Saber 11
ICFES
Complete guide to passing the Saber 11 exam on your first attempt.
~$30
N/A (score-based)
Lifetime
Colombia
ICFES
University admission
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Complete Overview
Saber 11 is Colombia's national secondary school exit examination, run by the Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluacion de la Educacion (ICFES), and it is taken by students finishing grade 11 as well as by adults who already hold a bachillerato and want a fresh score. The 2026 fee depends on the candidate's category: public school students and the lowest private school band pay COP 72,000 in the ordinary registration window and COP 108,000 in the extraordinary window, while graduated bachilleres pay COP 143,000 ordinary and COP 215,000 extraordinary for a first through fourth registration, rising to COP 430,000 and COP 646,000 from the fifth registration onward. The standard booklet runs across two sessions of 4 hours 30 minutes each and contains 302 items in total, 143 in the first session and 159 in the second. Of those, 254 are academic questions: Lectura Critica 41, Matematicas 50, Sociales y Ciudadanas 50, Ciencias Naturales 58 and Ingles 55. The remaining items are a socioeconomic questionnaire of 24 questions and a school climate questionnaire of 24 questions, neither of which produces an academic score. Every question is single-answer multiple choice, answered by filling a bubble on the answer sheet. There is no pass mark. Each of the five pruebas is scored from 0 to 100 with no decimals using a three-parameter logistic item response model, calibrated so that the national mean is 50 and the standard deviation is 10. ICFES then computes a Global Index using published weights, IG = (3 times Lectura Critica plus 3 times Matematicas plus 3 times Ciencias Naturales plus 3 times Sociales y Ciudadanas plus Ingles) divided by 13, and multiplies that index by 5 to produce the Global Score on a 0 to 500 scale, rounded to the nearest whole number. English therefore carries one thirteenth of the Global Score while each of the other four pruebas carries three thirteenths. The individual report also gives a percentile for every prueba and for the Global Score, plus a performance level and a written description of it. The English prueba is additionally mapped to CEFR levels, with a Pre-A1 band added below A1 for Colombian candidates who cannot yet produce discourse. ICFES applied a national Global Score average of 259 for a Calendario A administration, with men averaging 264 and women 255. The exam runs twice a year in Calendario A and Calendario B, and Colombian law requires ICFES to keep the exam structure stable for at least twelve years from 3 August 2014, so the format a candidate studies is the format they will sit. Candidates who report a disability at registration can choose between the standard booklet and a booklet with reasonable adjustments, and ICFES warns that choosing the standard booklet means answering more questions in the same 4 hours 30 minutes.
Why Get Saber 11 Certified?
Saber 11 is the single instrument Colombian universities use to compare applicants nationally, and the Global Score runs on a fixed 0 to 500 scale set by ICFES regulation
The exam is offered twice a year, in Calendario A and Calendario B, so a weak result does not cost a full year
The ordinary fee for a public school student is COP 72,000 for 2026, which is the lowest band in the ICFES tarifa table
Colombian law requires ICFES to hold the exam structure stable for at least 12 years from 3 August 2014, so preparation material does not go stale year to year
Four of the five pruebas carry 3 of the 13 weighting points in the Global Score and English carries 1, which makes the payoff of each hour of study predictable
ICFES publishes the exact percentage of questions per competency for each prueba, so a candidate can target the 43 percent of Matematicas that tests formulation and execution rather than guessing
Every reported score comes with a percentile against the national population, which tells a candidate where they actually stand rather than only what they scored
Exam Format & Structure
Duration
Two sessions of 4 hours 30 minutes each, 540 minutes in total. ICFES publishes the same 4 hours 30 minutes for every booklet version, including the reduced reasonable-adjustment booklets, so candidates with fewer items get more time per item.
Questions
302 items in the standard booklet: 143 in session one and 159 in session two. 254 of those are academic questions across the five pruebas, and the other 48 belong to the socioeconomic and school climate questionnaires.
Passing Score
None. Saber 11 has no pass or fail. ICFES reports a 0 to 100 score, a percentile, a performance level and a written description of that level for each of the five pruebas, plus a Global Score on a 0 to 500 scale and the percentile of that Global Score. Universities and funding programs set their own thresholds.
Question Types
- Single-answer multiple choice throughout. ICFES states the exam consists of items with a stem, an evaluation task and several answer options, of which exactly one answers the task
- Session one, 143 items: Matematicas 25, Lectura Critica 41, Sociales y Ciudadanas 25, Ciencias Naturales 29, socioeconomic questionnaire 11, school climate questionnaire 12
- Session two, 159 items: Matematicas 25, Sociales y Ciudadanas 25, Ciencias Naturales 29, socioeconomic questionnaire 13, Ingles 55, school climate questionnaire 12
- The Ingles prueba is built in seven parts, each carrying a published share of the questions, including matching descriptions to a list of seven words and choosing where a notice would appear
- Answers are marked by completely filling the corresponding circle on the answer sheet
Delivery Method
The standard booklet is delivered on paper at assigned sites across Colombia. ICFES also operates an electronic application of Saber 11, and the reasonable-adjustment booklets for deaf candidates who use Colombian sign language are delivered electronically. Registration is handled through the ICFES Prisma platform.
