ACT to SAT Score Converter

ACT to SAT score conversion runs off concordance tables built jointly by College Board and ACT from students who sat both tests. That is an empirical equivalence rather than a formula, which is why the steps between rows are uneven and why no single multiplier reproduces it.

Official concordance, full table. These are the 2018 tables published jointly by ACT and College Board. ACT states plainly that they are not updated annually, so the 2018 release is still the current one.

Approximation formula (for quick estimates when the table is unavailable):

SAT ≈ (ACT × 32) + 400

Across ACT 20 to 34 it never misses the official figure by more than 16 points, and it is usually much closer. The worst case in that range is ACT 27, where it gives 1,264 against the table’s 1,280. It drifts badly at the very top, where the table’s steps widen: at ACT 36 it gives 1,552 against the official 1,590, which is a whole 38 points adrift.

Example: ACT 28 → (28 × 32) + 400 = 1,296. The table says 1,310, a gap of 14 points.

Worked example: ACT composite score: 26 Concordance table equivalent: 1,240 SAT Approximate formula: (26 × 32) + 400 = 1,232 (8 points under the table)

When to use the conversion:

• Checking if your ACT score meets a school’s SAT minimum requirement
• Comparing offers from test prep programs that quote one scale
• Choosing which test to take based on target score benchmarks

Important caveat: individual scores vary a great deal around the table. A student sitting at 1,300 on the SAT might come out at 28 or at 30 on the ACT depending on where their strengths are, because the two tests weight science reasoning and reading speed differently. Concordance describes a population, not a person.

Which way the conversion is lossy

Going ACT to SAT is clean: every ACT composite from 9 to 36 has exactly one row in the table. Going the other way is not. SAT totals are reported in ten-point steps, so there are 121 of them between 400 and 1600 being squeezed onto the 28 ACT points this table covers. Most SAT totals therefore fall between two rows, and the reverse lookup picks the nearest while telling you how far off it landed. Where a score sits exactly halfway between two ACT points this page rounds down, which is the conservative direction when you are checking a score against an admissions minimum.