How is the ISEE Scored?
An important part of test preparation is understanding the test itself—the timing, structure, and of course, how the test is scored. On the ISEE, students receive three scores for each section: a scaled score, percentile, and stanine score. What are each of these scores and what do they mean? It can be confusing to know what the difference between these scores are, so we’re here to help break things down.
Note: The Essay section is not scored. Instead, a copy of the essay is sent with the score report to the school recipient.
On the ISEE, the most commonly referenced score is the stanine score. This is also the score most commonly used by admissions teams when reviewing applications. Check out the four steps to calculating stanine scores.
Step 1: The Raw Score
The first step in scoring is calculating a raw score. This is quite simple.
Students receive one point for each correct answer and no points for incorrect answers or unanswered questions.
Tip: Because there is no score penalty for incorrect answers or unanswered questions for Primary, Lower, Middle, and Upper level students, be sure to answer every single question! Answering all of the questions can only increase your chances of a higher score. For the ISEE math sections, try the educated guessing strategy if you find yourself stuck on a question.
Step 2: The Scaled Score
Once a raw score has been calculated for each section, it is converted into a scaled score.
This conversion adjusts for the variation in difficulty between different tests. Thus, a lower raw score on a harder test could give you the same scaled score as a higher raw score on an easier test. This process is called equating.
The scaled score for each section ranges from 760 to 940.
Step 3: The Percentile Score
Next, the percentile score for each section is calculated.
Percentiles compare a student’s scaled score to all other same-grade students from the past three years. This is important to understand because the ISEE is taken by students in a range of grades. The Upper Level ISEE, for instance, is taken by students applying to grades 9-12; however, the percentile score is based only on the performance of other students applying to the same grade. Thus, a student applying to 9th grade will not be compared to a student applying to 12th grade. You can figure out which level of the test you need to take at this link.
Here’s an example to help understand percentile scores: scoring in the 40th percentile indicates that a student scored the same or higher than 40% of students in the same grade but lower than 59% of students. If you’re curious about how your percentile score compares to scores historically accepted by the schools you’re applying to, check our target school scoring data.
Step 4: The Stanine Score
Finally, the percentile is converted into a stanine score.
Notice that the percentile ranges for the middle stanines of 4-6 are far larger than the ranges for the extreme stanines of 1, 2, 8, or 9. This means that most students taking the ISEE achieve scores in the middle ranges. Only the top 4 percent of all test takers receive a stanine of 9 on any given section, while 20 percent of students receive a stanine of 5.
Now that you understand how the ISEE is scored, the next step is to practice so you can achieve your desired scores. Get started with your personalized ISEE prep today!
Originally published on December 30, 2020. Updated on January 8, 2025.
