PSAT Score Calculator
Put in the number of questions you answered correctly and get your estimated section scores, total score, and National Merit Selection Index — plus where that index stands against the Semifinalist cutoff in your own state.
Count every question you got right, blanks included as wrong.
Estimated total score
How the PSAT is scored
The digital PSAT/NMSQT is a 98-question test split into two sections, and each section is split again into two timed modules. Your first module performance decides how hard the second module is, which is why two students who answered the same number of questions correctly can end up with different scores.
| Section | Questions | Time | Score range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading & Writing | 54 | 64 min | 160–760 |
| Math | 44 | 70 min | 160–760 |
| Total | 98 | 2 h 14 min | 320–1520 |
Each section score is reported in 10-point steps between 160 and 760. The two are added for your total. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so an unanswered question and a missed question cost exactly the same thing — never leave a blank.
Why the Selection Index is not your total divided by ten
National Merit does not use your total score. It uses the Selection Index, which double-counts Evidence-Based Reading and Writing:
The scale runs from 48 to 228. The maximum comes from a perfect 760 + 760, which gives 228 — the same as a perfect 1520 total.
Because Reading and Writing is weighted twice, the split matters as much as the total. Two students with an identical 1400 total are not in the same place:
| Reading & Writing | Math | Total | Selection Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| 700 | 700 | 1400 | 210 |
| 760 | 640 | 1400 | 216 |
| 640 | 760 | 1400 | 204 |
Same total, six points of Selection Index between the first two rows — enough to be the difference between Commended and Semifinalist in several states. If National Merit is your goal, a lopsided score is worth converting before you decide what to fix.
What Selection Index you actually need
For the Class of 2027 — the most recent final numbers, published in September 2026 — the national Commended level is 208 and state Semifinalist cutoffs run from 208 to 223:
| Selection unit | Class of 2027 | Class of 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Highest: New Jersey, District of Columbia, students abroad | 223 | 225 |
| Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Washington | 221 | 224–225 |
| California, Connecticut, New York | 220 | 223–224 |
| Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, Florida | 216–219 | 219–222 |
| Lowest: Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming | 208 | 210–215 |
| National Commended level | 208 | 210 |
Where these numbers come from
The College Board does not publish a fixed raw-to-scaled table, because every test form is equated separately — the same raw score can land on a slightly different scaled score from one administration to the next. This page uses a smooth conversion curve fitted to the published score distributions and to the section-level means in the College Board's 2026 SAT Suite Annual Report (mean total 950, Reading and Writing 484, Math 466 across all PSAT takers; juniors averaged 1000). Treat the output as an estimate within roughly 10–20 points per section, not as your official score.
Everything on the National Merit side is tied to a real published number: the state cutoffs above are the final Class of 2027 figures released in September 2026. The Selection Index formula is exact.