Free SAT Tool

Is a 1280 a Good SAT Score?

A 1280 SAT total is higher than about 83% of the user group of recent test takers, and about 89% of the nationally representative study group, according to College Board percentile data. It concords to an ACT Composite score of 27 *.

National Percentile
89
User Group Percentile
83
ACT Equivalent
27 *

Verdict: Strong

Try a different score

National
--
User group
--
ACT
--

--

Open this score's page Set as my goal

How this verdict is computed

This verdict is computed directly from the user-group percentile using a fixed rule, not a guess:

  • 90th percentile or higher: Excellent
  • 75th-89th percentile: Strong
  • 50th-74th percentile: Above average
  • 25th-49th percentile: Below average
  • Below 25th percentile: Low

Use our College Finder to compare a 1280 SAT score against the middle-50% SAT ranges published by individual colleges.

Nearby scores

SAT Total Score Percentiles (scores near 1280)
SAT Total National Percentile User Group Percentile
1330 93 88
1320 93 87
1310 92 86
1300 91 85
1290 90 84
1280 89 83
1270 88 82
1260 87 81
1250 86 80
1240 85 79
1230 84 78
← 1290 SAT 1270 SAT →

SAT to ACT conversion

See the full 1280 SAT to ACT conversion page for the official concordance table and nearby ACT scores.

Frequently asked questions

Is a 1280 SAT score good?

A 1280 SAT total is higher than about 83% of the user group of recent test takers, and about 89% of the nationally representative study group, according to College Board percentile data. Using the user-group percentile, that puts a 1280 in the "strong" range.

What ACT score is equal to a 1280 SAT?

A 1280 SAT total concords to an ACT Composite score of 27, according to the official 2018 College Board and ACT concordance tables.

What colleges accept a 1280 SAT score?

Use our College Finder to compare a 1280 SAT score against the middle-50% SAT ranges published by individual colleges.

Source: College Board SAT percentiles, https://research.collegeboard.org/reports/sat-suite/understanding-scores/sat (checked 2026-09-23). Nationally representative percentiles are derived from a research study of U.S. students in 11th and 12th grade and are weighted to represent all U.S. students in those grades, regardless of whether they typically take the SAT. User group percentiles are based on the actual SAT scores of students that graduated in the past three school years.