What does a percentile rank represent?

A percentile rank is a statistical measure that indicates the position of an individual score relative to a group of scores. Specifically, it tells you what percentage of test-takers scored lower than the individual in question. For example, if someone is at the 70th percentile, it means that they scored better than 70% of the other participants. This understanding is crucial in contexts such as standardized testing, where determining how a person's performance compares to that of their peers can provide insights into their abilities or skills.

The other options do not accurately define what a percentile rank represents. Scores achieved above a median refer to a specific point in a dataset rather than a comparative measure. A scale of 1-100 does not capture the relative positioning that a percentile rank conveys. Lastly, averaging scores over multiple tests does not relate to the concept of percentile ranks, which focuses on individual performance within a particular group at a specific time.