Summary of Answers & Skills
Your students' performance on every PSAT/NMSQT test question
The Summary of Answers and Skills (SOAS) report allows you to take a closer, detailed look at your students' academic skills by providing a snapshot of student performance on each PSAT/NMSQT test question. Presented online, the report may be downloaded and easily shared with administrators and faculty at your school beginning in January.
SOAS data
For each grade level that had at least 25 test-takers, you will get a SOAS with:
- Correct answer analysis: Contains a review of your students' performance on each question. Tables and graphs compare your students with college-bound students in your state, nationwide, and a comparable group.
- Incorrect answer analysis: Gives insight into problems students might have had with individual questions and compares answering patterns to those of the state and nation.
- Summary review of skills: Provides information on skills covered in each section of the PSAT/NMSQT, and how your students' skills compared to national and state performance on each skill assessed by the test.
Using the SOAS to improve students' skills
- Compare scores: Compare how your students performed against comparable, national, and state groups on identical test items, identifying those skill areas in need of attention.
- Additional activities: Link classroom activities with the skills the PSAT/NMSQT measures: critical reading, math problem solving, and writing skills (and focus on the weak skills that need improvement).
- Promote discussion: Foster discussion among your school's faculty to implement additional means to develop students' skills and improve their performance before they retake the PSAT/NMSQT or take the SAT®.
Accessing the SOAS
To access the SOAS you'll need to log into the College Board Reports page. When prompted, enter the SOAS access code that is printed in the upper-right corner of the Roster of Student Scores and Plans you'll receive in score report shipments in December.
SOAS resources
The following resources will help you analyze student performance with the SOAS. You will need to log into College Board Reports.
- PSAT/NMSQT Test Question Details (available in both Excel and PDF formats): Lists the correct answer, level of difficulty, question type, and the academic skill tested for each test item.
- PSAT/NMSQT Questions, Answers, and Answer Explanations
- SOAS Tutorial (available as a PowerPoint or PDF)
- PSAT/NMSQT List of Academic Skills