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X12 138 — Educational Testing Results Request and Report

The 138 transmits a request for standardized testing results, or the matching report, between a testing organization (ETS, ACT, College Board) and an educational institution.

Purpose

The 138 documents the exchange of standardized testing results — SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, AP, ASVAB — between the testing organization and an institution (university, school district, scholarship program). It carries the student identity, the test session identifier, scores per section, percentiles, and validation status.

It is used during the post-secondary admission cycle and pre-requisite verification: the institution sends a 138 (request), the testing organization replies with a 138 (report) carrying the scores. Acknowledged by 997; corrections or re-issues use a new 138 in replace mode, never a 824.

Envelope structure

The 138 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group TT, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-138.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*ETSREPORTS    *ZZ*STATEUNIV      *260514*0900*U*00401*000000138*0*P*>~
GS*TT*ETSREPORTS*STATEUNIV*20260514*0900*1*X*004010~
ST*138*0001~
BGN*00*TT-2026-0042*20260514~
NM1*II*1*DOE*JANE*A***34*SSN-LAST4-1234~
DMG*D8*20040712*F~
N1*FA*EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE*24*EIN-ETS~
LX*1~
REF*0F*SAT-2026-04-26~
DTM*512*20260426~
QTY*ZZ*1490~
SE*9*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000138~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, BGN (Beginning Segment), DTM*512 (test date).
  • Examinee — NM1*II (Individual / examinee), DMG (date of birth, sex).
  • Organization — N1*FA (Facility / testing org), REF for session identifier.
  • Scores — repeated LX loop: REF*0F (test code), QTY (raw score), MSG for percentile / sub-scores.
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • FERPA and student data: results are educational records protected by FERPA in the US. Without a disclosure release signed by the eligible student, the EDI transmission is illegal.
  • Scale vs. percentile: QTY carries the raw or scaled score (200-800 for SAT); the percentile goes in MSG or a qualified REF. Confusing both breaks the admission decision.
  • Score cancellation: a score cancelled by the student (SAT Score Choice) is not removed via 998 — an explicit 138 replace is required, otherwise the history sticks.

Documentation

The code 138 and the name Educational Testing Results Request and Report are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The complete structure of loops, qualifiers and code lists is distributed by DISA via the proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.