Rice Purity Test score meaning, on a scale of 0 to 100
The meaning of a Rice Purity Test score is arithmetic, not judgement: the test starts you at 100 and subtracts one point for every item on the list you have done, so the number counts experiences you have not had rather than grading the ones you have. That makes 100 the empty end of the scale, 0 the full one, and everything in between a description of which parts of the list you checked.
Is a higher or lower score better?
Neither, because the scale only runs one way. A Rice Purity Test score is a count of the items on this particular list you have not done, so a higher number means fewer of them have happened to you and a lower number means more of them have. It is not a grade, and there is no passing mark: the questions ask “have you ever”, so a score can only fall over a lifetime, and a 95 at nineteen and a 45 at forty can describe the same person twenty years apart.
That is also why “bad score” has no answer. The bottom of the chart — 24 and below — means the list reached its arrests, hard drugs and extreme situations; the top — 95 and above — means it barely reached a first kiss. Both are counts of a college checklist written decades ago, not verdicts. The comparison worth making is against people your own age rather than against everyone, because the number tracks time: see average score by age.
The Rice Purity Test scale: nine bands from 100 to 0
The chart splits the 0-100 scale into nine ranges, each one grouping the scores that imply the same clusters of questions. The detail page linked on each row uses the middle score of that range as its example.
| Score | Band | What the number describes | Detail page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Untouched | Nothing on the list applied. That is the ceiling of the test.The top of the scale means every statement was left unchecked. The list opens with the mildest situations it has — holding hands, a first kiss — so holding the ceiling means none of those applied either. | Score 100 — Untouched example page |
| 95–99 | Pure Soul | A handful of the mildest statements applied, and nothing beyond them.A score this close to the ceiling comes from the opening romance statements. The drinking, sexual and law-breaking questions are still untouched. | Score 97 — Pure Soul example page |
| 85–94 | Mostly Innocent | Enough checked to cover dating and kissing, and little past it.Under a sixth of the list applied. That is room for the romance block without reaching the questions about sex, drinking or anything with legal consequences. | Score 90 — Mostly Innocent example page |
| 70–84 | Curious | Dating is behind you and the bolder questions have started to land.Roughly a sixth to a third of the list applied — enough to clear the romance block and reach the first questions about drinking or sex, with the drug and law-breaking end untouched. | Score 77 — Curious example page |
| 55–69 | Average Explorer | The middle of the scale: a third to just under half the list applied.Scores here usually span dating, drinking and part of the sexual block while leaving the drug and arrest questions empty. Both halves of the list are in play, neither of them finished. | Score 62 — Average Explorer example page |
| 40–54 | Experienced | About half the list applied.Reaching this range takes more than one block: the sexual questions are largely checked and the substance questions have started. The far end of the list — arrests, hard drugs — is still mostly empty. | Score 47 — Experienced example page |
| 25–39 | Wild Card | Three fifths to three quarters of the list applied.Getting this far needs checks in every block — romance, sex, substances, and some of the risk and law-breaking questions. No single section of the list can carry a score this low on its own. | Score 32 — Wild Card example page |
| 10–24 | Veteran | Most of the list applied; what is left is the specific and the rare.At this end the unchecked statements are the particular ones: a particular substance, a particular arrest, a particular situation that simply has not come up. | Score 17 — Veteran example page |
| 0–9 | Off the Charts | Nearly everything on the list applied — the floor of the test.A single-digit score means answering yes to almost every statement the list contains, including the arrest, hard-drug and high-risk items. | Score 5 — Off the Charts example page |
All 101 scores
Each number has its own page: which parts of the questionnaire that total usually covers, the questions the count lands on, and — once results exist — the live percentile and how many people scored exactly the same.
Untouched
Score 100 · Nothing on the list applied. That is the ceiling of the test.
Pure Soul
Scores 95–99 · A handful of the mildest statements applied, and nothing beyond them.
Mostly Innocent
Scores 85–94 · Enough checked to cover dating and kissing, and little past it.
- 94 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 93 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 92 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 91 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 90 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 89 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 88 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 87 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 86 — Mostly Innocent score page
- 85 — Mostly Innocent score page
Curious
Scores 70–84 · Dating is behind you and the bolder questions have started to land.
- 84 — Curious score page
- 83 — Curious score page
- 82 — Curious score page
- 81 — Curious score page
- 80 — Curious score page
- 79 — Curious score page
- 78 — Curious score page
- 77 — Curious score page
- 76 — Curious score page
- 75 — Curious score page
- 74 — Curious score page
- 73 — Curious score page
- 72 — Curious score page
- 71 — Curious score page
- 70 — Curious score page
Average Explorer
Scores 55–69 · The middle of the scale: a third to just under half the list applied.
