The individual sten scores are defined by reference to a standard normal distribution.

Then sten scores for this scale can be calculated using the formula, .

Like stanines, individual sten scores are demarcated by half standard deviations.

Sten scores (for the entire population of results) have a mean of 5.5 and a standard deviation of 2.

Common formats for these norms include percentile ranks, z scores, sten scores, and other forms of standardised scores.

This procedure is a non-linear transformation that will normalize the sten scores and usually the resulting stens will only approximate the percentages shown in the table.

Unlike stanine scores, which have a midpoint of five, sten scores have no midpoint (the midpoint is the value 5.5).

The results for some scales of some psychometric instruments are returned as sten scores, sten being an abbreviation for 'Standard Ten' and thus closely related to stanine scores.

An alternative method of calculation requires that the scale developer prepare a table to convert raw scores to sten scores by apportioning percentages according to the distribution shown in the table.