Having started in 2024, all students will now be taking the SAT digitally
SAT Changes
- 2 hours instead of 3 hours
- 2 sections instead of four (math and reading/writing)
- More concise questions (for instance, lengthy reading passages have been replaced with shorter versions. Only one question, rather than multiple, is be tied to each reading)
- Adaptive testing
Digital SAT Exam Breakdown
Students take the exam in the following order:
- Reading & Writing Stage 1 (27 questions, 32 minutes)
- Reading & Writing Stage 2 (27 questions, 32 minutes)
- Break,
- Math Stage 1 (22 questions, 35 minutes)
- Math Stage 2 (22 questions in 35 minutes)
Digital Adaptive SAT Testing
How you perform on the first module will determine the difficulty level of your second module. If you perform well on the first module, you’ll see harder questions on the second module, and your performance on the second module will determine the exact score you end up with. See chart below:
Scoring
- Total scores will remain the same (1600 scale)
- Paper SAT scores will be equivalent to Digital SAT scores (a 1250 on the digital SAT is the same as a 1250 on the paper SAT)
- ACT/SAT concordance will remain the same
- Students will not be given access to their problems (but more practice tests will be released)
- No published scale
Calculator usage
- Graphing calculators can be used for the entire math section
Reading and Writing
- Instead of two sections, reading and writing have been combined into one section.
- Reading passages are much shorter (25-150 words) with one question per text instead of 11 questions alongside a long passage (600-700 words).
- Questions about graphics—tables, bar graphs, line graphs—have been simplified to avoid the former trickiness.
- Writing questions will no longer test commonly confused words or idiomatic phrases.
- The “No Change” option in writing questions is removed.
Differences between the New Digital SAT, Previous Paper SAT, and Current Paper ACT
Helpful Digital SAT Resources
Guides
- https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/digital-sat-test-spec-overview.pdf
- https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/digital-sat-student-guide-practice-scores.pdf
Sample Questions
Practice Tests
