FAQs

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Both scores reflect your overall performance on the examination. The number of test items you answered correctly is converted to two equivalent scores, one on a 3-digit score scale and one on a 2-digit score scale. Both scales are used for score reporting purposes.

On the 3-digit scale, most scores fall between 140 and 260. The mean score for first-time examinees from accredited medical schools in the United States is in the range of 200 to 220, and the standard deviation is approximately 20. Your score report includes the mean and standard deviation for recent administrations of the Step.

Score information for each Step, including performance data by group, is posted each year for the previous year's examinees:

• Scores and Transcripts Page

The 2-digit score is not a percentile.The 2-digit score is derived from the 3-digit score. It is used in score reporting to meet requirements of some medical licensing authorities that the passing score be reported as 75. The 2-digit score is derived in such a way that a score of 75 always corresponds to the minimum passing score.

The profiles appear only on the second page of your individual Step score report. They are provided as an assessment tool for your benefit and will not be reported or verified to any third party. The profiles summarize relative areas of strength and weakness to aid in self assessment. Please consult page 2 of your score report for further information on what the profiles mean and how to interpret them.

Percentiles are not provided in connection with USMLE scores. The calculation and provision of data to be used to rank or make comparisons among examinees is inconsistent with the primary goal of USMLE, which is to provide a series of assessments and recommendations for minimum passing requirements to the state licensing authorities to support decisions about initial licensure.  Furthermore, normative data such as percentiles are easily misinterpreted because, as the examinee group changes across time, the correspondence between percentile values and examinee ability can change.  For these reasons, USMLE does not report percentiles. 

Under current procedures, the scores for each administration of a USMLE Step are equated so that a given three-digit score represents essentially the same level of examinee performance for that Step, and this holds true across years. In other words, a score of 200 on one administration of a Step indicates a comparable level of examinee performance as a score of 200 on any other administration of the same Step. This equivalence holds even if the pass-fail standard is changed, which permits comparing performance across time.

It is important also to remember that the two-digit score, also reported for USMLE, is not a percentile and is not fully equated like the three-digit score. The two-digit score is a total test score that is designed to meet the requirements of some state licensing authorities. The two-digit score scale is one on which a 75 is always the minimum passing score. A given two-digit score may represent a different level of performance if the two administrations were subject to different pass/fail standards.

The 3-digit score is calculated using statistical procedures that ensure that scores from different years are on a common scale and have the same meaning. Performance data from previous years are available: Scores and Transcripts Page.

The USMLE program recommends a minimum passing score for each Step. Each of the minimum passing scores corresponds to answering 60-70% of the items correctly. Performance standards for USMLE are based on a specified level of proficiency. As a result, no predetermined percentage of examinees will pass or fail the examination. The passing scores are reviewed periodically and may be adjusted without notice prior to score reporting. See Minimum Passing Scores on USMLE Step Examinations and USMLE Bulletin: Scoring and Score Reporting.

The content-based standard used for setting the passing score means that as many as 100% of candidates could theoretically pass, or conceivably 0%. The number is not arbitrarily predetermined. Similarly, the pass rate can vary from one accredited medical school in the United States to another, and from one year to another. Recent performance data for first-time takers and repeaters for each Step are available: Scores and Transcripts Page.

For accredited medical schools in the United States and Canada, performance by medical school is reported by NBME only to individual schools and is available only from those schools. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) has responsibility for reporting scores for students and graduates of international medical schools.

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