What does a 57 IQ mean?
A 57 IQ means a score higher than about 0.21% of people, so roughly 1 person in 482 scores at or below it. Professional tests call it "extremely low". The words used for this range have changed a great deal over the last century, and today they describe a person's needs rather than labelling the person.
Where 57 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 57 is 43 points below the average of 100, or 2.87 standard deviations. About 0.21% of people of the same age score lower, the shaded sliver at the far left of the curve below.
On a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older Stanford-Binet editions, the same result would be about 54, and on the Cattell scale, which uses 24, about 31. Why scales differ.
A closer look at an IQ of 57
Older manuals gave this range names that have long since become insults, and the change of language is not just politeness. In 2013 the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 replaced "mental retardation" with "intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder)", bringing it into line with the World Health Organization and US education law.
The bigger change is what decides the diagnosis. DSM-5 removed IQ scores from the diagnostic criteria themselves, keeping them in the description, and it sets the severity of an intellectual disability by how well a person copes with everyday tasks, not by the IQ number. Two people who both score 57 can need very different levels of support.
How an IQ of 57 is classified
Different tests and manuals use different words for the same score, and the words have changed over time. Here is where 57 falls on each of the systems you are most likely to meet.
Sources: American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5 fact sheet on intellectual disability; World Health Organization, ICD-11, 6A00 disorders of intellectual development; Peltopuro, M. and others (2014), "Borderline intellectual functioning: a systematic literature review", Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 52(6), 419–443. WISC-V descriptors from Pearson's interpretive reports, as on our good IQ score guide.
Is an IQ of 57 an intellectual disability?
A score of 57 on its own never makes a diagnosis. The American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 describes intellectual disability as "approximately two standard deviations or more below the population, which equals an IQ score of about 70 or below", and requires three things together:
- Low intellectual functioning, confirmed by a clinical assessment and individually given, standardised testing.
- Difficulties with everyday adaptive skills in at least one of three domains: conceptual (language, reading, maths, memory), social (communication, judgement, friendships) and practical (personal care, money, work and school tasks).
- A start during the developmental period, in childhood or adolescence.
Severity is set by those everyday skills, not by the IQ number. That is why only about 1% of people have an intellectual disability (a 2011 meta-analysis of 52 population studies found about 10 per 1,000), even though about 2.3% score below 70 on the bell curve. Because tests have a margin of error, DSM-5 treats roughly 65 to 75 as the uncertain zone around 70.
Sources: American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5 fact sheet on intellectual disability; Maulik, P. K. and others (2011), "Prevalence of intellectual disability: a meta-analysis of population-based studies", Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(2), 419–436; Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701 (2014), which cites the DSM-5 range of 65 to 75.
Could a score of 57 be wrong?
Low scores are the most fragile results on any test, because almost everything that goes wrong on the day pulls a score down. Common reasons include:
- Running out of time. On timed tests, including ours, an unanswered question counts as wrong.
- Nerves. A review of 238 studies found test anxiety consistently linked with lower scores.
- Tiredness. Sleep loss hits attention and speed hardest, which costs points against the clock.
- Language and format. Taking a test in a second language, on a small screen or in an unfamiliar format can lower a result without saying anything about reasoning.
What a 57 means on our test
The Assessivo test moves in steps of about 2.5 points, so it can't give exactly 57: the nearest results are 55 (0 correct) and 58 (1 correct). Every question has four options, so someone guessing every answer at random averages nine correct, a score of 78. Pure guessing gets nothing right only about once in 31,463 attempts, so a cat walking across the keyboard would expect to do better. A result this low almost always means the timer ran out or the answers never reached us.
If any of this sounds like your session, retake the free IQ test when you are rested and have 25 quiet minutes. A score that moves a lot between attempts was never very solid.
Sources: von der Embse, N. and others (2018), "Test anxiety effects, predictors, and correlates: a 30-year meta-analytic review", Journal of Affective Disorders, 227, 483–493; Lim, J. and Dinges, D. F. (2010), "A meta-analysis of the impact of short-term sleep deprivation on cognitive variables", Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 375–389. Guessing figures are worked out from the binomial distribution for 36 four-option questions.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 57?
The first IQ tests, for children, described performance as a "mental age": the age whose typical performance a child matched. IQ was mental age divided by real age, times 100. Run that old formula backwards and you get the figures below, for children only.
| Child's age | Performs like a typical child of about |
|---|---|
| 6 | 3 years 5 months |
| 8 | 4 years 7 months |
| 10 | 5 years 8 months |
| 12 | 6 years 10 months |
| 14 | 8 years |
For adults the idea doesn't work, which is why David Wechsler replaced it in 1939 with today's method: compare each person with others of the same age. An adult who scores 57 has an adult's knowledge, interests and experience. The score only says how their test performance compares with other adults'.
How common is an IQ of 57?
Line up 100 people of the same age and about 1 would score 57 or lower; the orange dot marks the place. In a town of 10,000 people, that is about 21.
The bar shows the likely range on a professional test, about five points either way: 52 to 62, from the 0.07th to the 0.56th percentile.
How 57 compares with nearby scores
| IQ | Percentile | Classic label | Score this low or lower |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | 0.07th | Extremely low | 1 in 1,455 |
| 57 | 0.21th | Extremely low | 1 in 482 |
| 62 | 0.56th | Extremely low | 1 in 177 |
| 67 | 1st | Extremely low | 1 in 72 |
Questions about an IQ of 57
What percentile is an IQ of 57?
An IQ of 57 is at about the 0.21th percentile: it is higher than about 0.21% of people of the same age, and roughly 1 person in 482 scores this low or lower.
Is 57 a low IQ?
Yes. 57 is 43 points, or 2.87 standard deviations, below the average of 100. On the classic Wechsler labels it is extremely low. A single score is an estimate with a margin of error of about five points, so 57 is best read as roughly 52 to 62.
Is an IQ of 57 a learning disability?
Not on its own. 57 is in the range where an intellectual disability (called a learning disability in the UK) is considered, but a diagnosis also needs significant difficulties with everyday skills that began during childhood, assessed by a qualified psychologist.
What is the mental age for an IQ of 57?
Mental age is an idea from the earliest tests for children. By the old formula, a 10-year-old scoring 57 would perform like a typical child of about 5 years 8 months. For adults it has no meaning: modern IQ tests compare adults with other adults, and an adult who scores 57 is not like a child.
What was an IQ of 57 called in the past?
Older diagnostic manuals used terms that are now considered offensive. Since 2013 the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 has used "intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder)", and it grades severity by everyday functioning rather than by IQ.
Related: the IQ range chart, what counts as an average IQ, what IQ measures and misses and how to tell if an online IQ test is accurate.
A full IQ score of 57 combines several skills. Our guides explain each one: spatial reasoning, verbal reasoning, processing speed, fluid vs crystallized intelligence and abstract reasoning, or try the free pattern recognition test.
Information and support
If a professional assessment has given you, your child or someone you care for a score like 57, these organisations explain what it means in practice and what help is available.
Want a second reading?
Take the free Assessivo IQ test when you are rested and have 25 quiet minutes: 36 questions, and your estimated score and percentile as soon as you finish.
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