How scoring works
Score scale
0 to 100 with no decimals for each of the five pruebas, and a Global Score of 0 to 500 with no decimals. The Ingles prueba additionally carries a CEFR performance level, with a Pre-A1 band below A1.
Score needed to pass
There is no cut score. ICFES sets no pass mark for Saber 11 and reports a score, percentile, performance level and qualitative description per prueba plus a Global Score and its percentile. Thresholds are set by receiving universities and funding programmes.
Roughly what that means raw
ICFES publishes no raw-to-scaled conversion table, and the methodology makes one impossible in principle: under the three-parameter logistic model, two candidates answering the same number of items correctly can receive different scores depending on which items they got right. The only fixed reference points ICFES publishes are the scale anchors, a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 on each prueba.
When results arrive
No score is available on exam day and there is no unofficial result. ICFES sets the individual results publication date in the cronograma resolution issued for each application, and results are consulted online. The report arrives complete, with per-prueba scores, percentiles, performance levels and descriptions alongside the Global Score and its percentile.
How the scale is built
Each prueba is scored with a three-parameter logistic item response model, in which the probability of a correct answer depends on the item's characteristics and the candidate's ability rather than on a raw count. ICFES calibrates each 0 to 100 scale so the national mean is 50 with a standard deviation of 10. The Global Index averages the five prueba scores with weights of 3 for each prueba except Ingles, which carries 1, over a divisor of 13. The Global Score is that index multiplied by 5, rounded to the nearest integer. No deduction is published for wrong answers.
Pacing and time budget
302 questions in 540 minutes gives you 1 minute 47 seconds on average across 302 items and 540 minutes, but the two sessions differ: session one gives about 1 minute 53 seconds per item across 143 items, and session two about 1 minute 42 seconds across 159 items. per question.
Session one, minute 68
About 36 of the 143 items, one quarter of the session. Falling behind this early usually means over-reading Lectura Critica passages rather than reading the task first.
Session one, minute 135
About 72 of the 143 items, the halfway mark. Session one holds all 41 Lectura Critica questions, which is the densest reading load in the exam.
Session one, minute 270
All 143 items, including the 11 socioeconomic and 12 school climate questions that carry no academic score.
Session two, minute 135
About 80 of the 159 items, half the session. Session two carries the entire 55-question Ingles prueba plus 79 academic questions from Matematicas, Sociales y Ciudadanas and Ciencias Naturales.
Session two, minute 270
All 159 items. Nothing should be blank, because the published methodology carries no penalty for a wrong answer.
| At this point | You should have answered |
|---|---|
| Session one, minute 68 | About 36 of the 143 items, one quarter of the session. Falling behind this early usually means over-reading Lectura Critica passages rather than reading the task first. |
| Session one, minute 135 | About 72 of the 143 items, the halfway mark. Session one holds all 41 Lectura Critica questions, which is the densest reading load in the exam. |
| Session one, minute 270 | All 143 items, including the 11 socioeconomic and 12 school climate questions that carry no academic score. |
| Session two, minute 135 | About 80 of the 159 items, half the session. Session two carries the entire 55-question Ingles prueba plus 79 academic questions from Matematicas, Sociales y Ciudadanas and Ciencias Naturales. |
| Session two, minute 270 | All 159 items. Nothing should be blank, because the published methodology carries no penalty for a wrong answer. |
- Time spent on Ingles is worth one third as much per point as time spent on any other prueba, because Ingles carries 1 of the 13 weighting points and each of the others carries 3. Protect the other three pruebas in session two.
- 48 of the 302 items are the socioeconomic and school climate questionnaires. They are compulsory and take minutes, but they contribute nothing to any score, so answer them at speed.
- Ciencias Naturales is the biggest academic block at 58 items, split evenly across the two sessions, so a bad Ciencias run in session one can be recovered in session two.
- Every item is single-answer multiple choice with one option that answers the stated task. Eliminate against the task, not against the topic; distractors are usually true statements that do not answer what was asked.
- Candidates sitting a reasonable-adjustment booklet answer fewer items in the same 4 hours 30 minutes, which is why ICFES advises against choosing the standard booklet purely out of preference.
Where the marks are
Matematicas: formulacion y ejecucion
43% of the Matematicas prueba
The largest published competency block anywhere in Saber 11. Items give a situation and ask which procedure or model correctly addresses it, then require you to carry it through.
Lectura Critica: how the parts of a text form a global meaning
42% of the Lectura Critica prueba
Asks what the text as a whole is doing: structure, the function of a paragraph, the relationship between claim and support. Local vocabulary knowledge does not answer these.
Ciencias Naturales: indagacion
40% of the Ciencias Naturales prueba
Split 12 percent each across the biological, physical and chemical components plus 4 percent science and society. Items present an experimental setup and ask about variables, controls and what the data can support.
Sociales y Ciudadanas: interpretacion y analisis de perspectivas
40% of the Sociales y Ciudadanas prueba
Presents competing positions on a social or political question and asks what each side assumes or what would strengthen one of them. Recall of dates and names scores nothing here.
Matematicas: interpretacion y representacion
34% of the Matematicas prueba
Tests movement between tables, graphs, algebraic expressions and verbal descriptions of the same relationship, including the statistical content ICFES names: variance, percentiles, median and correlation.
