How is the SSAT Test Scored?
The Secondary Schools Admission Test, or SSAT, is a test of language, reasoning, math, and writing skills that are used to help determine admission to private elementary, middle, and high schools. The SSAT is designed for students in 3rd-11th grade, and administered at different levels: Elementary -Level, for students in 3rd and 4th grade, Middle- Level, for students in 5th-7th grade, and Upper -Level, for students in 8th-11th grade.
The duration of the SSAT test depends on what level of the test you are taking. If you are taking the Elementary-Level test, the test will take 110 minutes and if you are taking the Middle or Upper-Level tests, the test will take 170 minutes.
Here is some information on scoring SSAT.
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How does SSAT scoring work?
You will receive three types of points in your score report: a raw score, a scaled score, and a percentile ranking.
Raw scores:
Raw scores are determined by counting the correct answers and the number of incorrect answers. The correct answers each have one point and for each incorrect answer, a quarter of a point is deducted. No point is deducted for not answering a question, and all questions have the same point value.
Scaled scores:
Scaled scores are derived from raw scores. Students receive scaled section scores for Quantitative/Math, Verbal, and Reading (each of which is out of the same number of points). They will receive a total sum score that adds together all three of their section scores. Different scales are used for the different levels of the SSAT test.
| Level | Section Score Range | Sum Score Range |
| Elementary | 300-600 | 900-1800 |
| Middle | 440-710 | 1320-2310 |
| Upper | 500-800 | 1500-2400 |
Percentile ranking:
The percentile ranking shows how well you did compare to other students of the same gender and grade who have passed the SSAT test in the last three years. Your percentile rank will be between 1% and 99% and indicates the percentage of students with a lower or equal score to your own. For instance: if you receive a percentile score of 70%, that would mean that you did as well as or better than 70% of students of your gender and grade who took the SSAT test in the past three years.
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SSAT scores by section
Each SSAT part has a different number of questions, these questions are all worth the same number of points on each section.
The Verbal score:
SSAT Verbal score is the result of your performance on one single SSAT Verbal section and this section has 60 questions, the most of any section. 30 are Analogy questions and 30 of these are Synonym questions.
The Quantitative score:
SSAT Quantitative score is the result of your performance on two separate Quantitative sections of 25 questions each and these sections are scored with a total Quantitative Score comprising 50 questions.
The Reading score:
The SSAT Reading score is the result of a student’s performance on one single Reading section and this section has 40 questions.
The Writing sample:
There is no score for the SSAT writing sample and, the essay response is still sent to the admissions departments. Students have 25 minutes to respond to either a non-creative or creative prompt.
Reading your Elementary Level SSAT score report
The Elementary Level SSAT score report contains the following information:
Number correct: Number of correct answers for the content sections and subsections.
The number of items: Number of items in the content sections and subsections.
Percent correct: Percentage of correct answers for the content sections and subsections.
Scaled score: Each scaled score has a range of values 300 to 600. The midpoint value of the scaled scores of the content sections is 450, and the highest score of the test-taker on a section is 600.
Scaled score percentile rank: The scaled score percentile is a score which values are from 1 to 99. It compares performance with other students taking the same examination.
Total scaled score: The total scaled score is the sum of the scaled scores for the verbal, quantitative, and reading sections. It has a midpoint of 1350, a low value of 900, and a high value of 1800.
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What is a “good” SSAT score?
If you score in the 50th percentile in each SSAT section, you will get the “median” SSAT score for that test. And if your score is higher than the 50th percentile, you perform better than average.
A good place to start for SSAT test takers is to surpass the average SSAT score for each section.
But what is a “good” SSAT score?
It depends!
Each student’s talents, interests, and goals are unique. Also, the “good” SSAT score is likely to fluctuate, depending on the institution the student is applying for.
When will you receive your SSAT score?
Most scores are published about two weeks after the test date. Your points will be credited to your online student account, or you may pay extra to receive your credits by mail. You cannot receive grades by telephone. However, you can pay extra for a score report alert by text or email, to receive notice as soon as your scores are available online. You can also pay an extra fee to include a copy of your written sample in your report.
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