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Last reviewed: August 4, 2026
WIDA scores describe a student’s English language proficiency in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. They are commonly associated with WIDA ACCESS, an annual assessment administered to English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states.
WIDA ACCESS is designed to monitor students’ progress in learning the English used in school. It measures English language proficiency, not a student’s intelligence, academic achievement, or knowledge of subjects such as mathematics, science, or social studies.
This guide focuses on standard WIDA ACCESS score reports. WIDA Alternate ACCESS is a separate assessment for English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities and uses a different score-reporting system.
WIDA ACCESS is the collective name for WIDA’s suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. It includes:
ACCESS is administered annually to English learners in WIDA Consortium member states to monitor their progress in learning academic English.
ACCESS is a standards-referenced assessment. This means that a student’s performance is interpreted in relation to the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework. Students are not ranked against one another or against the expected performance of monolingual English speakers.
WIDA ACCESS measures four language domains.
The Listening test measures how well a student understands spoken English used in school.
The Speaking test measures how well a student communicates ideas orally in English.
The Reading test measures how well a student understands written English.
The Writing test measures how well a student communicates ideas in written English.
A student receives a separate score for each domain because English language development does not necessarily progress at the same rate in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
The WIDA ACCESS Individual Student Report normally provides results for eight categories:
Language domainsComposite areasListeningOral LanguageSpeakingLiteracyReadingComprehensionWritingOverall
Each category may include a proficiency level score and a scale score. The report also includes a confidence band with each scale score.
A proficiency level score is an interpretation of a student’s scale score. Standard WIDA ACCESS reports use six English language proficiency levels, reported on a scale that generally ranges from 1.0 through 6.0.
The whole number identifies the proficiency level. The decimal indicates how far the student has progressed within that level.
For example, a score of 3.7 means that the student is at Level 3 and has progressed more than halfway toward Level 4. It does not mean the student answered 37 percent of the questions correctly.
Proficiency levels are:
The same scale score may result in different proficiency levels in different domains. WIDA provides the example of a sixth-grade student whose scale score of 370 corresponds to a Listening proficiency level of 4.3 but a Reading proficiency level of 3.8.
No. Proficiency level scores should not be compared directly across grades.
A second grader and an eighth grader could both receive a Listening proficiency level of 4.0, but they completed tasks based on different grade-level expectations. The older student must demonstrate proficiency using more challenging language and content.
Proficiency levels can help educators compare a student’s performance across language domains within the same grade. For example, a student’s Reading proficiency level can be compared with that student’s Writing proficiency level.
The meaning of a proficiency level depends on the student’s grade and the language domain being reviewed.
A Level 3 in Speaking does not describe exactly the same abilities as a Level 3 in Reading. Likewise, a Level 3 score for a first grader is based on different expectations than a Level 3 score for a high school student.
WIDA includes domain-specific descriptions at the bottom of the Individual Student Report explaining what students at the reported level can generally do. Educators should also consult WIDA’s Language Charts and proficiency level descriptors instead of relying on a single, general description of each numbered level.
A scale score is a statistical measure of a student’s performance. The WIDA ACCESS report displays a possible scale-score range of 100 to 600.
Scale scores are not raw scores. They are not simply the number or percentage of questions a student answered correctly. They account for differences in the difficulty of the assessment items and tasks.
Scale scores provide more detail than proficiency levels. Under normal circumstances, they can be used to examine growth over time and compare equivalent language abilities across grades within the same domain.
For example:
Scale scores do not have the same meaning across different language domains.
WIDA reset the ACCESS scale in 2025–2026 when it revised the assessment to reflect the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition.
As a result, 2025–2026 scale scores cannot be compared directly with ACCESS scale scores from previous years. They should be treated as a new baseline for measuring future growth.
WIDA states that educators will be able to resume using scale scores to examine growth with the 2027 results.
A scale score appears as a single number within a confidence band.
The confidence band represents the range of scores a student might receive if the student took the assessment repeatedly at the same point in time. It accounts for expected measurement variation.
This means a scale score should not be treated as a perfectly exact measurement of a student’s language proficiency. Educators should consider the confidence band, classroom evidence, and results over multiple years when interpreting performance.
Composite scores combine scale scores from two or more language domains.
Composite scoreWeightingOral Language50% Listening and 50% SpeakingLiteracy50% Reading and 50% WritingComprehension70% Reading and 30% ListeningOverall35% Reading, 35% Writing, 15% Listening, and 15% Speaking
The composite scale score is calculated from the relevant domain scale scores. A composite proficiency level is then determined from that composite scale score. It is not calculated by simply averaging the proficiency level numbers.
Because Reading and Writing each account for 35 percent of the Overall score, literacy performance has a greater effect on the Overall score than Listening or Speaking.
Composite scores can provide a helpful summary, but they may hide important differences among language domains. Two students with the same Overall score could have very different strengths in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. WIDA therefore advises reviewing individual domain scores instead of relying only on a composite score.
Normally, if a student does not complete or receive a score for a particular language domain, the composite scores that require that domain will also be unavailable.
