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What Is a Good CLT Score?

A good CLT score is one that meets the range your colleges and scholarships ask for. Here is how to find that number and how CLT totals compare with SAT and ACT scores.

Updated October 2, 2026

There is no single passing score

The CLT has no pass mark. Each college decides what it wants to see, and scholarship requirements can differ from admission requirements. So the useful question is not whether a score is good in general, but whether it is high enough for the specific places you are applying.

A rough guide using the SAT and ACT comparison

If you already know what SAT or ACT score a college looks for, CLT’s published comparison lets you translate it. These are the published values at a few points:

CLT totalSAT comparisonACT comparison
60100019
70108021
80117024
90127027
100139031
110152034
120160036

Read the table as a guide, not a guarantee. A CLT 80 lines up with an SAT of about 1170, and a CLT 100 with about 1390. The comparison comes from a 2023 CLT study, and each college decides whether to use it.

Look up any CLT total

How to set your target

  1. List the colleges you are applying to and confirm each one accepts the CLT for your application year.
  2. For each college, find the score it asks for, for admission and separately for any merit scholarship. The two can differ.
  3. Take the highest of those numbers as your target.
  4. If a college publishes only SAT or ACT ranges, convert them with the comparison table and treat the result as approximate.
  5. Compare your target with your most recent official total to see the gap.
Score target toolSection total calculator

Look at your three sections, not only the total

Two students with the same total can have very different section scores. Each section is worth the same 40 points, so start with your lowest one. Your CLT score report includes Student Analytics, which shows your results by academic domain and a percentile rank against other CLT test takers.

  • If Quantitative Reasoning is lowest, start with geometry, which is 35% of the section, and practice all arithmetic by hand.
  • If Grammar/Writing is lowest, start with agreement, usage, punctuation and sentence structure, which make up half the section.
  • If Verbal Reasoning is lowest, practice whole passages under time across all four types: literary, historical, science and philosophical.
Quantitative ReasoningGrammar/WritingVerbal Reasoning

If your score is below your target

You can retake the CLT on any available date. Leave enough time between attempts to study the section that is holding you back, and check that the second set of scores will be released before your deadline.

Retakes and sending scoresTest datesStudy plans

Score tools

These tools work from the scores on your official report. Your accuracy on practice questions can’t be turned into an official score.

CLT reported section total

Add the three scaled section scores from the same CLT report.

Open tool

CLT reported-score target

Compare a reported score with a goal you choose.

Open tool

CLT published score comparison

Look up the comparison published by CLT in its April 2023 report.

Open tool

Frequently Asked Questions

One that meets the range your colleges and scholarships ask for. As a reference, CLT’s published comparison puts a CLT 80 at about an SAT 1170 and a CLT 100 at about an SAT 1390.

We do not publish an average here because we have not verified one from a current CLT source. Your score report shows your percentile rank against other CLT test takers.

It depends on the college. CLT says more than $100 million in scholarships is tied to CLT scores each year, and each college sets its own requirements. Check each college’s scholarship page.

CLT’s published comparison puts a 90 at about an SAT 1270 or an ACT 27. Whether that is enough depends on the colleges on your list.

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