Lectura Critica: reflection and evaluation of content
33% of the Lectura Critica prueba
Asks you to step outside the text and judge it: what the author assumes, what would weaken the argument, how the text relates to another. The hardest third of the prueba for most candidates.
Ciencias Naturales: explicacion de fenomenos and uso comprensivo del pensamiento cientifico
30% each of the Ciencias Naturales prueba
Together 60 percent of the prueba. Each is spread 9 percent biological, 9 percent physical, 9 percent chemical and 3 percent science and society, so no single school subject dominates.
Ingles: part 7
22% of the Ingles prueba
The largest of the seven published parts, followed by part 4 at 18 percent and part 5 at 16 percent. Worth targeting only after the four pruebas that carry three times the Global Score weight.
| Topic | Weight | Why it scores |
|---|---|---|
| Matematicas: formulacion y ejecucion | 43% of the Matematicas prueba | The largest published competency block anywhere in Saber 11. Items give a situation and ask which procedure or model correctly addresses it, then require you to carry it through. |
| Lectura Critica: how the parts of a text form a global meaning | 42% of the Lectura Critica prueba | Asks what the text as a whole is doing: structure, the function of a paragraph, the relationship between claim and support. Local vocabulary knowledge does not answer these. |
| Ciencias Naturales: indagacion | 40% of the Ciencias Naturales prueba | Split 12 percent each across the biological, physical and chemical components plus 4 percent science and society. Items present an experimental setup and ask about variables, controls and what the data can support. |
| Sociales y Ciudadanas: interpretacion y analisis de perspectivas | 40% of the Sociales y Ciudadanas prueba | Presents competing positions on a social or political question and asks what each side assumes or what would strengthen one of them. Recall of dates and names scores nothing here. |
| Matematicas: interpretacion y representacion | 34% of the Matematicas prueba | Tests movement between tables, graphs, algebraic expressions and verbal descriptions of the same relationship, including the statistical content ICFES names: variance, percentiles, median and correlation. |
| Lectura Critica: reflection and evaluation of content | 33% of the Lectura Critica prueba | Asks you to step outside the text and judge it: what the author assumes, what would weaken the argument, how the text relates to another. The hardest third of the prueba for most candidates. |
| Ciencias Naturales: explicacion de fenomenos and uso comprensivo del pensamiento cientifico | 30% each of the Ciencias Naturales prueba | Together 60 percent of the prueba. Each is spread 9 percent biological, 9 percent physical, 9 percent chemical and 3 percent science and society, so no single school subject dominates. |
| Ingles: part 7 | 22% of the Ingles prueba | The largest of the seven published parts, followed by part 4 at 18 percent and part 5 at 16 percent. Worth targeting only after the four pruebas that carry three times the Global Score weight. |
The numbers
302 in total, 143 in session one and 159 in session two, of which 254 are academic questions
Items in the standard booklet
Source: ICFES, Guia de orientacion del Examen Saber 11 2026, Tabla 1
4 hours 30 minutes per session, two sessions
Session length
Source: ICFES, Guia de orientacion del Examen Saber 11 2026, Tabla 1
0 to 500 with no decimals, from IG = (3LC + 3MA + 3CN + 3SC + IN) / 13, then multiplied by 5
Global Score scale and formula
Source: ICFES, Resolucion 268 de 2020, article 5
0 to 100 with no decimals, national mean set at 50 and standard deviation at 10, using a three-parameter logistic model
Per-prueba scale calibration
Source: ICFES, Resolucion 268 de 2020, article 5
259 overall in a Calendario A administration, 264 for men and 255 for women
National average Global Score
Source: ICFES press release, 5 November 2024, icfes.gov.co
COP 72,000, rising to COP 108,000 in the extraordinary window
2026 ordinary registration fee, public school students
Source: ICFES, Resolucion 000629 of 11 November 2025, published on the Tarifas examen Saber 11 page
If you fail
Wait before retaking
None published. ICFES applies Saber 11 twice a year, in Calendario A and Calendario B, and sets no minimum interval between sittings. The binding constraint is the registration window for the application you want, which has an ordinary period and a later, more expensive extraordinary period.
Attempt limit
No cap on the number of attempts. The fee schedule escalates instead: a graduated bachiller pays COP 143,000 in the ordinary window for the first through fourth registration and COP 430,000 from the fifth registration onward, at 2026 rates.
Retake fee
The full tarifa for your category on every attempt; ICFES offers no discounted resit. Registering in the extraordinary window costs roughly 50 percent more than the ordinary window across every category, and ICFES also publishes a separate extemporaneous tarifa for late applications.
A retake does not overwrite anything. Each sitting produces its own report, and receiving institutions decide whether to consider your best or your most recent result. For the annual classification of educational establishments, ICFES counts only the first time a candidate sat the exam as a grade 11 or grade 26 student, so later attempts do not affect a school's figures. ICFES publishes no ranked list of individual best results at all.
Exam Domains & Topics
41 questions, all in session one, and the only prueba delivered entirely in a single session. ICFES states the prueba presupposes no specialist knowledge of any discipline; it tests the ability to interpret and analyse the content of texts.
