What is a good SSAT score? Averages by grade

The official sources checked do not give a universal “good” SSAT score or cutoff. So the question has to be answered a different way: how does your child’s total compare with other students in the same grade, and what do the schools on your list expect?

Two numbers on the report help. The total score, and the percentile.

Average SSAT total score by grade

These averages come from EMA’s 2022–23 Interpretive Guide for the Middle and Upper Level SSATs, based on first-time test takers from August 2018 to July 2022. (EMA merged with ERB in early March 2026 to form E3n; both the SSAT and the ISEE continue.)

Grade	Level	Total score range	Average total
5	Middle	1320–2130	1803
6	Middle	1320–2130	1867
7	Middle	1320–2130	1910
8	Upper	1500–2400	2006
9	Upper	1500–2400	2036

Read down the column you need, not across it. Middle Level (grades 5–7) and Upper Level (grades 8–11) use different scales, so a 1910 in 7th grade and a 2006 in 8th grade are not two steps on one ladder. The guide covers only the Middle and Upper Levels, so it gives no averages for the Elementary SSAT (grades 3–4). The averages shown here cover grades 5–9; Upper Level serves grades 8–11.

The guide is a few years old, and averages may have changed since. Treat these as a reference point.

Section averages, grades 8 and 9

The same guide breaks the total into sections for the two Upper Level grades it reports. Upper Level section scores run 500–800.

Section	Grade 8 average	Grade 9 average
Verbal	666	672
Quantitative	683	701
Reading	657	663
Total	2006	2036

These rest on 44,034 eighth graders and 7,796 ninth graders. Quantitative averages highest of the three in both grades; reading averages lowest.

The 25-minute writing sample is unscored, so it is not part of the total.

Compare with the average on your child’s report

Every SSAT score report prints the average score for your child’s grade, for each section and for the total. When the report arrives, compare against the average on the page in front of you first.

For when that happens, see when SSAT scores come out.

What the percentile really compares

Percentiles run from 1 to 99. The comparison group is narrower than parents often assume. Your child is compared with:

• students in the same grade, using the grade entered at registration rather than the grade on the account profile
• first-time test takers only — a student’s first SSAT is the one that counts toward the norms
• students who took a Standard paper Saturday SSAT
• students in the US or Canada
• students from roughly the past three years

That is why a percentile can land lower than a family expects. E3n says SSAT percentiles can look lower than other test results because SSAT test takers are a small, highly competitive group applying to selective independent schools. E3n also warns against comparing an SSAT percentile with a percentile from any other test. A 60th percentile on the SSAT and a 60th percentile on a school-wide state test are not measuring against the same students.

How to judge your child’s score

1. Confirm the level. Grades 3–4 take Elementary, 5–7 Middle, 8–11 Upper. The scale changes with the level — see which SSAT level your child should take and the full score ranges by level.
2. Compare the total with the grade average printed on the report. Above, below, or close to it.
3. Read the percentile with the comparison group in mind. Same grade, first-time takers, Standard paper, US and Canada.
4. Look at the section scores separately. A total can sit at the average while one section sits well below it. That tells you where to put study time.
5. Ask each school directly. This is the step that actually answers “is this good enough.” E3n says many schools accept either the ISEE or the SSAT, that some areas use only one, and that families should check each school’s requirements — including whether expectations differ by entry grade. Scores can be sent only to E3n members; E3n reports more than 2,300 member schools, community organizations and educational consultants.

If the score is lower than you hoped

There is room to test again in 2026–27. Middle and Upper Level students can take every Standard paper date, one Flex test, one SSAT at Home, and a Prometric test. The About page currently allows one Prometric test and says the limit is expected to rise to two later in fall 2026; the handbook lists two. Elementary students can take up to two Standard tests and one Flex.

Keep in mind that only the first test counts toward the percentile norm group. Ask each school which scores it will consider before registering for another sitting.

Deciding between the two tests in the first place? See SSAT vs ISEE.