The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB test--also known as the AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test). This is the score used by the recruiter to determine a potential recruit’s enlistment eligibility, assign a recruit to a military jobs, and aid students in career exploration. The AFQT is actually a subset of the ASVAB - only with scores of four of the ten test sections calculated.

 

The AFQT  is made up of the following test sections:

Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), and Mathematics Knowledge (MK). Scores on the AFQT are used to determine your eligibility for enlistment in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps. The other six test scores on the ASVAB tests are used to determine the best job for you in the military as your grades will demonstrate knowledge, skill, and interest in certain subjects and tasks. 

Two Types of ASVAB (Pen and Paper, Computerized)

These are sections, or sub-tests, in the ASVAB:  Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), General Science (GS), Mechanical Comprehension (MC), Electronics Information (EI), and Assembling Objects (AO), Auto & Shop Information (AS):  * AI and SI are administered as separate tests in the CAT-ASVAB (computerized version), but combined into one single score (labeled AS).

AI and SI are combined into one test (AS) in the P&P-ASVAB (Pen & Paper) version. Scores on the combined test (AS) are reported for both the CAT-ASVAB and P&P-ASVAB. 

The full ASVAB test has nine sections in the pen and paper test and ten sections in the computer version (CAT-ASVAB) due to the above Auto Information (AI) and Shop Information (SI) being combined on the computerized version.

 

According to the ASVAB website, scores are now calculated as follows:

AFQT scores are reported as percentiles between 1-99. An AFQT percentile score indicates the percentage of examinees in a reference group that scored at or below that particular score. For current AFQT scores, the reference group is a sample of 18 to 23 year old youth who took the ASVAB as part of a national study conducted in 1997. Thus, an AFQT score of 95 indicates that the examinee scored as well as or better than 95% of the nationally-representative sample of 18 to 23 year olds. An AFQT score of 60 indicates that the examinee scored as well as or better than 60% of the nationally-representative sample.

AFQT scores are divided into categories, as shown in the table below.

AFQT Category	Score Range
I	93-99
Ii	65-92
iiiA	50-64
IIIB	31-49
IVA	21-30
IVB	16-20
IVC	10-15
V	1-9

More Category Groupings of Scores

To determine the AFQT "raw score," first you have to compute your Verbal Expression (VE) score:

VE (Verbal Expression) = Scaled Score of WK+PC. To get the VE scaled score, add your Word Knowledge (WK) & Paragraph Comprehension (PC) score together, then use the below chart:

WK+PC	VE Score	WK+PC	VE Score
0-3	20	28-29	42
4-5	21	30-31	44
6-7	22	32-33	45
8-9	22	34-35	47
10-11	25	36-37	49
12-13	27	38-39	50
14-15	29	40-41	52
16-17	31	42-43	54
18-19	32	44-45	56
20-21	34	46-47	58
22-23	36	48-49	60
24-25	38	50	62
26-27	40

The AFQT Equation (AFQT = 2VE + AR +MK)

The Overall ASVAB Score (AFQT Score) is a "percentile score."

To compute your AFQT score, the military takes your Verbal Expression score (VE) and doubles it. They then add it to your Mathematics Knowledge (MK) and Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) raw scores. The AFQT Raw Score is computed with the formula AFQT = 2VE + AR + MK.

You can't use the AR and MK score shown on your ASVAB Score Sheet. The Score Sheet shows "number correct" for your AR and MK Scores, because "number correct" is what is used for job qualifications. However, the military does not use this same score when computing the AFQT. They use the "weighted scores" of the ASVAB sub-tests for AR and MK. Harder questions in these areas get more points than easier questions. The "weighted scores" for AR and WK are not listed on the ASVAB score sheet given to you after the test.

The "raw score" is then compared to the below chart to determine overall score.

Standard Score	Percentile (AFQT)	Standard Score	Percentile (AFQT)
80-120	1	204	50
121-124	2	205	51
125-127	3	206	52
128-131	4	207-208	53
132-134	5	209	54
135-137	6	210	55
138-139	7	211	56
140-142	8	212	57
143-144	9	213	58
145-146	10	214	59
147-148	11	215	61
149-150	12	216	62
151-153	13	217	63
154	14	218	64
155-156	15	219	65
157-158	16	220	66
159-160	17	221	67
161-162	18	222	68
163-164	19	223	69
165	20	224	70
166-167	21	225	71
168-169	22	226	72
170-171	23	227	73
172	24	228	74
173-174	25	229	75
175	26	230	76
176-177	27	231	77
178	28	232	78
179-180	29	233	79
181	30	234	80
182	31	235	81
183-184	32	236	82
185	33	237	83
186	34	238-239	84
187-188	35	240	85
189	36	241	86
190	37	242	87
191	38	243	88
192	39	244	89
193	40	245	90
194	41	246	91
195-196	42	247	92
197	43	248	93
198	44	249	94
199	45	250	95
200	46	251	96
201	47	252	97
202	48	253	98
203	49	254-320	99

* Highest Score is the best scores in the nation.