GED Score Calculator: Did You Pass? See What Your Scores Mean

Four scores. One big question: did you pass?

The catch? GED scores don’t work like school grades. There’s no total, no average and no letter grade, so it’s easy to misread where you stand.

So in this guide you’ll get:

• A calculator that checks all four scores at once
• A plain-English chart of what each score level means
• How much college credit a high score can earn
• An unofficial GED-to-GPA estimate, with the math shown

Here are the rules in one breath. Each subject is scored from 100 to 200, and you pass with 145 or higher in all four.

Higher scores add something extra in that subject: 165–174 is College Ready, and 175–200 is College Ready + Credit. These levels come from GED Testing Service’s scores page.

Let’s start with the calculator.

Scale, per subject

100–200

Passing score

145 in each

College Ready

165–174

Ready + Credit

175–200

Check your four scores

Each subject starts at 145, the passing score. Swap in your real results, or the scores you’re aiming for. The results update as you type.

Haven’t taken the real math test yet? Our free full-length practice test gives you an estimated score band on the same scale. The passing score page explains why a practice test can only give a range.

GED score chart: the four levels

The same four levels apply to every subject: Math, Reasoning Through Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.

Each subject gets its own level, a bit like separate grades for separate classes. It’s common to be College Ready in Language Arts and just passing in math.

What’s a good GED score? (145 is)

If you’re worried your scores aren’t “good enough,” here’s the plain answer: 145 in every subject is a good score.

Think of a driver’s license. Nobody asks whether you passed the road test by one point or twenty. The credential you get with four 145s is the same one you get with four 200s.

For a job or training program that asks for a high school diploma or equivalent, clearing 145 is all that counts. Aiming higher pays off if you’re going to college.

College Ready scores (165–174)

A score here means you have the skills to start college-level courses in that subject. Some colleges use it to let you skip their placement test or remedial classes.

That matters more than it sounds. Remedial classes cost time and money, and they usually don’t count toward a degree. Reaching 165 can save you a semester.

College Ready + Credit (175–200)

At 175 and above, you may be eligible for college credit. GED Testing Service lists up to 3 credits each in Math, Science and Social Studies and 1 in Humanities from Language Arts, for a total of 10.

Each college decides whether to accept them. So ask the admissions office before you count on it.

Is there a GED total score? No

No total counts toward passing. You need 145 or higher on all four subjects.

Picture a door with four locks. Opening three of them doesn’t help while the fourth is still locked. (The older GED let a strong average make up for one weak test. The current test dropped that rule.)

You may see 580 quoted as a total you need. That’s just 4 × 145, so you reach it automatically when you pass every subject.

It doesn’t work the other way around. Scores of 200, 200, 140 and 140 add up to 680 and still don’t earn the credential. The calculator shows the sum for reference only.

GED score to GPA: an honest estimate

There is no official GED-to-GPA conversion. GED Testing Service doesn’t publish one.

Here’s why. A GPA averages grades from many classes over several years. A GED score measures you against one national standard, on one day. It’s like turning your mile time into a gym class grade: both are real, and there’s no single right way to swap one for the other.

If a college or scholarship form asks for a GPA, ask them how they want GED scores reported. For a rough sense of where you stand, the calculator gives an unofficial estimate, worked out below.

How our estimate works, step by step (unofficial)

1. If any subject is below 145, there’s no estimate, because you haven’t passed yet.
2. Otherwise, take the average of the four subject scores.
3. Map that average in straight lines between four anchor points on the official levels: 145 = 2.0 (passing), 165 = 3.0 (College Ready), 175 = 3.5 (College Ready + Credit) and 200 = 4.0 (the top of the scale).
4. Round to one decimal place.
5. The letter grade uses the usual 4.0 scale: A 4.0, A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0.

The anchor scores are official levels. The GPA values and the straight lines between them are our own choice, and a college will only read your GED this way if it decides to.

The other method you’ll see online

The most common method online divides your average by 200 and multiplies by 4. Scholarship America uses it for scholarship applicants.

It’s quick, but generous at the bottom. A bare pass of 145 comes out as a 2.9, and an average of 100 (the lowest score possible) still gets a 2.0.

Neither method is official. If a form names a method, use that one.

When your scores arrive

Scores are usually ready within 24 hours and can take up to 3 business days. You’ll get an email when they post.

Log in to GED.com and open My Scores. You’ll see each subject’s score and level, plus a list of skills to work on.

Scores don’t expire, so you can pass one subject at a time, the way you might pay off a bill in chunks. States can add their own rules, so check your state policy page if you’re coming back after a long break.

Older GED score scales (before 2014)

If you tested before 2014, or you’re reading an old article, the numbers will look different.

Each GED series had its own scale, and scores can’t be converted from one to another. Here’s how GED Testing Service describes them.

The current test started in 2014 with a passing score of 150 and an “Honors” level at 170. In 2016 those changed to today’s 145, 165 and 175, and most states applied the change back to 2014.

Bottom line: if a page says you need 150 (or 410), it’s out of date.

If one score is holding you back

For most people, it’s math. In a GED Testing Service presentation, about 80% of people who had passed three subjects still needed math.

If that’s you, you’re far from alone. And one subject is a much smaller job than four. Here’s a steady plan:

• Take our full-length practice test to see where you stand and which topics cost you the most.
• Practice those topics in short practice sets, one skill at a time. Good places to start are equations or percents, since they cover a big share of the test.
• When your practice results reach the passing band, check yourself with GED Ready, the official practice test.
• Follow the study guide for a week-by-week plan.