ISEE scores explained: scaled scores, percentiles and stanines
The ISEE reports three numbers for each of its four scored sections: a scaled score from 760 to 940, a percentile rank from 1 to 99 and a stanine from 1 to 9. There is no total score and no pass mark. The essay is not scored. Our full practice tests show raw scores and an estimated, unofficial scaled range, with no percentile or stanine.
Updated October 31, 2026 · by AdmitTest
What is on the score report
From E3n's score reports page and the Upper Level guide (2021):
| Number | What it is | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Raw score | The number of correct answers in a section. No points off for a wrong answer. Unscored questions do not count. | 0 to the scored count |
| Scaled score | Made from the raw score, so it means the same across different versions of the test. The range is the same at all levels. | 760 to 940 |
| Percentile rank | Against independent-school applicants to the same grade (not the same level) over the past three years. | 1 to 99 |
| Stanine | A wider band made from the percentile. | 1 to 9 |
| Analysis by question type | Items correct, wrong, omitted and not reached, for example synonyms against sentence completions. | counts |
The report covers the four multiple-choice sections. The essay gets no score. Results take 3-5 days online and 5-10 days on paper for grades 5-12.
How percentiles become stanines
From the Upper Level guide. Stanines 4-6 cover the middle 54 percentile points.
| Stanine | Percentile rank |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1-3 |
| 2 | 4-10 |
| 3 | 11-22 |
| 4 | 23-39 |
| 5 | 40-59 |
| 6 | 60-76 |
| 7 | 77-88 |
| 8 | 89-95 |
| 9 | 96-99 |
What counts as a good ISEE score?
There is no pass or fail: the guide says no cutoff score is recommended. We have found no published school cut-offs we could cite, so we do not repeat numbers from forums. Ask the admissions office of each school.
Keep in mind who is in the comparison group. These are independent-school applicants, so the guide says percentiles run 10 to 40 points lower than on tests with national norms. A percentile that looks low next to a school test may not mean what it seems.
E3n publishes a few cut points by grade. As an example, these are the Upper Level Verbal figures in the 2021 guide, based on 2018-2019 norms. They are published figures about past applicants, not an estimate of your child; each section and level has its own in the guides.
| Applying to | 25th percentile | 50th percentile | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 867 | 879 | 893 |
| Grade 10 | 867 | 882 | 895 |
| Grade 11 | 870 | 884 | 898 |
| Grade 12 | 870 | 884 | 897 |
How our estimated, unofficial range is made
After a full practice test, our report shows the raw score by section and skill and an estimated, unofficial scaled range for each section. Here is the whole method, so you can judge it:
- The starting points. Each What to Expect guide has conversion tables for its own practice test, giving a 30-point range for each raw score. We use only the two ends of each table, moved 15 points inward to the middle of the range. We do not copy the tables.
- Scale to the real count. All questions count on our forms, but the real test scores fewer. So we convert: at Upper Level Verbal, right answers out of 40 become right answers out of 35.
- A straight line. We join the two ends with a straight line and read off the score. The published tables are not perfectly straight; the line is our simplification.
- Round and widen. We round to the nearest 10 and show plus or minus 15, the same 30-point width as the published ranges, kept inside 760 to 940.
Example, Upper Level Verbal: 24 of 40 right becomes 21 of 35, the line gives about 886, which rounds to 890, and the report shows an estimated 875 to 905.
| Published ends, raw 0 to all right (their practice test, 2021) | Verbal | Quantitative | Reading | Math |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper | 807-943 | 811-947 | 797-938 | 811-951 |
| Middle | 776-921 | 794-932 | 764-922 | 805-937 |
| Lower | 754-911 | 767-912 | 761-914 | 782-907 |
A few Upper Level ends run a little above 940 in the published tables. Our estimated range always stays inside 760 to 940.
What the estimate cannot tell you
- It is not your child's ISEE score. Our forms are written by us and are not equated to the real test. A hard or easy form of ours moves the estimate, and we cannot correct for that.
- The source is old and for a different test. The tables are from 2021 and belong to the guide's own practice test. The guide itself says that practice test cannot be equated exactly with the real ISEE.
- No percentile and no stanine. We never show either from our tests. They depend on recent applicants to your child's grade, and those tables are not published.
- No estimate without enough answers. A section with under 5 answers gets none, and the short quick tests show raw scores only.
- No total. The ISEE has none, so we show none.
What a practice result does tell you well is which skills lost points and where the clock ran out.
Free ISEE practice tests, no sign-up. Every test is timed section by section and ends with the score of each section and skill.
Choose your level and startCommon questions
What is a good ISEE score?
There is no pass mark: the guide says no cutoff is recommended, and schools read the scores in their own way. Stanines 4-6 cover the middle of the group of same-grade applicants, and that group is made up of independent-school applicants, not all students. Ask the schools on your list what they look for.
What is the ISEE scored out of?
Each section gets a scaled score from 760 to 940, at every level. There is no total, so two scores from different sections should not be added up.
Why is my child's ISEE percentile lower than on school tests?
The ISEE compares a student only with independent-school applicants to the same grade over the past three years. The guide says this makes percentiles run 10 to 40 points lower than on tests with national norms.
Is a wrong answer worse than a blank?
No. The raw score is the number of correct answers. A wrong answer and a blank count the same, so answer everything.
How close is your estimated range to the real score?
We do not know, and we cannot measure it. Our forms are not equated to the real test, and the method is a simplification. Use the range as a rough guide and the skill report for what to practice.
Why do you show no percentile or stanine?
E3n publishes no percentile tables for the real test, only a few cut points by grade. A percentile from our forms would stack a second guess on top of the first.