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Is a 125 IQ Good? What the Score Means

A 125 IQ is well above the average of 100. About 95 in 100 people score lower than 125. Clinical reports would call 125 Very High in WISC-V wording and Superior in the traditional WAIS-IV wording.

Percentile
95.22
How rare
1 in 21 score 125 or higher
WISC-V wording
Very High
Traditional wording (WAIS-IV)
Superior
Distance from 100
1.67 SD above
On an SD 16 test
about 127
On an SD 24 test
about 140
Our test's usual range here
112 to 137 (90%)
Where 125 sits on the IQ curveA bell curve with a marker at 125. The shaded area to the left is the share of people who score lower; 125 is at the 95.22nd percentile.70100130125

What does a 125 IQ mean?

A score of 125 is 1.67 standard deviations above the average of 100. On most IQ tests one standard deviation, the typical distance from the average, is 15 points, so 125 is 25 points away.

125 sits in the middle of the 120 to 129 band, 5 points below the next band up. About 7 in 100 people score from 120 to 129, the second highest band, which holds 125.

What percentile is an IQ of 125?

A score of 125 is at the 95.22nd percentile. That percentile is the share of people who score lower than 125, not the share of questions right. Five points higher, 130 is at the 97.72nd percentile. Five points lower, 120 is at the 90.88th percentile. Across those ten points around 125, the percentile moves by 6.85.

How rare is an IQ of 125?

About 1 in 21 people score 125 or higher. In a town of 100,000 people, about 4,800 would score 125 or higher.

For every 100 people who score exactly 100, about 25 score exactly 125. These figures for 125 come from the normal curve that IQ scales are built on, and the IQ calculator works out any other score.

What would 125 be on other tests?

Not every test would print 125 for this position. Older Stanford-Binet forms and many school tests use a standard deviation of 16; there, the same position as 125 is about 127. On a scale with a standard deviation of 24, used by the Cattell test, it is about 140. 125, 127 and 140 all mean the same percentile.

Is 125 a good IQ score?

The scale does not grade the person behind a 125; it places one result among other people’s results. As a position, 125 is well above the average of 100. What a 125 is useful for depends on the purpose, and a single online result is too rough for decisions about school, work or support. A 125 describes some kinds of reasoning on one test, on one day, and leaves out a great deal that matters, such as effort, knowledge and character.

Is a score of 125 gifted?

There is no single gifted cutoff that a 125 either meets or misses; each school or program sets its own rule. Many programs use the top 10 percent as a guide, and a 125 is in the top 4.78 percent of people, inside that guide. A child’s 125 counts for a program only when it comes from a supervised test given by a psychologist or the school. Our guide for parents explains how that works.

What does an online result of 125 mean?

An online result of 125 is an estimate. When our test shows 125, the estimated range next to it is usually about 112 to 137. That range for 125 is provisional: it comes from our scoring model and a simulation, not yet from real test takers. Our methodology shows how the range is made.

An unsupervised online 125 may also run a little high: a large review found a gap of about 3 IQ points. Taking the same kind of test again usually raises a score like 125 a little, mostly on the first retakes. Our guide are IQ tests accurate covers this in depth.

To see where your own result falls next to 125, take the free IQ test. It has 30 questions and shows an estimated range with every result.

Scores near 125

  • 123 IQ: 2 points lower, at the 93.74th percentile.
  • 124 IQ: 1 point lower, at the 94.52nd percentile.
  • 126 IQ: 1 point higher, at the 95.85th percentile.
  • 127 IQ: 2 points higher, at the 96.41st percentile.

Look up any score from 70 to 160, not only those near 125, in the score explorer.

FAQ

What percentile is 125 IQ?

A score of 125 is at the 95.22nd percentile. That means about 95.22 percent of people score lower.

Is 125 IQ gifted?

Whether 125 counts as gifted depends on the program. Many use the top 10 percent as a guide, and 125 is in the top 4.8 percent.

How many people have an IQ of 125?

On a whole-number scale, about 0.7 percent of people score exactly 125. About 1 in 21 people score 125 or higher.

Can an online test show 125?

Yes, as an estimate with a range: on our test a 125 usually comes with an estimated range of about 112 to 137.