Is 1020 a Good SAT Score?

A 1020 is the median of recent SAT takers: 50 in 100 score 1020 or lower. Among all US juniors and seniors, tested or not, it sits at the 52nd percentile, because students who never sit the SAT pull that group down.

Split evenly, a 1020 is about 510 in Reading and Writing and 510 in Math, which on the paper Practice Test 11 table leaves room to miss 25 of 66 and 22 of 54 questions. One step down, a 1010 is at the 48th percentile of SAT takers; one step up, a 1030 is at the 52nd percentile.

The College Board publishes two percentiles for every total. Against recent SAT takers a 1020 is at the 50th percentile; against a research sample of all US 11th and 12th graders it is at the 52nd percentile. The middle of that wider group is 1010, 10 points under your 1020.

On the official ACT and College Board concordance, 1020 falls in the 990 to 1020 band, which matches an ACT composite of 19. See that row on the ACT to SAT conversion chart or see whether 19 is a good ACT score.

On the College Board's paper version of Practice Test 11, an even 510 and 510 takes 41 of 66 Reading and Writing answers and 32 of 54 Math answers, 73 of 120 in all. Moving to 1070 takes about 5 more right answers and passes roughly 8 in 100 SAT takers. Spread any way you like, the table allows at most 65 misses for 1020 and 54 for 1070.

Score a full Bluebook practice test with the SAT score calculator to see which section gives you more points per extra right answer, then aim your next test date at that section; many colleges superscore.

That depends on the college, so we list no admission ranges. To check one, search its name plus "Common Data Set" and open section C9: the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile SAT scores of enrolled first-year students. A 1020 clears the 25th percentile wherever C9 starts at 1020 or lower, beats the middle student where the 50th is under 1020 and reaches the top quarter where the 75th is 1020 or lower. At a test optional college, send your 1020 where the 50th percentile is 1020 or lower and leave it off where the 25th is above 1020.

Some colleges post SAT minimums for merit scholarships on their own aid pages; check whether 1020 clears them, because a retake that does can pay off even where scores are optional. National Merit uses the PSAT/NMSQT, not the SAT: see what a good PSAT score is.

Percentiles: College Board Research, SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles (2026), checked Oct 17, 2026. ACT match: ACT and College Board, 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance Tables, checked Oct 17, 2026. Right answer counts: College Board, Scoring Your SAT Practice Test 11 (paper version of the digital test), 2026, checked Oct 17, 2026.

The guide to a good SAT score reads the same files. Official scores come only from the College Board.