Beginning in 2025–2026, state education agencies may use a WIDA process to calculate a reweighted Overall score for certain students with an Individualized Education Program or Section 504 Plan who are eligible for an exemption from one or more domains. Schools should contact their state education agency for information about this process.
There is no single WIDA score that is considered “good” for every student, grade, state, or situation.
A score should be interpreted in context, including:
ACCESS provides information about what a student can currently understand and communicate in English. It does not provide a nationwide pass-or-fail result.
States establish their own criteria for determining when a student has reached the English proficiency required to exit English learner services. WIDA describes ACCESS as one of multiple criteria that educators may consider when making that determination.
Not by itself.
State education agencies establish the requirements for exiting or reclassifying students from English learner services. Those policies may consider ACCESS scores alongside other evidence.
WIDA states that ACCESS is intended to serve as one of the criteria educators consider when determining whether a student can participate meaningfully in English-language classroom instruction without additional language support.
Families and educators should consult their state education agency or school district for the exact exit requirements that apply to the student.
No. A WIDA proficiency level is not a reading grade level, academic grade level, or measure of content knowledge.
ACCESS scores provide information about English language proficiency. They do not measure whether a student has mastered grade-level mathematics, science, social studies, or other academic content.
A multilingual learner may understand an academic concept while still needing language support to explain that knowledge in English.
Usually, scale scores within the same language domain can be used to examine growth across years and grades.
However, the 2025–2026 scale scores are an exception. Because WIDA reset the scale when it revised ACCESS, those scores must be used as a new baseline and cannot be compared directly with scale scores from earlier years.
WIDA also advises that multiple consecutive years of data are necessary to analyze student growth. The first year establishes a baseline, the second year can show change, and three or more years can begin to show a trend.
WIDA updated ACCESS during the 2025–2026 school year to align the assessment with the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition.
WIDA scheduled an ACCESS standard-setting event for July 28–31, 2026. During standard setting, educator panelists help determine the scale-score cut points that separate one proficiency level from another. WIDA states that the new proficiency level cut scores will be implemented in spring 2027.
For the 2026 score reports:
WIDA plans to publish relevant information in 2027 if changes to proficiency level cut scores require additional explanation.
Yes, for the 2025–2026 Kindergarten ACCESS reports.
The highest possible proficiency levels are:
WIDA stated that it would use the 2026 standard-setting process to determine whether the Reading and Writing limits should continue in future years.
The proficiency-level scale generally extends through 6.0, but assessment-specific limits can apply.
For 2025–2026 Kindergarten ACCESS, the highest Reading proficiency level is 5.0 and the highest Writing proficiency level is 4.5. In addition, the Pre-Tier A version of the ACCESS Online Speaking test, which is intended for newcomer students, does not allow a proficiency score above Level 1.
The Individual Student Report displays a possible scale-score range of 100 to 600, but the scores available to an individual student can depend on the assessment, grade, domain, and test form.
WIDA scores are most useful when combined with classroom evidence and used to inform specific instructional decisions.
Educators can use them to:
WIDA recommends developing a broader student portrait that describes the language abilities a student already has, areas for continued development, and instructional supports that may be effective.
For 2025–2026, WIDA specifically recommends supplementing ACCESS results with classroom evidence, interim assessments, information from content-area teachers, and input from families because the ACCESS scale was reset.
Families should review all four language domains rather than focusing only on the Overall score.
Helpful questions to ask include:
Because the Overall score combines all four domains, it may not reveal important differences between a student’s oral language and literacy development.
It means the student is at Proficiency Level 3 and has progressed more than halfway toward Level 4 in that particular grade and score category. The exact abilities represented by the score depend on the language domain and grade.
A Level 4 score describes performance within Level 4 for a particular grade and domain. It does not automatically mean that a student meets the requirements to exit English learner services. Exit criteria are established by individual states.
English learners in WIDA Consortium member states take ACCESS annually in kindergarten through grade 12.
No. ACCESS measures English language proficiency. It does not measure academic achievement or content knowledge.
Reported scores can vary from one administration to another. The confidence band represents expected measurement variation, and WIDA recommends considering multiple years of results and other evidence when evaluating growth. The 2025–2026 scale reset must also be considered because those scale scores cannot be compared directly with previous years.
WIDA ACCESS scores describe how a student currently understands and communicates in English across Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
Proficiency level scores provide an interpretation of performance within grade-specific expectations. Scale scores provide a more detailed statistical measurement, while composite scores summarize combinations of language domains.
No single number provides a complete picture of a multilingual learner. WIDA recommends interpreting scores alongside classroom performance, other assessments, educator observations, family input, and applicable state policies.
For 2025–2026 results, educators must also remember that scale scores represent a new baseline and that proficiency level scores use the previous cut scores. New proficiency level cut scores are scheduled to be implemented in spring 2027.
ACCESS provides an annual measure of English language proficiency, but students develop language throughout the school year.
Speakable helps educators provide regular opportunities for students to practice speaking and writing and collect evidence of language development between formal assessment windows.
Learn more about supporting multilingual learners with Speakable.
