PSAT Score Range: What the Numbers Mean
320 to 1520, in ten-point steps. Here is what sits inside that range, what the average student scores, and where the line between “fine” and “good” actually falls.
The scale, in one table
| Test | Total range | Per section | Mean total |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSAT/NMSQT (11th grade) | 320–1520 | 160–760 | 1000 |
| PSAT 10 | 320–1520 | 160–760 | — |
| PSAT 8/9 | 240–1440 | 120–720 | — |
| SAT (for comparison) | 400–1600 | 200–800 | — |
All four sit on the same vertical scale — a 500 on the PSAT means the same thing as a 500 on the SAT. The ranges simply start and stop in different places, which is why people mistake them for different scoring systems.
What the average student actually scores
From the College Board's 2026 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report, covering students who tested in the 2025–26 school year:
| Group | Test takers | Mean total | Reading & Writing | Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10 takers | 3,313,347 | 950 | 484 | 466 |
| PSAT/NMSQT only | 2,986,867 | 954 | 486 | 468 |
| 11th grade | 1,401,028 | 1000 | 509 | 491 |
| 10th grade | 1,689,071 | 917 | 467 | 450 |
The gap between sophomores and juniors is about 83 points. That is not talent appearing — it is another year of coursework plus, for many students, the first round of real prep. If you take the test in 10th grade, compare yourself with the 917 line, not the 1000 one.
Bands, and what each one unlocks
| Total | Where that sits | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Below 900 | Below average | Core skills gaps, usually in algebra or reading stamina. The fastest gains live here. |
| 900–1050 | Around average | On track for an SAT in the same band. Nothing broken, nothing distinctive yet. |
| 1060–1200 | Above average | Comfortably ahead of the national mean; a solid base for a 1300+ SAT target. |
| 1210–1350 | Strong | Roughly the top tenth of test takers. Selective college range on the SAT side. |
| 1360–1450 | Very strong | Selection Index around 204–218. Semifinalist in the low-cutoff states, short of it in the highest. |
| 1460–1520 | Top of the scale | Index around 219–228. Semifinalist almost everywhere; the 223 states need roughly 1490 and up. |
These bands are deliberately coarse. A test score is a measurement with a published error band of roughly ±30 points, so a 1180 and a 1200 are not meaningfully different results — treat any comparison inside that window as noise.
The number most people ignore: your score range
Your official report does not show one number per section, it shows a range around it. The College Board's own position is that the range is a better picture of your ability than the single point, because it estimates how much you would vary on another day. If your Selection Index lands one or two points from a cutoff, the range is the reason you should not read the single number as a verdict.