PSAT Scores & Review

How the PSAT is scored

PSAT/NMSQT scores indicate how ready you are for college-level work.

Your Scores

PSAT/NMSQT scores are reported on a scale from 20 to 80. Average scores are near the midpoint (50) of the scale. For the 2000 PSAT/NMSQT test:

The average score for juniors was about a 48 in verbal, 49 in math and 49 in writing skills.
The average score for sophomores was about 45 in verbal, 46 in math and 46 in writing skills.

Ranges
Ranges give you another way to think about your scores. They show how much your scores would likely vary if you took the PSAT/NMSQT a number of times.

Percentile
Percentiles help you compare your performance on the PSAT/NMSQT to the performance of other juniors or sophomores. If you are a freshman or younger, you are being compared to sophomores.

What SAT Score Ranges Can You Expect?
Scores on the SAT I range from 200 to 800. Adding a zero to your PSAT/NMSQT scores gives you an estimate of what your SAT I scores might be.

Review Your Answers
Contains the number, correct answer, your answer, and level of difficulty are displayed for every question on the test.

Improve Your Skills
The most valuable part of your Score Report is the "Improve Your Skills" section. For each section of the test, Verbal, Math, and Writing Skills, you will be directed to two or three skills that need some improvement. Under each skill, you'll be given suggestions for how to improve that particular skill.

How the Test is Scored

The PSAT/NMSQT is scored as follows:

each correct answer	1 full point, regardless of level of difficulty
each unanswered question	0 points
each incorrect answer to a Student-Produced Response question	0 points
each incorrect answer to a multiple-choice question with 4 answer choices	minus 1/3 point
each incorrect answer to a multiple-choice question with 5 answer choices	minus 1/4 point

The points for each section (verbal, math, and writing skills) are then converted to scores on the PSAT/NMSQT scale of 20 to 80.

Notification of Qualification for National Merit Scholarship Corporation Scholarship Programs

If you take the PSAT/NMSQT as a junior and qualify to be designated a Commended Student or Semifinalist in NMSC's scholarship programs, you will be notified by your school in September of your senior year.