PSAT to SAT Conversion

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There is no PSAT-to-SAT conversion, because none is needed. College Board scores the PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT on a common scale, which means a PSAT total of 1200 already is a 1200 in SAT terms. The only place the two scales part company is at the top, where the PSAT stops at 1520 and the SAT continues to 1600.

Your PSAT score on the SAT scale

Enter your PSAT/NMSQT total. The answer will probably surprise you — and the reason why is the useful part.

Enter your PSAT total above to see it on the SAT scale.

See which skills are costing you the most points →

What “common scale” actually means

The SAT Suite — the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 — is deliberately built so that scores mean the same thing across every test in it. College Board states it plainly:

“The PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT share a common score scale. This means that a PSAT/NMSQT Math score of 500 is similar to an SAT Math score of 500.”

That is the whole answer. The tests share a scale precisely so a student can sit the PSAT in eleventh grade, the SAT later, and compare the two numbers directly. A conversion table would defeat the design.

One word in that quote is worth holding onto: similar. Not identical. College Board is saying the scores measure the same thing on the same scale, not that your PSAT predicts your SAT. Most students sit the SAT months later with more preparation behind them, and the number moves.

The one place the scales genuinely diverge

They share a floor and not a ceiling. PSAT sections run 160–760 against the SAT’s 200–800, so totals stop at 1520 rather than 1600. The PSAT is written for younger students and leaves out the hardest material, so it simply cannot separate the very top scorers from one another.

The practical consequence: if you scored at or near the cap, your PSAT has told you everything it can. A 1520 means “at least 1520” and nothing more precise. That is the only case on this page where the honest answer is a range, and it is the reason the tool above returns one there instead of a tidy number.

Why so many sites publish a conversion table anyway

Because thousands of people search for one every month, and a table looks like a more satisfying answer than “your score is already the answer.” But a table implies a relationship College Board has not published and does not claim. If you find one that turns a PSAT 1200 into some other SAT number, that number came from somebody’s estimate, not from the test maker.

Where these numbers come from

Common scale.
College Board help centre, on PSAT and SAT Math scores and on how the two tests relate. Retrieved 2026-08-07.
Percentile context.
The percentile shown by the tool is a counterfactual — what that number would rank on the SAT, among SAT takers. PSAT percentiles are a different population, mostly juniors, and the two are not interchangeable.
What we do not claim.
We give no average PSAT-to-SAT improvement figure, because no reliable published one exists.

Common questions

How do you convert a PSAT score to an SAT score?
You do not, because there is nothing to convert. College Board scores the PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT on a common scale: "The PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT share a common score scale. This means that a PSAT/NMSQT Math score of 500 is similar to an SAT Math score of 500." A PSAT total of 1200 is already a 1200 in SAT terms. Conversion tables published elsewhere for this are invented.
So my PSAT score is my SAT score?
It is your score on the SAT scale today, which is not the same as what you will get on test day. College Board says the scores are "similar", not identical, and the PSAT is usually taken months earlier with less preparation behind it. Treat it as an accurate starting point rather than a forecast.
Why does the PSAT stop at 1520 when the SAT goes to 1600?
The two tests share a scale but not a ceiling. PSAT sections top out at 760 against the SAT’s 800, so the totals top out at 1520 against 1600. The PSAT is built for younger students and does not include the hardest material, so it cannot distinguish between the very top scorers.
What if I scored 1520 on the PSAT?
Then the scale has run out before you did. A perfect PSAT tells you that you are at least at 1520 on the SAT scale, but not how much further you would go — that is the one case where an honest answer is a range rather than a number.
How much do students usually improve from PSAT to SAT?
There is no reliable published figure, and anyone quoting one precisely is guessing. Improvement depends on how much time sits between the two tests and what you do with it. The more useful question is which specific skills are costing you points now, because that is the part you can act on.

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