How is the SAT Essay Scored?

The SAT essay is scored on a scale of 0-6 by two professionally trained readers, where zero is the lowest score, and six is the highest. A score of zero is reserved for those few essays that are completely off topic, and a score of 6 signifies a nearly a perfect essay. Readers who score the essays are well aware of the time  constraints placed on test takers and score essays holistically.

Once the two scores have been awarded, they are added together to give a total SAT essay score of 2-12. For example, if Reader A assigns your essay a 4 and Reader B assigns your essay a value of 3, you will receive a score of 7 on your SAT essay. Most essays fall in the range of 2-11.

Adding the scores provides consistency in the rating procedure and prevents essay scorers from assigning values that are either too high or too low. There is an amazing level of consistency when comparing the scores of SAT essays using this procedure. in fact, according to the College Board, fewer than 5% of all SAT essays differ by more than one point. In these rare cases, a third reader is called in to read the essay and make a final determination.

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