PSAT Scoring Chart: Questions Correct to Score

Q: How many questions do I need right for a 1400?

About 84 of 98 on this model, split roughly evenly between the two sections.

Roughly how a raw score turns into a scaled section score on the digital PSAT/NMSQT. Use it to see what a practice test result is worth before your official report arrives.

The chart

Questions correct	Reading & Writing score	R&W accuracy	Math score
0	160	0	0
2	240	4	5
4	280	7	9
6	310	11	14
8	340	15	18
10	370	19	23
12	390	22	27
14	420	26	32
16	440	30	36
18	460	33	41
20	480	37	45
22	500	41	50
24	520	44	55
26	540	48	59
28	560	52	64
30	580	56	68
32	590	59	73
34	610	63	77
36	630	67	82
38	640	70	86
40	660	74	91
42	670	78	95
44	690	81	100
46	700	85	—
48	720	89	—
50	730	93	—
52	750	96	—
54	760	100	—

The Math column stops at 44 questions; the Reading and Writing column continues to 54. Scores are on the 160–760 section scale, reported in 10-point steps.

Landmarks worth memorising

Target	Typical split	Questions correct
1000 total	22 + 18	40
1200 total	33 + 27	60
1400 total	45 + 37	82
1500 total	52 + 43	95
Selection Index 208 (Commended)	44 + 37	81
Perfect total	54 + 44	98

The shape of this table is the whole lesson: the first twenty questions buy you almost nothing, the last ten buy you an enormous amount. Scoring is steepest at the top, which is why pushing a 1300 to a 1450 takes a different kind of work than pushing a 900 to a 1050.

Why this is a chart and not a rule

The College Board does not publish a raw-to-scaled conversion table, because each test form is equated separately. The same 40 correct answers can be worth 560 on one form and 570 on another. Any chart that gives you a single fixed number — this one included — is an approximation built from score distributions, not an official lookup.

Two consequences follow. First, use the chart for planning and for sanity-checking a practice test, not for predicting a report to the point. Second, ignore any calculator that claims exactness down to the point; the honest ones all say the same thing this one does.

Reading the two sections differently

The two columns do not have equal value. A Reading and Writing question is worth roughly twice the Selection Index of a Math question, because the index doubles that section before adding it in. In the middle of the range one Reading and Writing question moves the index by about 2 points; one Math question moves it by about 1.

There is a counterweight: the Math section has only 44 questions spread over the same 600-point range, so each individual question is worth more score — which is why a Math miss hurts your total more than a Reading and Writing miss hurts your index. If National Merit is the goal, fix Reading and Writing. If the SAT is the goal, fix whatever is cheaper to fix.

Questions people ask

How many questions do I need right for a 1400?

About 82 of 98 on this model, split roughly evenly between the two sections. Because the scales are steepest at the top, the last few questions matter far more than the first twenty.

Is there a scoring chart PDF from the College Board?

Not in the sense most people mean. The College Board publishes score ranges and percentile tables, not a raw-to-scaled chart, because the conversion changes with each form. Any PDF claiming to be the official chart is a third-party estimate.

Do wrong answers hurt more than blanks?

No. There is no wrong-answer penalty on the digital PSAT, so a blank scores exactly the same as a wrong answer. Guess on everything you cannot finish.

Questions correct	Reading & Writing score	R&W accuracy	Math score
0	160	0	0
2	240	4	5
4	280	7	9
6	310	11	14
8	340	15	18
10	370	19	23
12	390	22	27
14	420	26	32
16	440	30	36
18	460	33	41
20	480	37	45
22	500	41	50
24	520	44	55
26	540	48	59
28	560	52	64
30	580	56	68
32	590	59	73
34	610	63	77
36	630	67	82
38	640	70	86
40	660	74	91
42	670	78	95
44	690	81	100
46	700	85	—
48	720	89	—
50	730	93	—
52	750	96	—
54	760	100	—

Questions correct	Reading & Writing score	R&W accuracy	Math score
0	160	0	0
2	240	4	5
4	280	7	9
6	310	11	14
8	340	15	18
10	370	19	23
12	390	22	27
14	420	26	32
16	440	30	36
18	460	33	41
20	480	37	45
22	500	41	50
24	520	44	55
26	540	48	59
28	560	52	64
30	580	56	68
32	590	59	73
34	610	63	77
36	630	67	82
38	640	70	86
40	660	74	91
42	670	78	95
44	690	81	100
46	700	85	—
48	720	89	—
50	730	93	—
52	750	96	—
54	760	100	—

PSAT Scoring Chart: Questions Correct to Score

The chart

Landmarks worth memorising

Why this is a chart and not a rule

Reading the two sections differently

Questions people ask

Related tools

Questions correct	Reading & Writing score	R&W accuracy	Math score
0	160	0	0
2	240	4	5
4	280	7	9
6	310	11	14
8	340	15	18
10	370	19	23
12	390	22	27
14	420	26	32
16	440	30	36
18	460	33	41
20	480	37	45
22	500	41	50
24	520	44	55
26	540	48	59
28	560	52	64
30	580	56	68
32	590	59	73
34	610	63	77
36	630	67	82
38	640	70	86
40	660	74	91
42	670	78	95
44	690	81	100
46	700	85	—
48	720	89	—
50	730	93	—
52	750	96	—
54	760	100	—