Key Topics to Master:
- Comprehending how the parts of a text combine into a global meaning, 42 percent of the prueba
- Reflecting on a text and evaluating its content, 33 percent
- Identifying and understanding the local contents that make up a text, 25 percent
- Continuous informative philosophical texts, about 30 percent of questions
- Continuous informative non-philosophical texts, about 30 percent
- Continuous literary texts, about 24 percent
- Discontinuous literary and discontinuous informative texts, about 8 percent each
50 questions split evenly across the two sessions, 25 in each. ICFES organises the prueba around three competencies with published percentages rather than around curricular chapters.
Key Topics to Master:
- Formulacion y ejecucion, 43 percent of the prueba, the largest single competency block anywhere in Saber 11
- Interpretacion y representacion, 34 percent
- Argumentacion, 23 percent
- Generic and non-generic mathematical content categories defined in the ICFES framework
- Variance, percentiles, median and correlation among the statistical content the guide names explicitly
- Modelling processes, comparison and execution of procedures
58 questions, 29 in each session, making it the largest academic prueba by item count. ICFES publishes a full competency by component matrix for it, the only prueba given that treatment.
Key Topics to Master:
- Indagacion, 40 percent of the prueba, split 12 percent biological, 12 percent physical, 12 percent chemical and 4 percent science technology and society
- Uso comprensivo del pensamiento cientifico, 30 percent, split 9 percent biological, 9 percent physical, 9 percent chemical and 3 percent science technology and society
- Explicacion de fenomenos, 30 percent, split the same way
- Biological component, 30 percent of the prueba overall
- Physical component, 30 percent overall
- Chemical component, 30 percent overall
- Science, technology and society, 10 percent overall
50 questions split evenly across the two sessions. The prueba is built on three competencies with published percentages, and rewards reasoning about competing perspectives more than recall of dates.
Key Topics to Master:
- Interpretacion y analisis de perspectivas, 40 percent of the prueba
- Pensamiento social, 30 percent
- Pensamiento reflexivo y sistemico, 30 percent
- The Colombian constitution and the rights and duties it establishes
- Analysis of political, economic and social systems and their consequences
- Evaluating arguments and identifying the interests behind a stated position
55 questions, all in session two, and the lowest-weighted prueba by a wide margin. Results are reported both as a 0 to 100 score and as a CEFR level, with a Pre-A1 band added below A1 for candidates who understand some words and fixed expressions but cannot yet produce discourse.
Key Topics to Master:
- Part 7, 22 percent of the prueba, the largest single part
- Part 4, 18 percent
- Part 5, 16 percent
- Parts 1, 2, 3 and 6, 11 percent each
- Lexical knowledge, tested by matching five descriptions to a list of seven words where two options are left over
- Pragmatic knowledge, tested by identifying the communicative purpose of a notice and where it would appear
- Communicative knowledge, tested by choosing the most appropriate reply one speaker would give another
Recommended Study Plan
- 1Download the current Guia de orientacion del Examen Saber 11 from icfes.gov.co and read the specifications chapter for all five pruebas
- 2Copy the published competency percentages into a study tracker: Matematicas 43, 34 and 23 percent, Lectura Critica 42, 33 and 25 percent, Sociales 40, 30 and 30 percent, Ciencias Naturales 40, 30 and 30 percent
- 3Write down the Global Score formula and confirm for yourself that English is worth 1 of 13 points and each other prueba 3 of 13
- 4Download the marcos de referencia from the ICFES caja de herramientas, which set out what each competency actually claims
- 5Sit one full released cuadernillo untimed simply to see item style, not to score yourself
- 1Sit session one under real conditions: 143 items in 4 hours 30 minutes, on paper, with a bubble answer sheet
- 2Sit session two on a different day: 159 items in 4 hours 30 minutes
- 3Score each prueba as a raw percentage correct and record it per prueba, not as one overall number
- 4Compute a rough weighted position using the ICFES formula so you can see which prueba is costing you the most Global Score points
- 5Note every item you left blank because you ran out of time, since that is a pacing problem rather than a knowledge problem
- 1Practise global-meaning questions first, since they are 42 percent of the prueba
- 2Read one philosophical informative text a day, since that text type alone is about 30 percent of the questions
- 3Drill discontinuous texts, tables and infographics, which are about 16 percent of the prueba combined and are the type most candidates never practise
- 4For each practice text, write a one-line statement of the author's overall purpose before looking at any question
- 5Work the reflection and evaluation questions, 33 percent of the prueba, by identifying the author's assumptions rather than their conclusion
- 1Spend most of the week on formulacion y ejecucion, which is 43 percent of the prueba
- 2Practise interpretacion y representacion, 34 percent, by converting between tables, graphs and verbal descriptions
- 3Work through variance, percentiles, median and correlation, which the ICFES guide names directly
- 4Solve every practice item without a calculator, since the prueba is built on reasoning rather than arithmetic volume
- 5Time yourself at roughly 2 minutes per Matematicas item to match the session budget
- 1Drill argumentacion items, 23 percent of the prueba, where the task is to justify or refute a claim rather than compute
- 2Practise identifying which of four proposed procedures is valid for a described situation
- 3Review proportional reasoning, rates and percentage change in applied contexts
