How the Test Is Scored
Raw vs. Scaled
In order to reach the number you see on your score report, two calculations must take place.
First, your raw score is calculated. This is the number of points you earned, based on the number of questions you answered correctly, minus a fraction of the number answered incorrectly. Questions you skipped are not counted and no points are subtracted for incorrect Student Produced Response mathematics questions (grid-ins) on the SAT.
The SAT: Calculating the Raw Score
Each CORRECT answer: add (+) 1 point
Each WRONG answer for a
- Multiple-choice question: subtract (-) 1/4 of a point
- Student-produced response: no points subtracted
Each OMITTED question: no points subtracted
SAT Subject Tests™: Calculating the Raw Score
Each CORRECT answer: add (+) 1 point
Each WRONG answer for a
- 5-choice question: subtract (-) 1/4 of a point
- 4-choice question :subtract (-) 1/3 of a point
- 3-choice question: subtract (-) 1/2 of a point
Each OMITTED question: no points subtracted
Scaled Score
Your raw score is then converted to a scaled score (reported on a 200-800 scale) by a statistical process called equating. Equating ensures that the different forms of the test or the level of ability of the students with whom you are tested do not affect your score. Equating makes it possible to make comparisons among test takers who take different editions of the test across different administrations.
See SAT Scoring Before March 2005 to learn how the English Language Proficiency Test™ (ELPT™) is scored.
Subscores
Writing Section Subscores
The raw scores for the multiple-choice writing section are converted to scaled scores that are reported on a 20-80 scale. Every SAT contains a 25-minute essay. The essay subscore is reported on a 2-12 scale. (Essays that are not written on the essay assignment, or which are considered illegible after several attempts at reading, receive a score of 0.) Each essay is independently scored from 1 to 6 by two readers. These readers' scores are combined to produce the 2-12 scale. If the two readers' scores differ by more than one point, a third reader scores the essay. The multiple-choice writing section counts for approximately 70 percent and the essay counts for approximately 30 percent of your total raw score, which is used to calculate your 200-800 score. For more information, visit the Scoring Guide.
SAT Subject Test Subscores
Subscores on the SAT Subject Tests are used to compute the total score, but their individual contributions differ between the different tests. Subscores are reported on a 20-80 scale. For the French, German, and Spanish with Listening tests, the reading subscore counts twice as much as the listening subscore. For the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tests, subscores are weighted equally. For the SAT Subject Test in Writing (January 2005 and earlier) the multiple-choice subscore counts twice as much as the essay subscore.
