books

The Best SAT Prep Websites You Should Be Using

If You Want to Raise Your Score

The Best Way to Review Your Mistakes for the SAT

How to Get an 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Get an 800 on SAT Math

What's Next?

Want to rock the SAT? Check out our complete SAT study guide!

Want to find free SAT practice tests? Check out our massive collection!

Not sure what score to aim for on the new SAT? Read our guide to picking your target score.

How Do You Calculate Digital SAT Score? Raw and Scaled (2024)

FAQs

How to calculate your digital SAT score? ›

The Digital SAT will be scored on a scale of 400-1600, with 400 being the minimum and 1600 as the maximum. Your final Digital SAT score will be the sum of the Reading and Writing section score and the Math section score. Each section is further divided into two separately timed adaptive modules.

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How do you calculate raw score to scaled score? ›

Each correctly scored item below 50 is calculated by taking the number of correct answers, multiplied by the scaled-score value (~3), and added to 100; a raw score of 20 would be approximately a scaled score of 160 (20 x 3, + 100), whereas a raw score of 40 would be approximately a scaled score of 220 (40 x 3, + 100).

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How is SAT score calculated from raw score? ›

Your total score is the sum of your section scores. The section scores for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and for Math each range from 200 to 800. To arrive at each section score, we converted your raw score, which is the number of questions you answered correctly. There's no penalty for guessing.

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How many questions can I get wrong to get a 1200 on the digital SAT? ›

In total, you could miss 50 questions and still earn a “good” score of 1200. Since Reading and Writing will now be combined on the digital SAT, that portion of scoring has actually gotten easier – you simply need a 600 in Reading and Writing, along with a 600 in Math.

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How does SAT digital scoring work? ›

Digital SAT scores are taken from two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math. Each section is scored on a scale of 200-800, and these section scores are added together to get your Total Score from 400-1600.

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How many questions can you miss to get a 1400 on the digital SAT? ›

Broken down by section, you can get 7 wrong in Math for a 700 and 8 wrong in Reading & Writing for a 700. To earn a 1400 overall, you can still get 15 answers wrong and be just 200 points shy of a perfect 1600!

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What is the formula for calculating raw score? ›

Raw scores represent the actual numerical score that a person achieves on a test or examination. The formula for calculating a raw score is X = (Z * SD) + Mean, where X is the raw score, Z is the z-score, SD is the standard deviation, and Mean is the average score of all people who took the test.

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What is the difference between raw score and scaled score? ›

Scaled Score In CAT means a standardised score that considers the difficulty level of the specific exam. Your raw score reflects only your performance in that particular test and does not consider the difficulty level compared to other CAT exams.

How do you calculate overall scaled score? ›

You need to follow the chart. Apply the formula to every raw score to get your scaled score. i.e., we know that the transformation formula is scaled score = (raw score + 15)/2. If we apply the formula, we get that for a raw score of 10; it corresponds to a scaled score of 12.5.

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Is the digital SAT easier? ›

To sum it all up: the digital SAT is not designed to be easier than the pencil-and-paper SAT. However, some of the changes to the digital SAT make accessing the exam, taking the exam, and receiving scores easier for students.

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What is the formula for SAT scores? ›

You'd first simply add up the number of questions you answered correctly (one point for each correct answer). This is called your raw score. Then, you'd use a chart to see what score from 200-800 that raw score corresponded with. The new score would be your converted score.

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How to calculate SATs score? ›

As a reminder, your raw score equals the number of questions you answered correctly on each SAT section. Give yourself 1 point for each correct answer. Remember there's no penalty for unanswered or incorrect questions, so you should always put something down!

How are questions weighted on the digital SAT? ›

The difficulty level and other qualities of each question (such as how well it differentiates skill level or how easy it is to guess on a question)—as well as whether the student got the question right or wrong—are taken into account when calculating a student's score.

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How many questions can I miss on SAT to get $1500? ›

For instance, you need at least 55 out of 58 questions correct in the Maths section, 41 out of 44 in the Writing & Language section, and 48 out of 52 in the Reading section to score a 1500+ on your SAT. This combination is just an example of the number of questions you need to answer correctly to score above 1500.

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Will the digital SAT be curved? ›

Technically, the SAT-writers don't “curve” the test, but they do use a process called “score equating” that ensures the test is scored fairly regardless of when you take it.

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How to calculate sats score? ›

What is a good digital SAT score? ›

Any score above 1050 is above average.

The 75^th percentile composite SAT test score is 1200, the 90^th percentile is 1440, and the 95^th percentile is 1520. You can log into your College Board account for more detailed insight into how you stack up against your peers.

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How to calculate SAT index score? ›

The Selection Index is double the sum of your Reading and Writing (RW) score, and Math score divided by 10. Alternatively, you can simply drop the last zero on your section scores, double the RW and add the Math. For example, a student with scores of 690 RW and 720 M would have a Selection Index of 69 x 2 + 72 = 210.

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Is the digital SAT out of 1600? ›

Similarities between the Digital and Paper-and-Pencil SAT

The scoring scale is still 400-1600 (which helps to answer the question of which test is harder – more on that below). The College Board states that both versions of the SAT test the same knowledge and skills.

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