Your SAT percentile is the share of test takers who scored at or below you. Among recent SAT takers, a 1020 is the 50th percentile, 1200 the 75th, 1360 the 90th, 1400 the 93rd and 1530 the 99th, according to College Board's tables for the past three graduating classes. Move the slider to check any score, or jump to the full percentile chart.
Instructions
Move the slider to your total SAT score (400–1600). You'll see your percentile among recent SAT takers and against all U.S. 11th and 12th graders.
Selected Score: 1200
Percentile: 75th
Among recent SAT takers (user group). Against all U.S. 11th and 12th graders: 81st.
A 1200 is 75th percentile among recent test takers. See where your next points come from.
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Last verified against College Board's SAT percentile tables: October 29, 2026. The curve is an illustration of the score distribution.
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Total scores every 50 points, from College Board's published tables. "Recent test takers" is the user group, the comparison on your score report; "all U.S. juniors and seniors" is the nationally representative group.
| Total score | Recent test takers | All U.S. juniors and seniors |
|---|---|---|
| 1600 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1550 | 99 | 99+ |
| 1500 | 97 | 99 |
| 1450 | 95 | 99 |
| 1400 | 93 | 97 |
| 1350 | 89 | 94 |
| 1300 | 85 | 91 |
| 1250 | 80 | 86 |
| 1200 | 75 | 81 |
| 1150 | 69 | 74 |
| 1100 | 62 | 67 |
| 1050 | 55 | 58 |
| 1000 | 47 | 48 |
| 950 | 39 | 38 |
| 900 | 32 | 29 |
| 850 | 24 | 21 |
| 800 | 17 | 14 |
| 750 | 11 | 8 |
| 700 | 6 | 4 |
| 650 | 3 | 1 |
| 600 | 2 | <1 |
| 550 | 1 | <1 |
| 500 | 1 | <1 |
| 450 | <1 | <1 |
| 400 | <1 | <1 |
99+ means above the 99th percentile; <1 means below the 1st. Scores in between (for example 1310 or 1470) are in the calculator above.
An SAT score percentile indicates how your score compares to those of other test-takers. For example, if you are in the 75th percentile, it means you scored better than 75% of the students who took the test. Percentiles are useful because they provide context to your score, showing where you stand relative to your fellow students.
A percentile is different from your official score, which is a scaled score from 400 to 1600. It is also different from your raw score, the number of questions you answered correctly (there is no penalty for wrong answers on the SAT). The SAT isn't graded on a curve: College Board equates each test form so a score means the same thing on any date, and percentiles simply rank that score against other test takers.
College Board publishes two sets of percentiles. User group percentiles use the actual scores of students in the past three graduating classes who took the SAT. Nationally representative percentiles estimate where you'd fall among all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, including students who never take the test, so they run a few points higher. For colleges, the user group is the comparison that matters.
For more information on SAT format and scoring, see our Digital SAT Format.
It depends on your colleges: a score at or above the middle of a school's admitted range is competitive there. A 1200 (75th percentile) is above most test takers, and the most selective colleges often admit students in the 99th percentile. Our guide to what a good SAT score is breaks it down by college type.
Improving SAT score requires a combination of focused study, practice, and strategy.
We recommend first identifying your weak areas by taking a diagnostic practice test and concentrating on improving weak topics. For targeted strategies, see our guide to improving from 1400 to 1500 and Digital SAT adaptive testing guide.
Start with a timed, full-length test: our free digital SAT practice tests are adaptive like the real test, and College Board's official practice tests in Bluebook are worth taking too. Then use the SAT score calculator to turn your results into a score and find it in the chart above.
Among recent SAT takers, a 1200 is the 75th percentile, a 1400 is the 93rd and a 1500 is the 97th. These are College Board's user group percentiles, based on the actual scores of students in the past three graduating classes.
A total of 1530 to 1550 is the 99th percentile among recent test takers, and 1560 or higher is above the 99th percentile. On the nationally representative scale, which compares you with all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, 1510 is already the 99th percentile.
A 1020 is the 50th percentile among recent SAT takers, so about half of test takers score at or below 1020. A 1100 is the 62nd percentile and a 1000 is the 47th.
User group percentiles compare you with students who actually took the SAT in the past three graduating classes. Nationally representative percentiles estimate how you would compare with all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, including students who never take the SAT, so they run a few points higher. The user percentile is the more useful comparison for college admission.
Your official score report shows an all-tester percentile for your total and section scores. College Board bases it on the actual scores of the past three cohorts of students who took the SAT in 12th grade, which is the user group column on this page.
No. Your score depends on which questions you answer correctly and their difficulty, and College Board equates every test form so the same score means the same thing on any date. Percentiles are a separate comparison: they show how your score ranks against other test takers, not how it was calculated.
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