- 69 — Average Explorer score page
- 68 — Average Explorer score page
- 67 — Average Explorer score page
- 66 — Average Explorer score page
- 65 — Average Explorer score page
- 64 — Average Explorer score page
- 63 — Average Explorer score page
- 62 — Average Explorer score page
- 61 — Average Explorer score page
- 60 — Average Explorer score page
- 59 — Average Explorer score page
- 58 — Average Explorer score page
- 57 — Average Explorer score page
- 56 — Average Explorer score page
- 55 — Average Explorer score page
Experienced
Scores 40–54 · About half the list applied.
- 54 — Experienced score page
- 53 — Experienced score page
- 52 — Experienced score page
- 51 — Experienced score page
- 50 — Experienced score page
- 49 — Experienced score page
- 48 — Experienced score page
- 47 — Experienced score page
- 46 — Experienced score page
- 45 — Experienced score page
- 44 — Experienced score page
- 43 — Experienced score page
- 42 — Experienced score page
- 41 — Experienced score page
- 40 — Experienced score page
Wild Card
Scores 25–39 · Three fifths to three quarters of the list applied.
- 39 — Wild Card score page
- 38 — Wild Card score page
- 37 — Wild Card score page
- 36 — Wild Card score page
- 35 — Wild Card score page
- 34 — Wild Card score page
- 33 — Wild Card score page
- 32 — Wild Card score page
- 31 — Wild Card score page
- 30 — Wild Card score page
- 29 — Wild Card score page
- 28 — Wild Card score page
- 27 — Wild Card score page
- 26 — Wild Card score page
- 25 — Wild Card score page
Veteran
Scores 10–24 · Most of the list applied; what is left is the specific and the rare.
- 24 — Veteran score page
- 23 — Veteran score page
- 22 — Veteran score page
- 21 — Veteran score page
- 20 — Veteran score page
- 19 — Veteran score page
- 18 — Veteran score page
- 17 — Veteran score page
- 16 — Veteran score page
- 15 — Veteran score page
- 14 — Veteran score page
- 13 — Veteran score page
- 12 — Veteran score page
- 11 — Veteran score page
- 10 — Veteran score page
Off the Charts
Scores 0–9 · Nearly everything on the list applied — the floor of the test.
Questions people ask about scores
“Is my score good?” is the most common one and has its own article: what counts as a good Rice Purity Test score.
Why do most scores land in the middle of the scale?
The questionnaire escalates: it opens with hand-holding and a first kiss, which nearly everyone has done, and closes with arrests, hard drugs and extreme situations, which nearly nobody has. Checking every mild item and no extreme item lands you in the 40 to 80 stretch, which is why the middle of the scale is crowded and both ends are thin.
What does a score of 100 mean?
You checked nothing at all — not a kiss, not a slow dance, not a sip of alcohol. Most genuine 100s come from people under 15 or from someone answering about a period of their life rather than their whole life.
Can your Rice Purity Test score go up?
No. The questions ask whether you have ever done something, so once an item is checked it stays checked for life. Your score can only fall or stay the same, which is why people retake it years apart and use the drop as a timeline.
What do my Rice Purity Test results mean?
The result is one number and the band it falls in, and both are arithmetic: you start at 100, each statement you tick removes a point, and what is left counts the listed experiences you have not had. It carries no judgement, no age norm and no pass mark — the same result means different things at 15 and at 40, because the questions ask whether you have ever done something and time only runs one way.
Is a high or low Rice Purity score better?
Neither is better, because the scale is a count rather than a grade. The test starts everyone at 100 and takes a point off for each listed experience, so a high score means fewer items on the list apply to you and a low score means more do. The only thing the number reliably tracks is how much of that particular list a life has crossed, which is mostly a matter of time.
What counts as a low Rice Purity score?
On this site's chart, 39 and below is the bottom third of the scale: reaching it means the checklist has run past drinking and dating into arrests, hard drugs and the extreme situations at the end of the list. 24 and below means most of that end applies. Neither figure says anything about a person beyond which of 100 fixed statements they ticked.
Is a low score something to be embarrassed about?
A low number means more of the list applies to you, nothing else. It measures exposure to a fixed set of situations written by college students, not character, health or judgement. Plenty of people score low because of one intense year and plenty score high because of where they grew up.
Does this site store my answers?
Not unless you ask it to. Your answers stay in your browser; when you finish, Rice Purity Test Kit records only two things — the number you scored and which test you took — with no account, no name and no way to link a score back to a person. That is what the live percentages on each score page are built from. The one exception is an unticked box above the submit button that also shares which statements you checked, which feeds per-question counters and nothing else.
Do not know your number yet?
The classic test is 100 checkboxes and scores the moment you finish.