- 4Review plane and solid geometry with an emphasis on modelling a described situation
- 5Redo every Matematicas item you got wrong in the week 2 diagnostic
- 1Prioritise indagacion, 40 percent of the prueba and the single largest block in Ciencias Naturales
- 2Practise reading an experimental design and identifying the variable being controlled
- 3Balance practice across the biological, physical and chemical components, each 30 percent of the prueba
- 4Cover science, technology and society items, 10 percent of the prueba, which usually present a social decision with scientific evidence attached
- 5Practise interpreting data tables and graphs from experiments rather than memorising formulas
- 1Drill explicacion de fenomenos and uso comprensivo del pensamiento cientifico, 30 percent each
- 2Review cell biology, genetics and ecosystems for the biological component
- 3Review mechanics, energy, waves and electricity for the physical component
- 4Review atomic structure, chemical reactions, stoichiometry and solutions for the chemical component
- 5For each wrong answer, write one sentence explaining why the distractor was attractive
- 1Lead with interpretacion y analisis de perspectivas, 40 percent of the prueba
- 2Practise pensamiento social and pensamiento reflexivo y sistemico, 30 percent each
- 3Review the Colombian constitution, the rights it establishes and the mechanisms that protect them
- 4Practise items that present two conflicting positions and ask what each side assumes
- 5Work sources that combine a text with a chart or a map, since the prueba mixes formats
- 1Budget less time here than for any other prueba, because English is worth 1 of 13 weighting points
- 2Concentrate on part 7 at 22 percent and part 4 at 18 percent, which together are 40 percent of the prueba
- 3Practise the matching format where five descriptions map to seven words and two options are unused
- 4Practise notice and sign items, which test where a message would appear and what it is for
- 5Build vocabulary from signs, notices, short conversations and everyday descriptions rather than from academic word lists
- 1Sit both sessions again in the same week, 143 items then 159 items, each in 4 hours 30 minutes
- 2Compare each prueba against your week 2 result rather than looking at a single combined figure
- 3Recompute your weighted position with the ICFES formula and identify which prueba now returns the most points per hour of study
- 4Practise the socioeconomic and school climate questionnaires so the 48 non-academic items do not eat into your thinking time
- 5Check that you are filling the answer bubbles completely, since a partial mark is a lost item
- 1Spend 70 percent of your time on the two pruebas with the lowest scores among the four that carry 3 of 13 points
- 2Rework every item from both diagnostics that you answered wrong twice
- 3Practise stamina by sitting one 4 hour 30 minute block without breaking it up
- 4Confirm your registration in Prisma and check the citacion for your assigned site and session times
- 5If you registered a disability, confirm with your school that the supports you requested were validated by ICFES
- 1Do short daily sets rather than full simulations, one prueba per day
- 2Reread the ICFES guide description of the item format so no question style is unfamiliar
- 3Prepare your identity document and the citacion document exactly as ICFES instructs
- 4Plan travel to the assigned site and confirm the reporting time for both sessions
- 5Stop new content and review only the notes you wrote about your own recurring errors
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Best Study Resources
Guia de orientacion del Examen Saber 11
Official ICFES guideThe authoritative document. It contains the booklet structure tables with exact item counts per prueba per session, the item format description, and the published percentage of questions per competency for every prueba.
Free
Marcos de referencia Saber 11
Official ICFES framework documentsOne reference framework per prueba, setting out the competencies, affirmations and evidences that ICFES uses to write items. This is where the reasoning behind each competency percentage is spelled out.
Free
Caja de herramientas ICFES
Official ICFES toolboxICFES collection of frameworks, infographics, released question booklets and explained sample questions, linked from the Saber 11 section of icfes.gov.co.
Free
Cuadernillos de preguntas liberados
Official released papersReleased question booklets published by ICFES. The closest available match to real item difficulty and phrasing, and the only practice material written by the people who write the exam.
Free
Infografias por prueba
Official ICFES infographicsOne infographic each for Lectura Critica, Matematicas, Ciencias Naturales, Ingles and Sociales y Ciudadanas, published at the foot of the ICFES Saber 11 page for students and teachers.
Free
Resolucion 268 de 2020
Official regulationThe ICFES regulation that defines the scoring methodology: the 3PL model, the 0 to 100 scale with mean 50 and standard deviation 10, the Global Index formula and the 0 to 500 Global Score.
Free
Tarifas examen Saber 11 page
Official fee tableThe ICFES page carrying the current fee resolution and the full table of ordinary and extraordinary tarifas by population category, updated for each year.
Free
Prisma platform
Official registration systemThe ICFES digital platform where schools and individual candidates register, declare disabilities and supports, and later consult the citacion.
Free to use, exam fee payable
Guia de orientacion en lengua de senas colombiana
Official accessible guideICFES publishes a Colombian sign language version of the Saber 11 orientation guide for deaf candidates.
Free
Estadisticas oficiales ICFES
Official dataPublished average Global Scores by department, sector, sex and application period, useful for setting a realistic target against the population you are actually competing with.
