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Illinois Grade 10 ELA: what a high-school score means

On Illinois's PreACT Secure, Grade 10 ELA is reported on a scale from 1 to 35 (2025 and 2026), and each score falls into one of 4 performance levels. Reaching Proficient, at 15 or above, is the state's proficiency line.

Grade 9 ELAGrade 10 ELAGrade 11 ELAGrade 9 MathGrade 10 MathGrade 11 MathGrade 9 ScienceGrade 10 ScienceGrade 11 ScienceGrade 11 SAT Reading and WritingGrade 11 SAT Math

Score ranges by performance level (2025 and 2026)

LevelScore rangeWhat it meansStatewide 2026
Below Proficient1–11The lowest level, well below the state standard22%
Approaching Proficient12–14Approaching the state standard25%
Proficient15–25Meeting the state standard (the proficiency line)41%
Above Proficient26–35The highest level, above the state standard12%

How Illinois students scored (2026)

22%25%41%12%

Statewide in 2026, about 54% of the students counted for Grade 10 ELA reached Proficient or Above Proficient. The bar above shows the share at each level (left = lowest).

Who takes this test

SAT (2018 to 2024): the SAT that Illinois gave in school each spring to every 11th grader, counting the 11th graders who received a valid score. Reading and Writing is the SAT's Evidence-Based Reading and Writing section score. Some 12th graders also took it because they had no valid 11th-grade score (about 2,000 to 7,000 a year); they are not counted here (from 2022, ISBE's own spreadsheet download adds them to its school, district and state figures). From 2025: the 11th graders who took the ACT, the 10th graders who took the PreACT Secure and the 9th graders who took the PreACT 9 Secure that spring, each counted in its own grade. Students who take the alternate assessment (DLM-AA) are not included. There was no test in 2020.

More on who is counted, and how: see how we count.

Is a particular score good?

A score's meaning depends on where it lands in the ranges above, and on how it compares to other students who took the same test. Our free tool turns a Grade 10 ELA score into an estimated percentile versus the school, district and the whole state, so you can see where a score stands, not just its level.

Look up a Grade 10 ELA percentile →

Other Illinois high-school tests

Grade 9 ELAGrade 10 ELAGrade 11 ELAGrade 9 MathGrade 10 MathGrade 11 MathGrade 9 ScienceGrade 10 ScienceGrade 11 ScienceGrade 11 SAT Reading and WritingGrade 11 SAT Math
← Grade 9 ELAGrade 11 ELA →
State Test Scores is an independent tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by any state education department or agency. Score ranges are the state's own published cut scores; percentiles are statistical estimates from public performance-level data published by Illinois State Board of Education (Illinois Report Card), not official rankings.
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