Now that you understand how the SAT is marked, it is time to take a look at what your score means. In Part One we discussed raw and scaled scores but left out percentiles. Percentiles are a helpful way to compare your scores with those of other students. The numbers 1 through 99 are used to inform you of the percentage of students who scored above and below you. For example, if you are in the 80th percentile then you scored better than 80% of the students who took the SAT. Percentiles are based on the most recent scores and as a result will change from one exam testing date to another.
Percentiles allow you to compare your scores on each section. This will help you to determine where your strengths and weaknesses lie and the types of questions you struggle with. There must be a difference of 20 or more points between percentile rankings to determine if there is a true difference from one area to another. When you compare one SAT exam to another, there must be a difference of 60 points between the two scores to determine whether one is actually better than the other.
For more information on scoring the SAT exam, visit College Board online