Free
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Treating the five pruebas as equally weighted
English carries 1 of 13 weighting points in the Global Score while Lectura Critica, Matematicas, Ciencias Naturales and Sociales y Ciudadanas each carry 3. An hour spent on Ciencias Naturales moves the Global Score three times as far as an hour spent on English.
Studying Ciencias Naturales as three separate school subjects
ICFES publishes a competency by component matrix. Indagacion alone is 40 percent of the prueba and cuts across biology, physics and chemistry. Practising experimental design and data interpretation pays more than revising a chapter of any single subject.
Preparing Lectura Critica only with literary texts
Continuous literary texts are about 24 percent of the prueba. Informative philosophical texts are about 30 percent and informative non-philosophical texts another 30 percent, with discontinuous texts making up about 16 percent.
Drilling computation for Matematicas
The largest competency is formulacion y ejecucion at 43 percent, followed by interpretacion y representacion at 34 percent and argumentacion at 23 percent. Items ask you to choose or justify a procedure far more often than to grind through one.
Ignoring the socioeconomic and school climate questionnaires
They are 48 of the 302 items in the standard booklet and consume real minutes in both sessions, but produce no academic score. Answer them briskly so the time goes to the pruebas that count.
Choosing the standard booklet when a reasonable-adjustment booklet is available
ICFES states plainly that a candidate with a disability who chooses the standard booklet answers more questions and therefore has less time per question. The supports requested at registration apply either way, so the booklet choice is a separate decision worth making deliberately.
Registering in the extraordinary window by default
For 2026 the extraordinary tarifa is roughly 50 percent higher across every category: COP 108,000 instead of COP 72,000 for a public school student, and COP 215,000 instead of COP 143,000 for a graduated bachiller.
Assuming a raw percentage of correct answers converts to a score
Each prueba is scored with a three-parameter logistic model in which the probability of a correct response depends on the item's characteristics as well as the candidate's ability. Two candidates with the same number of correct answers can receive different scores.
Filling answer bubbles carelessly
ICFES instructs candidates to completely fill the circle corresponding to the chosen option. A partial mark on a paper answer sheet is a lost item on a test where every item is worth the same before scaling.
Reading only the Global Score on the results report
The report gives a 0 to 100 score, a percentile, a performance level and a written description for each prueba, plus the Global Score percentile. The per-prueba percentiles tell you where to work; the Global Score alone does not.
Exam Day Tips
- 1
Bring the identity document you registered with and the citacion issued through Prisma. Check the assigned site on the citacion rather than assuming it is your own school.
- 2
Plan for two sessions of 4 hours 30 minutes each. The load is 143 items in the first session and 159 in the second, so treat them as two separate endurance events.
- 3
Fill each answer bubble completely. ICFES gives an explicit instruction and a worked illustration of a correctly filled circle in the orientation guide.
- 4
Every item is single-answer multiple choice with exactly one option that answers the stated task, so eliminate options against the task rather than against the passage in general.
- 5
The ICFES published methodology contains no deduction for a wrong answer, so leave nothing blank; an unanswered item cannot help you.
- 6
Move quickly through the socioeconomic and school climate questionnaires. They are 48 items of the 302 and none of them affects your score.
- 7
In session two the 55 English questions sit alongside 79 academic questions from three other pruebas. Do not let the English block absorb time that belongs to Matematicas, Sociales or Ciencias Naturales, which are worth three times as much each.
- 8
If you requested disability supports at registration, confirm before exam day that ICFES validated them with your school; the guide states supports apply whichever booklet version you sit.
- 9
Pace against the item count rather than the clock alone: 143 items in 270 minutes is about 1 minute 53 seconds each, and 159 items in 270 minutes is about 1 minute 42 seconds each.
- 10
Check the current reglamento and your citacion for the definitive list of items permitted at your site. The ICFES orientation guide describes only the booklet and answer sheet issued to each candidate.
- 11
Do not expect any score on the day. ICFES publishes individual results on a date fixed in the cronograma resolution for that application.
Career Paths & Salary Ranges
Applicant to a Colombian university
The primary use of the exam. Each university sets its own admission rule, and many weight individual pruebas differently from the ICFES Global Score formula, so check the programme page rather than assuming the 3-3-3-3-1 weighting applies.
No salary attaches to this. ICFES publishes no earnings data for Saber 11 candidates. The distinguishing figure here is the scale itself: a Global Score from 0 to 500 with a national average of 259 in a recent Calendario A administration.
Applicant to a programme that weights specific pruebas
Engineering, medicine and economics programmes commonly build their own index from selected prueba scores. That can make a strong Matematicas or Ciencias Naturales result worth more than a strong Global Score.
No salary attaches to this. The distinguishing figure is the weighting difference: the ICFES Global Score gives Matematicas 3 of 13 points, while a university engineering admission formula may weight it far more heavily.
Candidate for Validacion del Bachillerato
Adults validating secondary education sit an exam with the same structure and the same scoring methodology as Saber 11. Those who pass also receive the Saber 11 results described in chapter II of Resolucion 268 de 2020.
No salary attaches to this. The distinguishing figure is a different reporting scale: the Validacion del Bachillerato Puntaje Total runs from 0 to 60, computed with the same 3-3-3-3-1 weights.
