How to Interpret and Find Your Score – GED Test Results
College Exams January 22, 2013Contact your testing center for a transcript of your GED scores. In this article, we teach students how to find and understand their GED test scores.
Passing the GED
The American Council on Education (ACE) created a series of tests to measure the skills that students usually acquire in secondary school; the test series is known as the General Educational Development (GED) exam. Adult without a high school diploma will benefit from the exam that includes reading and writing among the language arts, social studies, mathematics and science.
Most employers and schools in the United States accept GED credentials, which is considered equivalent to a high school diploma (source: ACE; (www.acenet.edu). The American Council on Education monitors the general educational development examination that is administered by individual states at high schools, community colleges, and testing centers.
Once students have taken the GED exam, majority of students are automatically given a score report. An additional transcript of the score can be obtained from the test center by students who make a request via mail or phone. Individuals located outside the United States, military personnel and those who are in correctional centers can obtain a GED transcript request form from the ACE website.
The same procedures will need to be followed by students seeking admission to a university or college; therefore, they will need the test center to send a copy of their GED transcript to the admission office of their selected university or college.
How to Interpret the General Educational Development Score
A separate score is assigned to each section of the GED. Scoring on the tests are conducted in two different ways, a percentile rank ranging from 1-99, and a standard score ranging from 200 to 800. Skills acquired in secondary school are measured on the test; measurements of both scores are conducted in relation to those who have completed high school. The student’s performance is directly compared by the standard score to those high school graduates who took the test while setting the median score for these students at 500. The percentile rank informs students on how many graduating high school seniors scored below or at their score level. For instance, if a test taker earned a 520 on a test and 65% of graduating high school seniors scored 520 or lower, the test taker will earn a 65 percentile ranking score.
Passing Scores
For a passing score in the GED, students must score a minimum of 410 in every content area tests and must register an average score of no less than 450 across the test, thereby getting a total of no less than 2250. Thus, students who are weak in any area are allowed to compensate for it with strengths in another. As percentile is a relative ranking mode, it has no minimum passing standard.
GED Test Retake
Content area tests that a student did not get a passing standard score can be retaken by students two additional times in a calendar year ensuring that the number of test taken in a calendar year by the students does not exceed three. Majority of students will be required to retake the test only in the individual subject areas where they did not get a passing standard score. Such students will get their total score by adding up the scores of the areas they have passed in their first attempt and the passing re-test scores in the other areas.
When students are required to retake tests in one or more GED content areas, they should get in touch with the center where they took the exam. Preparation courses and online practice tests are also offered to students who want to pursue GED study options.
