ACT to SAT conversion: a 30 ACT is a 1370 SAT (full table)

As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.

A 30 on the ACT is a 1370 on the SAT. That number comes from the official 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance Tables, which ACT and the College Board built together. A 25 on the ACT is a 1210. A 20 is a 1040. The whole table runs from ACT 36 down to ACT 9, and every row of it is printed below.

The official table, ACT 36 down to ACT 9

This is Table A2 of the official concordance, in full. The middle column is the single SAT total that matches each ACT composite. The right column is the SAT range the table gives for that composite.

ACT compositeSAT totalSAT range
3615901570 to 1600
3515401530 to 1560
3415001490 to 1520
3314601450 to 1480
3214301420 to 1440
3114001390 to 1410
3013701360 to 1380
2913401330 to 1350
2813101300 to 1320
2712801260 to 1290
2612401230 to 1250
2512101200 to 1220
2411801160 to 1190
2311401130 to 1150
2211101100 to 1120
2110801060 to 1090
2010401030 to 1050
191010990 to 1020
18970960 to 980
17930920 to 950
16890880 to 910
15850830 to 870
14800780 to 820
13760730 to 770
12710690 to 720
11670650 to 680
10630620 to 640
9590590 to 610

Take one row as an example. On the official table a 30 on the ACT is a 1370 on the SAT, and the table also gives a range of 1360 to 1380. To go the other way, find the range that holds your student's SAT total and read the ACT composite on that row. A 1265 sits in the 1260 to 1290 range, so it lines up with an ACT 27.

One gap is honest to name. The ACT composite runs from 1 to 36, but the official table publishes an SAT value only for composites 9 through 36. There is no official SAT score for an ACT composite of 1 through 8, so we do not print one. The source does not state it.

Why a table from 2018 is still the right one

Our own ACT-to-SAT page here is from June 2018. You can still read it: the 2018 conversion post. A parent who lands on an eight-year-old page reasonably wonders whether the numbers went stale. They did not. It is the page that is old, not the table.

ACT and the College Board finished the concordance study in 2018 and released the tables that year. The companion guide is dated June 13, 2018. Nothing has replaced them since.

The digital SAT is the part that worries parents most, and it changes nothing here. The College Board studied the new test against the old one and reported a "straight-line concordance between our paper-based and digital assessment scores." Its own conclusion was that "scores from the digital SAT can be used in the same manner as scores from the paper and pencil exam." The 400 to 1600 scale did not move, so the ACT table did not need to.

So is the 2018 table still current? Yes. The College Board score-comparison page for colleges still lists the 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance Tables and no newer table, and its 2023 study confirmed a straight-line concordance between the paper and digital SAT scales.

What the table does not do

A concordance lines up scores. It does not predict one. The College Board says so plainly: "a concorded score isn't a perfect prediction of how a student would perform on the other test." A 1370 does not mean your student would sit the ACT tomorrow and walk out with a 30.

What a matched pair does mean is rank. The College Board asks readers to "Interpret concorded scores as scores with the same rank within a group of students who take the tests at approximately the same time." A 1370 and a 30 sat in the same place among students who took both tests.

Colleges are told not to lean on the conversion by itself either. The same page says: "Instead of making decisions based solely on a concorded score, use multiple reliable and valid measures."

Here is the sentence that matters most. The right move is not to convert a score. It is to sit both tests once and prepare for the one that fits. The concordance tells you how a college reads the score your student already has. It does not tell you which test your student should take.

The section scores convert too

The composite is not the only table in that PDF. SAT Math, scored 200 to 800, lines up against ACT Math, scored 1 to 36, in Tables B1 and B2. SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing lines up against a combined ACT English plus Reading score in Tables C1 and C2. That combined scale runs from 2 to 72, and no score report shows it on its own.

Can a score actually move?

Here is what our own students average. Students who start above 1350 gain 120 points (1400 to 1520). Students who start at 1350 or below gain 190 (1210 to 1400). Among the students who start at 1350 or below, 63% gain 200 points or more. Published research puts a typical retest-with-prep gain near 30 SAT points (Briggs, 2009). The cohorts and the method are on our results page.

An average is not a promise. Your student may land above it or below it. Read those numbers next to the table above. The 1210 that group starts at sits on the ACT 25 row, and the 1400 they average by the end sits on the ACT 31 row.

The move

This month, have your student sit one full-length practice SAT and one full-length practice ACT. Do not convert a score to make the choice. Sit both. The better fit is usually clear once both are on paper. Both mocks are free: prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step. A junior in the 2026-27 school year, who applies to college in the fall of 2027, still has room for a spring sitting and a fall sitting. Block the weeks for one test and work the whole thing. Or call 949.229.5359 and we will map it with you.

Questions parents ask

What SAT score is the same as a 30 on the ACT?

On the official table a 30 on the ACT is a 1370 on the SAT, and the table also gives a range of 1360 to 1380.

Is the 2018 table still current for the digital SAT?

Yes. The College Board score-comparison page for colleges still lists the 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance Tables and no newer table, and its 2023 study confirmed a straight-line concordance between the paper and digital SAT scales.

Should my student convert a score or take both tests?

The right move is not to convert a score. It is to sit both tests once and prepare for the one that fits.

Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.

Sources

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