Pre Saber candidate in grade 10
Pre Saber contains the same five pruebas as Saber 11 and is designed as a calibration exercise a year early. ICFES computes the Global Score internally to derive the global percentile.
No salary attaches to this. The distinguishing figure is what gets reported: Pre Saber gives percentiles per prueba, a global percentile and a performance level, but ICFES does not publish the Global Score itself on that report.
Applicant using the Colombia and Spain convention
ICFES runs a convention that lets Colombian candidates use their result toward Spanish university access. The accreditation converts the Colombian result into an EBAU-style mark rather than transferring the 0 to 500 score directly.
No salary attaches to this. The distinguishing figure is the Spanish scale: the accreditation carries a mark with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 points on the Spanish EBAU scale.
School and teaching staff
Saber 11 results feed the classification of educational establishments. ICFES counts only a candidate's first sitting as a grade 11 or grade 26 student for that purpose, and publishes no ranked lists of top individual results.
No salary attaches to this. The distinguishing figure is institutional: ICFES produces a single annual classification per establishment and per sede, built from three consecutive years of registrations.
Prerequisites & Requirements
- Students are registered by their educational establishment through the ICFES Prisma platform. They must be in the final grade of educacion media, which is grade 11, or grade 26 for adult secondary education.
- Graduated bachilleres register directly with ICFES through Prisma without an establishment, and must hold the bachiller title.
- Registration must fall inside the published window for that application. ICFES sets an ordinary period and a more expensive extraordinary period for each of the two annual applications.
- Payment of the tarifa for your population category. For 2026 that ranges from COP 72,000 for a public school student in the ordinary window to COP 646,000 for a graduated bachiller registering for a fifth or later time in the extraordinary window.
- A valid identity document matching the registration, presented with the citacion issued through Prisma.
- Any disability must be declared during registration through Prisma, using the categories drawn from the SIMAT enrolment system, so ICFES can validate the supports required. Requests made after registration cannot be guaranteed.
- No minimum score, prior test or preparatory course is required. There is no prerequisite exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Saber 11 cost?
It depends on your category and on whether you register in the ordinary or extraordinary window. For 2026, public school students and private school band I pay COP 72,000 ordinary and COP 108,000 extraordinary. Private bands II through VI run from COP 94,000 to COP 143,000 ordinary. Graduated bachilleres pay COP 143,000 ordinary for a first through fourth registration, and COP 430,000 from the fifth registration onward, with extraordinary rates of COP 215,000 and COP 646,000 respectively. The figures come from ICFES Resolucion 000629 of 11 November 2025.
Is there a passing score?
No. Saber 11 produces no pass or fail result. ICFES reports a 0 to 100 score, a percentile, a performance level and a written description of that level for each of the five pruebas, plus a Global Score from 0 to 500 and its percentile. Every threshold that matters is set by a university or a funding programme, not by ICFES.
How is the Global Score calculated?
ICFES first computes a Global Index that it does not publish on the individual report: IG equals 3 times Lectura Critica plus 3 times Matematicas plus 3 times Ciencias Naturales plus 3 times Sociales y Ciudadanas plus Ingles, all divided by 13. The Global Score is that index multiplied by 5 and rounded to the nearest whole number, producing a 0 to 500 scale with no decimals. Candidates who do not sit the Ingles prueba get an index that is the plain arithmetic mean of the remaining four pruebas.
How is each individual prueba scored?
With a three-parameter logistic item response model, on a 0 to 100 scale with no decimals. ICFES sets the scale so that the average candidate scores 50 with a standard deviation of 10. Because the model weights each item by its own characteristics, the number of correct answers does not translate directly into a score, and two candidates with the same raw count can end up with different scores.
Do wrong answers cost marks?
ICFES publishes no deduction for incorrect responses in its scoring methodology. Resolucion 268 de 2020 describes the item response model used to place candidates on the 0 to 100 scale and contains no penalty provision, so there is no scoring reason to leave a question blank. Every item is single-answer multiple choice with exactly one correct option.
How long is the exam and how many questions are there?
Two sessions of 4 hours 30 minutes each, 540 minutes in total. The standard booklet has 143 items in session one and 159 in session two, 302 in all. Of those, 254 are academic questions across the five pruebas and 48 belong to the socioeconomic and school climate questionnaires, which take time but produce no academic score.
How many questions does each prueba have?
In the standard booklet: Lectura Critica 41, all in session one; Matematicas 50, split 25 and 25; Sociales y Ciudadanas 50, split 25 and 25; Ciencias Naturales 58, split 29 and 29; and Ingles 55, all in session two. Ciencias Naturales therefore has the most questions, while Lectura Critica is the only prueba confined to a single session.
How often can I retake Saber 11, and is there a waiting period?
ICFES runs two applications a year, Calendario A and Calendario B, and publishes no waiting period between sittings. You can register for any application whose registration window is open and for which you meet the conditions. The practical limit is money rather than policy: a graduated bachiller pays the standard COP 143,000 ordinary rate for the first through fourth registration and COP 430,000 from the fifth onward at 2026 rates.
Does a Saber 11 result expire?
