TSI scores: the 910-990 scale, the benchmarks and what yours means

The 910-990 scale belongs to the TSIA2, introduced in January 2021. If you see scores like 350 or 351 on an older report, they come from the original TSI Assessment, which used a 310-390 scale. Colleges still honour many older results, but the benchmarks are different, so check which version a score came from.

Your score depends on how many questions you got right and how hard they were. Because the test is adaptive, it is not a simple percentage, and no published table turns a number right into a scale score. That is why our practice test reports percent right and a practice band, never a 910-990 number.

The benchmarks are the same at every Texas public college, because they are set for the state. That makes TSI status portable: once you are college ready in a subject, another Texas public college should accept it.

If your CRC score is below the benchmark, the TSIA2 gives you a diagnostic test in that subject: 48 questions that look at each skill area more closely. The result is a level, and the lower the level, the more support the college is likely to recommend, from adult basic education at the bottom to a corequisite course alongside the college-level class near the top.

The exact course for each level is your college's decision. Ask your advisor for the placement chart, and ask whether a corequisite option is available: in many Texas colleges you can take the college-level course and a support course in the same semester rather than one after the other.

A strong multiple-choice score does not make up for a weak essay, and the other way round: you need both. That is the most common surprise on TSI score reports, where a student with an ELAR score of 960 is still not college ready because the essay came back as a 4. The TSI essay page explains the scoring and a plan that reaches 5.

If you are close, a retest after a week of targeted review is often the cheapest route. Find your weakest category with the free TSI practice test and work through how to pass the TSI.

Scores usually need to be from the last five years and sent officially. The TSI test guide lists the other exemptions, including military service and previous college credit.

Use practice scores to compare yourself with yourself. If your algebra drill moves from 50% to 85% over a week, that category is no longer what stands between you and 950, whatever your exact scale score turns out to be.

Florida colleges use a different test with a different scale: the PERT runs from 50 to 150. If you are comparing states, see PERT scores.