What is a percentile rank?

• A. Indication of an individual's relative standing in terms of percentage.
• B. The number of items answered correctly.
• C. The average age-equivalent.
• D. The total across two subtests.

Answer: (A)

Percentile rank shows where a person stands within a reference or norm group by expressing the percentage of individuals who scored at or below that score. For example, a 70th percentile means about 70% of the norm group scored at or below that level. This reflects relative position, not how many items were answered correctly (that would be a raw score), not an age-equivalent, and not a simple total across subtests (a composite score). Percentile ranks help clinicians see how a client compares to peers and track change over time.