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What to Expect on the New Digital SAT
This just in, major changes to the SAT are approaching. Here is a video from College Board Vice President, Priscilla Rodriguez, explaining What to Expect on the New Digital SAT.
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What's Staying The Same?
The foundational college and career readiness skills being tested on the current version of the exam are very similar to those that will be tested on the new exam.
Scores will continue to be out of 1600. Each section (Reading & Writing and Math) will be scored on an 800-point scale.
Students will take the test at a school or test center.
Students will still have access and are encouraged to utilize the Khan Academy online platform.
Sections will continue to feature multiple-choice questions. The Math section will also include Open-Ended questions that students must answer by bubbling in their solutions.
When Will These Changes Take Place?
March 2023: International test centers will begin administering the digital SAT.
Fall 2023: All test centers will administer the digital PSAT.
March 2024: Test centers in the U.S. will begin administering the digital SAT.
What Will be Different?
Students will take the test on a laptop or tablet, and accommodations will continue to be available to students who need them.
The test is becoming shorter in length (moving from 3 hours to 2 hours total), and students will have more time per question.
As opposed to four sections (Reading, English, Math Non Calc, Math Calc), there will now be two sections (Reading + English, Math Calc).
Although the question types and fundamentals are relatively similar, Reading passages will be shorter, and students will answer only one question per passage. Thus the SAT Reading section will no longer assess two-part supporting evidence questions.
The two English/ Reading modules will each include a mixture of reading, grammar, editing, and rhetoric questions.
Poetry will be included in the section in addition to prose fiction.
For the Math Section, the College Board has suggested they intend to increase the number of questions related to Geometry Concepts. They also intend to reduce the amount of lengthy word problems.
The test will be adaptive. In other words, the types of questions students receive will be correlated to each student’s performance on the test. A student's performance on that first set of questions will determine the difficulty level of the subsequent questions they see.
Students will have the ability to use “built-in” Calculators on the entire Math section or bring their own calculator. A formula reference section and scrap paper will continue to be provided. Moreover, students will have a highlighter feature to annotate specific areas of the test.
Scores and reporting will be delivered in days compared to weeks/months.
Moving forward, the PSAT will tie into a Career Exploration Tool that will take students’ performances into account and “suggest” various academic pathways
Where Can I Get Practice Materials for the Digital SAT?
Fortunately enough, College Board has already released several electronic and hardcopy practice tests made available below.
Four, full-length digital adaptive test forms are available through Bluebook™, College Board’s test delivery platform. Download Bluebook to take practice tests 1–4 using the same interface, format, and scoring as the digital SAT.
The PDF versions of linear practice test forms are recommended only for students who will test with paper-based accommodations on test day. Visit Full-length Linear Practice Tests to download 4 official full-length linear (nonadaptive) SAT practice tests for free.
Need More Individualized Advice?
If you have ongoing questions, we’re always here as a resource. Our team of experts and College and Career Advisors will be happy to connect and discuss your academic needs further. You’re welcome to contact info@embracetutoring.com to set up a consultation today.
For more information regarding the Digital SAT, feel free to visit sat.org/digital.