Your official SAT score report is a PDF called Your Scores. It shows your total score (400 to 1600), your Reading and Writing and Math section scores (200 to 800 each), a score range and a percentile for each, and eight bars showing how you did in each content area. Read the scores first, then the range under them, then the bars. The range is easy to skip, and it changes what the number means.
This is the report from a real SAT. The practice report Bluebook gives you after a practice test is laid out differently, and how to read your Bluebook score report covers that one.
Where to find it
If you are 13 or older, sign in to your College Board account at studentscores.collegeboard.org. You get the PDF there, plus extra insights that are not in the PDF. Your school can also download the PDF through its own score portal and go through it with you. Release dates are in when SAT scores come out.
College Board could not confirm that a complete set of your answers was available when the test was scored. Its guide says incomplete answers could lower your score, so it will not send this score to colleges, universities or scholarship programs unless you ask it to. Don't ask until you have contacted College Board and understood what happened. This is not a cancellation. If College Board has cancelled your score, see what to do when College Board cancels your SAT score.
1. The three scores
| Score | Scale | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 400 to 1600 | Your two section scores added together |
| Reading and Writing | 200 to 800 | Both Reading and Writing modules |
| Math | 200 to 800 | Both Math modules |
The scale is shared across the whole SAT Suite. College Board's guide for students and families says a 500 in Math on the SAT means the same as a 500 on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10, so you can compare your SAT straight against an old PSAT score. If you went from 500 to 550, that is 50 points of growth.
What the report doesn't give you is a count of right answers. Each student sits their own version of the test and questions carry different weights, which is why two students with the same number right can get different scores.
2. The score range under each score
Under every score is a range. College Board works it out from the standard error of measurement, and it shows how much your score would likely move if you took a different administration under identical conditions. Its guide to PDF score reports puts the range at plus or minus 40 points for the total and plus or minus 30 for each section.
So a 1350 means about 1310 to 1390. That matters in two places:
- Comparing sittings. A 20-point rise or drop between two dates sits inside the range. It can be the same performance on a different day.
- Deciding on a retake. If your score is already in the range your colleges want, another sitting may move it less than you hope. How many times to take the SAT has the published numbers on retakes.
What each part of the 400 to 1600 scale is worth is covered in the SAT score range.
3. The percentile
Next to each score is a percentile. If you are at the 70th percentile, 70% of the comparison group scored the same as you or lower. On the PDF, the comparison group is everyone who took the SAT in the last three years, weekend and school day, anywhere in the world. College Board calls this the All Tester percentile.
The online version adds two more: one for test takers in your country, and one for your state if you are in the US. A student in India and a student in Texas with the same score can see different country percentiles. The report also shows the average total and section scores of all test takers over the same three years.
A percentile tells you where you stand among test takers. It doesn't tell you whether the score is good enough for a particular college. For that you need the college's own range, which what is a good SAT score walks through.
4. Knowledge and Skills: the eight bars
This section has one bar for each of the eight content areas on the test, four in Reading and Writing and four in Math. Above each bar you see roughly how many questions come from that area and what share of the section that is. The filled part of the bar is your level in that area. It is not a score.
| Section | Content area | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and Writing | Craft and Structure | 13 to 15 | about 28% |
| Reading and Writing | Information and Ideas | 12 to 14 | about 26% |
| Reading and Writing | Standard English Conventions | 11 to 15 | about 26% |
| Reading and Writing | Expression of Ideas | 8 to 12 | about 20% |
| Math | Algebra | 13 to 15 | about 35% |
| Math | Advanced Math | 13 to 15 | about 35% |
| Math | Problem-Solving and Data Analysis | 5 to 7 | about 15% |
| Math | Geometry and Trigonometry | 5 to 7 | about 15% |
Online, the bars split into seven bands. College Board's guide to content domains explains the bands for the SAT: bands 1 to 3 mean you are still learning the area's skills, 4 and 5 mean you have the basics but harder questions still trip you up, and 6 and 7 mean you are close to mastering it. The online report also links each band to example questions that students in the next band up can usually answer.
College Board suggests putting your time into the areas with the most questions. In practice: find the lowest bar among the big areas. A low Geometry and Trigonometry bar costs you at most 5 to 7 questions. A low Advanced Math bar can cost up to 15. The official question bank filters by the same content areas, so you can drill the exact one. For the skills inside each area, see every Reading and Writing question type and how to improve your SAT Math score.
5. What else is on the report
Students at US schools get a Career Insights Snapshot: a list of growing careers in their state that connect to their scores. College Board says these are examples, not recommendations. Most students outside the US won't see it.
The online version also shows whether you met the college and career readiness benchmarks: 480 in Reading and Writing and 530 in Math. College Board sets them where a student has a 75% chance of a C or better in a related first-semester college course. They mean "on track for college". They say nothing about selective admissions.
What the report won't tell you
It doesn't show the questions you missed. The Question-and-Answer Service didn't come back with the digital SAT, so you see content areas and nothing below that. How to review a real SAT without the questions covers what you can still learn. It also doesn't say what colleges will think of the number, and it doesn't tell you whether to retake.
Turning the report into a decision
- Compare your total with the middle 50% at each college on your list. That comparison matters more than the percentile. How colleges use SAT scores explains required, recommended and considered.
- Check the range before reading anything into a change. Plus or minus 40 on the total is normal movement.
- Pick one or two content areas to fix: the lowest bars with the most questions.
- Decide what to send. Score Choice lets you pick which test dates colleges see, and some colleges superscore. The fees and deadlines are in how to send SAT scores.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my official SAT score report?
Sign in to your College Board account at studentscores.collegeboard.org if you are 13 or older. The report is a downloadable PDF called Your Scores, and the online portal adds extra insights such as country and state percentiles. Your school can also download the PDF and go through it with you.
What does the score range on my SAT report mean?
It shows how much your score would likely vary if you took a different administration of the test under identical conditions. College Board's guide to PDF score reports gives plus or minus 40 points for the total and plus or minus 30 for each section.
Which percentile is on the SAT score report?
The PDF shows the All Tester percentile, which compares you with everyone who took the SAT in the last three years, on weekends and school days, worldwide. The online portal adds a percentile for your country and, in the US, your state.
What does Score Sends Held mean on an SAT score report?
College Board could not confirm that a complete set of your answers was available when your test was scored. It will not send that score to colleges, universities or scholarship programs unless you ask it to.
What are the Knowledge and Skills bars on the SAT score report?
One bar for each of the eight content areas, four in Reading and Writing and four in Math. Each shows roughly how many questions come from that area and your level in it. The filled part shows your level, not a score.
Does the SAT score report show which questions I got wrong?
No. The Question-and-Answer Service did not return with the digital SAT, so the report shows performance by content area only. How to review a real SAT without the questions covers what you can still do.
What are the SAT benchmark scores?
480 in Reading and Writing and 530 in Math. College Board sets them where a student has a 75% chance of earning a C or higher in a related first-semester college course.