How is the SAT scored?
The SAT is scored from 400 to 1600. You get a Reading and Writing score from 200 to 800 and a Math score from 200 to 800, and your total is the sum of the two. The score is not a simple count of correct answers: it depends on which questions you got right, including how hard they were. Guessing beats leaving a question blank.
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In more detail
Each section has two modules, and the test adapts between them. The first module mixes easier and harder questions. How you do on it decides whether your second module is the harder or the easier set. Your section score is based on all the questions in both modules, and College Board says a range of scores is possible whichever second module you get.
Not every question counts. Each module includes two pretest questions that do not affect your score. With four modules, that is 8 of the 98 questions, so 90 are scored: 50 in Reading and Writing and 40 in Math.
College Board scores the test with Item Response Theory, so two students with the same number of correct answers can get different section scores, depending on which questions they answered right. That is why online score calculators can only estimate. For context, the class of 2025 averaged 1029: 521 in Reading and Writing and 508 in Math.
Digital SAT score scale (College Board)
| Score | Range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Total score | 400 to 1600 | Sum of the two section scores |
| Reading and Writing | 200 to 800 | 54 questions, 50 scored |
| Math | 200 to 800 | 44 questions, 40 scored |
| Class of 2025 average | 1029 | 521 Reading and Writing, 508 Math |
Step by step
- 1
You answer the first Reading and Writing module, a mix of easier and harder questions.
- 2
Your results on it decide whether the second module is the harder or the easier set.
- 3
Math works the same way: a first module, then a second module matched to how you did.
- 4
The two pretest questions in each module are set aside and do not count.
- 5
College Board scores your answers using which questions you got right and how hard they were, and turns that into a 200 to 800 score per section.
- 6
The two section scores are added up for your total from 400 to 1600.
How StudyPDF helps
Upload your SAT prep book, class notes or a practice test, and StudyPDF builds a practice exam in sections from them, timed if you want, with no answers until you submit. The graded report shows your result per section, and the concepts you miss feed your next quiz. It does not give you an official SAT score, so use College Board's own practice tests for that.
Sources
See also
- AnswerHow many times can you take the SAT?
- AnswerHow is the ACT scored?
- AnswerHow hard is the NCLEX?
- AnswerHow many questions are on the NCLEX?
- Practice testPSAT Practice Test
- AnswerWhen do SAT scores come out?
- AnswerHow many questions are on the SAT?
- TermNorm-referenced test
- AnswerWhat is a perfect SAT score?
- AnswerWhat is the average SAT score?
- StudyPDFAI Exam Generator
More questions
Is there a penalty for wrong answers on the SAT?
Leaving a question blank never helps. College Board says that for most students it is better to guess than to leave a question blank, especially if you can rule out one or two answer choices.
What is the average SAT score?
1029 for the class of 2025, with 521 in Reading and Writing and 508 in Math, according to College Board's 2025 annual report.
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