Understanding Your PSAT/NMSQT Score
PSAT/NMSQT Score Release Dates
Accessing Your PSAT/NMSQT Scores
When to Expect Scores
PSAT/NMSQT scores will be released to students on November 6, 2023.
How to Access Your Scores
1. If you provided your mobile number on test day, you'll receive a text message with access to the BigFuture School mobile app.
2. Students can use their personal College Board accounts to access their score.
Once You've Received Your Scores
* Read this newsletter to learn how you can use your scores for practice, scholarship opportunities, and more!
1- Interpret the details in your score report. Understand Your Scores
2- Your PSAT/NMSQT gives you valuable practice for the SAT, and it opens opportunities for scholarships and recognition.
The student score reports portal lists all score reports available for the assessments you've taken. Once your digital PSAT/NMSQT scores are ready, when you log in to the student score reports portal, you'll be provided with your scores for that test. If you have taken other tests, you'll have the option to view those scores by clicking the Show Additional Scores option near the top of the screen.
Scores Summary
When you access your PSAT/NMSQT scores in the student score reports portal, you'll be provided with a score summary. The top portion of the summary shows the details of your most recent digital test. You'll see the date when you took the test, what grade you were in when it was taken, and a record locator number, which can be used if you have questions on the report. You should have this number handy if you need to contact customer service for help.
The score summary then shows the three scores available for the digital PSAT/NMSQT:
- Total Score (including the score scale of 320–1520)
- Reading and Writing section score
- Math section score
The score summary also includes:
- A note indicating if you met the college and career readiness benchmark in one or both sections.
- A link to See Score Details to find out more detailed information.
- A link to Download Report to save your official PDF score report.
- A link to Show Additional Scores to view other score reports, if you have taken a test previously.
NMSC Selection Index Score
After your scores, you can view information related to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as well as your calculated PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index score, including the index range (48–228).
There will also be a note indicating if your Selection Index score meets the entry requirements for the National Merit® Scholarship Program. You can click See NMSC Details for more information about NMSC and your Selection Index score.
The NMSC Selection Index score is determined by first doubling your Reading and Writing score and adding that value to your Math score. The sum of those two numbers divided by 10 is your Selection Index score. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation uses this score to initially screen students for entry to the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Score Insight
This section provides a comparison of your Total Score to other test takers that took the same test as well as your percentile comparison among those who took the PSAT/NMSQT over the last three years.
This information helps put your scores in context, so you get a better sense of how you performed. You can click the links available in the portal to view more score comparisons and percentiles provided in Score Details for the Total Score as well as the Reading and Writing and Math sections.
Links to additional information related to the Knowledge and Skills measured in the PSAT/NMSQT are also provided.
Your Future, Your Way
After your score insight, you'll find valuable links to explore BigFuture where you can learn more about life after high school, including information about careers, colleges, and over $4 billion in scholarship opportunities.
U.S. students will also be able to see examples of careers in their state with information like the yearly income for those careers, how much those careers are likely to grow, and what sort of education they generally require.
Further Guidance
You can view Next Steps with linked resources to do more with your score, including:
- Getting practice to help to improve your score.
- Registering for the SAT.
- Exploring AP Potential™.
Score Details
You can view more detailed information about your PSAT/NMSQT score by clicking the various links provided in your score summary. Score details consists of three sections: Section Scores, Score Comparisons, and Knowledge and Skills.
At the top of the page are quick links that will take you to each individual section. Review the information in this section to learn more about what you'll see when viewing your detailed score information.
Section Score Details
You can view detailed information about your Reading and Writing section and Math section scores including:
- Your section scores as well as the score scale of each section (160–760).
- The score range in each section, which represents the range of scores you could possibly get if you took the PSAT/NMSQT multiple times on different days.
- Information about the section-level benchmarks, which are 410 for Reading and Writing and 450 for Math.
- The benchmarks help you understand your level of readiness for college and career training programs.
- A projected score for each section that shows an estimation of how you might perform on the SAT if you take it next year.
Score and Percentile Comparisons
Score Comparisons
You can see more contextual comparisons of your scores in the portal. You can compare your total and section scores to the average scores of all test takers that took the same administration as you in your:
- School (as applicable)
- District (public schools, as applicable)
- State (U.S.-based and territories)
- Country
- All Testers (domestic and international)
Percentile Comparisons
The detailed score information also includes percentiles not found in the score summary. The percentiles allow you to compare your score percentile among the following groups of test takers from the past three years:
- Country (all testers in your country)
- State (all testers in your state; available for U.S. and U.S. territories only)
- All Testers (domestic and international)
Knowledge and Skills
You can find out more about the knowledge and skills measured by the digital PSAT/NMSQT by clicking a link to this information from your score summary.
There are four content areas in Reading and Writing and four in Math. In each content area, you can view:
- The approximate number of questions in the content area and what percentage of the section that represents.
- A line infographic that shows how you performed in each content area across seven defined performance score bands.
You can use this information to identify content areas you may want to focus on to practice and improve. You can also dig deeper into your performance by clicking View Skills and Example Questions in Next Score Band, which takes you to College Board's online Skills Insight Tool.
The average PSAT/NMSQT score is about 920. A score between 1210 and 1520 puts you in the top 10% of test takers.
The PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT are very similar tests, so your score on the PSAT/NMSQT can give you an idea of how you’ll do when you take the SAT.
Your PSAT/NMSQT score report gives you valuable information about your strengths and weaknesses that you can use to prepare for the SAT and increase your score.
Total Score
Your total score is a number between 320 and 1520.
The total score is the sum of the two section scores: Reading and Writing and Math:
- Each of these 2 section scores is in the range of 160–760.
- Both sections contribute equally to the total score.
How the Section Scores Are Calculated
All test questions are first scored as correct or incorrect. The difficulty level and other qualities of each question (such as how well it differentiates skill level or how easy it is to guess on a question), as well as whether you got the question right or wrong, are taken into account when calculating your raw score. Every test conforms to a standardized specification of question types and qualities, so all students have an equitable opportunity to demonstrate their strengths.
The College Board sends PSAT/NMSQT scores to:
- Schools
- Districts (in many cases)
- States (in many cases)
National Merit Scholarship Corporation
College Board sends PSAT/NMSQT scores to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), the test’s cosponsor.
Other Programs
PSAT/NMSQT scores are automatically sent to these scholarship and recognition programs:
- National Hispanic Recognition Program
- National Scholarship Service
- Telluride Seminar Scholarships
If you don't want your scores released to these organizations, write to the PSAT/NMSQT program by October 31 at this address:
P.O. Box 6720
Princeton, NJ 08541-6720
Colleges Don't Receive Scores
College Board does not send PSAT/NMSQT scores to colleges.
These scores are not intended to be part of college admission decisions. They should not be included on student transcripts that will be reproduced and sent to colleges unless the student (if 18 or older) or their parent/guardian has granted permission.
You're allowed to withhold scores from college admission and athletic offices, even when colleges ask for them.
BigFuture School
BigFuture School is a free mobile app that lets you view scores and get customized career information and guidance about planning and paying for college. When you take the PSAT/NMSQT, you may have the opportunity to share your mobile phone number with us. After you complete the test, we'll text you a link to download the app, send you a code you'll use to sign in, and let you know when your scores are ready. We won't use your phone number for any other reason.
Note: BigFuture School is only available to students 13 and older who are testing in the U.S.
Connect Students to Career Possibilities
Data from the SAT Suite of Assessments allows students to explore careers matched to their skills and interests.
College Board has created a way to make the SAT Suite of Assessments (SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and the PSAT 8/9) even more useful to students through the development of a data-driven “matchmaking” algorithm that allows for personalized career exploration matched to a student’s academic skills and interests.
How it Works
Insight into Hundreds of Jobs
We worked with researchers at HumRRO to map SAT Suite scores to the occupational descriptors of jobs, using the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database.
Covering the entire U.S. economy, O*NET is the nation’s primary source of up-to-date occupational information, including each occupation’s knowledge, skill, and ability (KSA) descriptor.
Mapping SAT Data to Occupational KSAs
Industrial organizational psychologists identified which KSAs were related to SAT Suite Reading, Writing, and Math sections and retained only those KSAs that were strongly related to what an assessment measures. This ensures that each KSA tied to an assessment is distinct, in order to provide a more meaningful matching experience for students.
Then they evaluated the importance of each KSA to success in a specific job, and the minimum academic skills needed for it. Finally, they mapped assessment score levels onto O*NET KSA level ratings to create a brand-new algorithm that connects scores with occupational skill readiness.
Benefits to Students
With an SAT Suite score, students are able to identify jobs that may be a good fit based on how their assessment performance aligns to the quantitative and literacy specifications of a career.
For students who already aspire to a certain occupation, they can create a road map for skills to improve and get recommendations on classes to take in both high school and college.
College Board Career Exploration Tool
We are committed to providing every student with free, high-quality guidance on life after high school. BigFuture Career Search is a set of personalized career exploration tools that help students discover potential careers based on their interests, skills, and localized labor market information. Learn more at bigfuture.org/explore-careers.
Take the Career Quiz to get personalized career suggestions in just minutes. You’re more likely to be happy and successful in your work when your job matches your interest areas. Take this easy, 15-minute quiz to get matched with careers based on your likes and dislikes.
We know that discovering a career is a driving force as you make decisions about your future. And as you think about your career goals and what you’ll do after high school, you’ll begin uncovering what you like, your skills, the opportunities available to you, and the steps you need to take to reach your goals. To help with that, we’ve included Career Insights on your PSAT score report—a snapshot of in-demand jobs in your state that can get you thinking about what you may like to do in the future. The careers listed are not the only ones available in your state or the only ones you should consider for yourself, but use them as a starting point to explore what interests you most. Each job on your score report:
- are fast-growing careers in your state.
- vary widely to reflect careers across interest areas (Doers, Thinkers, Creators, Helpers, Persuaders, and Organizers).
- requires some form of education after high school.
- pays a living wage.
To learn more about careers, and see careers based on your interests, you can find resources on BigFuture. The site offers a free career quiz—a 10-minute quiz that helps match your likes, dislikes, and interests to a list of 30 career options to explore.
Find time to talk with your school counselor or a teacher who can help support you through the exploration process and answer questions about the career information on your score report or general questions about planning for your life after high school.