ICFES publishes no expiry date for an individual Saber 11 result. What varies is whether the institution receiving it accepts an older score, so check the recency rule of the university or programme you are applying to. Note separately that for the classification of educational establishments, ICFES counts only a candidate's first sitting taken as a grade 11 or grade 26 student, so a later retake does not change the school's figures.
What identification do I need on exam day?
The identity document you used to register, together with the citacion generated through the Prisma platform. Your personal details must match the registration, and the citacion tells you which site you are assigned to, which is not always your own school. Check the reglamento published for your specific application for the current document rules, since ICFES issues one for each administration.
Can I take Saber 11 online or with remote proctoring?
No. The standard booklet is delivered on paper at an assigned site. ICFES does run an electronic application of Saber 11, and the reasonable-adjustment booklets for deaf candidates who use Colombian sign language are delivered electronically, but there is no at-home or remote-proctored route. Registration is online through Prisma; the exam itself is not.
Am I allowed a calculator or any reference material?
The ICFES orientation guide describes only the question booklet and the answer sheet as the materials issued to each candidate on exam day, and the Matematicas prueba is built around interpreting, formulating and justifying procedures rather than heavy computation. Because the definitive list of permitted items sits in the reglamento and citacion published for each application, check those documents for your specific sitting rather than relying on a general answer.
What accommodations are available?
Schools declare a candidate's disability during registration in Prisma, choosing from categories aligned to the SIMAT enrolment system, and ICFES then contacts the school to confirm which supports are needed. Candidates with any disability other than a motor disability can choose between the standard booklet and a booklet with reasonable adjustments, and those choosing the adjusted booklet can also choose whether to sit the Ingles prueba at all under article 28 of Resolucion 675 de 2019. ICFES warns that a candidate with a disability who picks the standard booklet answers more questions in the same 4 hours 30 minutes.
What happens if I do badly?
Nothing is recorded as a failure, because there is no pass mark. Your report still carries a full diagnostic: a score, a percentile, a performance level and a written description for each prueba. Use the per-prueba percentiles rather than the Global Score to decide where to work, then register for the next application. Universities differ on whether they consider your best result or your most recent one, so ask before resitting.
How does the percentile work?
ICFES ranks the published scores of the population that sat the exam and assigns percentiles from those ranks, doing this separately for each prueba and for the Global Score. Candidates with cognitive, hearing or visual disabilities and candidates from ethnic populations are percentiled against the population sharing those characteristics rather than against the general cohort. A percentile answers a different question from a score: it tells you how many candidates you outscored.
How does the English CEFR level work?
The Ingles prueba is aligned to the Estandares Basicos de Competencias en Lenguas Extranjeras of the Ministry of Education and mapped to the Common European Framework, in which candidates are classified into four performance levels. ICFES added a Pre-A1 band below A1 for Colombian candidates who cannot yet produce discourse but can understand some words and fixed expressions. The prueba also returns a 0 to 100 score, which is what enters the Global Score formula.
When do results come out?
There is no score at the site and no immediate feedback. ICFES fixes the individual results publication date in the cronograma resolution issued for each application, and candidates consult results online. Because the date is set per administration rather than by a standing rule, check the cronograma for your Calendario A or Calendario B sitting.
Does ICFES publish rankings of the best results?
No. Article 7 of Resolucion 268 de 2020 states that ICFES will not publish lists of best results and will not include placings on individual reports. Where another regulation refers to best Saber 11 results, the selection is made using criteria set out in that same article. ICFES does publish an annual classification of educational establishments, which is a different exercise from ranking individuals.
How does Saber 11 compare to Saber Pro and Pre Saber?
Saber 11 evaluates people finishing secondary education. Saber Pro evaluates people finishing higher education, and Saber TyT covers technical and technological programmes, both governed by the same ICFES resolution but with their own structures. Pre Saber uses the same five pruebas as Saber 11 but is sat by candidates who do not yet meet the conditions to take Saber 11; its report gives percentiles and performance levels without publishing the Global Score.
Will the exam structure change before I sit it?
Colombian law requires the essential structure of Saber 11 to be maintained for at least twelve years from 3 August 2014, the date the current structure was first applied, and modifications are permitted only where they do not affect comparability of results over time. ICFES does revise the orientation guide each year, so download the current edition, but the shape of the exam is protected by regulation rather than by convention.
Can I skip the English prueba?
Only in specific circumstances. Members of indigenous communities and ethnic groups whose second language is Spanish may choose, under article 28 of Resolucion 675 de 2019, between a booklet with the Ingles prueba and one without it. Candidates with a disability who choose the reasonable-adjustment booklet can make the same choice. If you do not sit Ingles, ICFES computes your Global Index as the plain arithmetic mean of the remaining four pruebas instead of the weighted formula.
Success Stories
“PreICFES course plus consistent daily practice for 6 months made the difference. Critical reading practice was key - it helps across all sections, not just lectura crítica.”
Camila R.
Universidad de los Andes
“I underestimated English initially. After focusing on it for 3 months, my score jumped 15 points. Don't neglect any section - they all count equally.”
Andrés M.
Universidad Nacional
“Used ICFES Interactivo extensively - it's free and very representative of the real exam. Taking full practice tests under timed conditions was the most valuable preparation.”
Valentina G.
Scholarship Recipient
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