Understanding the New Dental Admission Test (DAT) Score Reporting Scale - Guidelines for Candidates, Admissions Officers, and Pre-health Advisors

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Asher

Beginning March 1, 2025, the American Dental Association’s Department of Testing Services will implement a new Dental Admission Test (DAT) scoring system. The former 1-to-30 scale will be replaced by a 3-digit scale ranging from 200 to 600 in 10-point increments. DAT results will be reported in this new format to ADEA AADSAS and displayed with historical context in the DTS Hub, with earlier results psychometrically converted. The guide explains how to compare old and new scores using a DAT concordance table and how to interpret percentile ranks tied to the updated 3-digit scores.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Changes in Results Reporting

Comparing Scores: The DAT Concordance Table

Interpreting the New 3-Digit DAT Scores: DAT Percentile Ranks

Understanding the New Dental Admission Test (DAT) Score Reporting Scale Guidelines for Candidates, Admissions Officers, and Pre-health Advisors ©2025 American Dental Association. All rights [reserved. | 800.232.1694 | ADA.org/DAT](reserved. | 800.232.1694 | ADA.org/DAT) The Department of Testing Services (DTS) is a shared service of the American Dental Association (ADA) that employs testing professionals and provides professional examination services in all relevant areas (e.g., test design, content development, administration, analysis, and reporting). At the direction of the governing bodies it supports, DTS advises on policy based on testing industry best practices and professional experience, and implements policy for the orderly, secure, and fair administration of examination programs within its charge. You are required to read this Guide before you apply to take the examination. At the time of application, you will be required to confirm that you have read this Guide, understood its contents, and agree to the policies and procedures contained herein. Changes to the Dental Admission Test (DAT®) Program may occur after publication of this Guide. Updated PDFs will be posted to [ADA.org/DAT](ADA.org/DAT. You will be subject)[.](ADA.org/DAT. You will be subject)[ You will be subject](ADA.org/DAT. You will be subject) to the policies and procedures currently in effect at the time of your test administration. Understanding the New Dental Admission Test (DAT) Score Reporting Scale Guidelines for Candidates, Admissions Officers, and Pre-health Advisors Beginning March 1, 2025, the American Dental Association (ADA)’s Department of Testing Services (DTS) will implement a new scoring system for the Dental Admission Test (DAT) . The new scoring system will yield more precise and accurate estimates of candidates’ skills, thereby providing stronger insight into each candidate’s level of preparedness for the rigors of dental school. To continue interpreting DAT results effectively, candidates, admissions officers, and pre-health advisors will need to familiarize themselves with the new reporting scale, and also understand how it relates to the old scale. This guide provides resources to assist these groups in doing so, to help ease this important transition. To learn more about the new DAT scoring system and how it will benefit communities of interest, please [visit](visit ADA.org/DATScoringUpdate)[ ](visit ADA.org/DATScoringUpdate)[ADA.org/DATScoringUpdate](visit ADA.org/DATScoringUpdate). Changes in Results Reporting When the new DAT scoring system is introduced on March 1, 2025, the DAT’s existing score reporting scale (1 to 30) will be replaced by a new 3-digit reporting scale. Under the new 3-digit reporting scale, DAT scores can range from 200 to 600 in 10-point increments (e.g. , 200, 210, 220, etc. ) . DAT results appear in both the DTS Score Reporting System (i.e. , the DTS Hub), and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS) . Dental education programs typically use ADEAAADSAS to review candidate results for admissions purposes. Candidates rely on the DTS Hub so they can view a historical record of their test results. To assist dental program admissions officers and reduce the possibility of interpretational errors, beginning March 1, 2025 all DAT scores will be reported to ADEA AADSAS on the new 3-digit scale (200 to 600) . This includes administrations taking place from March 1, 2025 forward, as well as results from prior administrations (the latter of which will be psychometrically converted) . Results from administrations prior to March 1, 2025 will still be available in their original 2-digit format in the DTS Hub , to assist those who wish to see their prior test results in the original 2-digit format. Comparing Scores: The DAT Concordance Table DTS has developed a concordance table to facilitate comparisons between the ol

FAQs

When will the new DAT scoring system take effect, and what changes to the score range?

The new scoring system begins March 1, 2025. The existing 1 to 30 scale is replaced with a 3-digit scale ranging from 200 to 600 in 10-point increments.

Where will candidates’ DAT results be reported starting March 1, 2025?

Starting March 1, 2025, all DAT scores will be reported to ADEA AADSAS on the new 3-digit scale. The DTS Hub will also provide access to a historical record of test results.

How can an old DAT score (1 to 30) be compared to the new scale (200 to 600)?

The guide provides a DAT concordance table that converts an old score to an approximate equivalent on the new reporting scale, based on psychometric comparisons of candidates’ positions in their score distributions.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Asher