SAT Changes
Students and parents should be aware that the following changes are taking place to the SAT test.
For international students, changes started from March 2023. The new format should allow for more test dates for international test takers. All test centers will administer the digital PSAT worldwide from Fall 2023 (October 2023). As of Spring 2024, US test centers will start administering the digital SAT.
The test is a digital-only test offered via the College Board app; it is 2 hours 14 minutes and remains out of a 400-1600 total score, but now offers no subscores or cross-test scores. Superscoring is expected to continue and encompass both paper and digital versions. While many colleges are now test-optional, the SAT scores remain an important part of a competitive application.
The new test is stage adaptive, so student performance in the first stage determines which second stage question sets are offered (effectively capping the difficulty/ total score). The test now has two sections/ two stages for each subject: Reading & Writing (32 min, 27 questions), Math (35 minutes, 22 questions); students will be allotted slightly more time per question than on the old exam.
Students may be excited to hear that all math is calculator-allowed now and a graphic calculator will be built into the testing app, as well as a timer, a reference sheet, and a flagging tool. Each section will have 4 unscored experimental questions. There will be one question per reading passage, shorter reading passages and fewer math word problems. This is good news for students who struggled with the length of the old test!
Students will still test at school or testing site, and eventually greater flexibility on times may be offered. Scratch paper will still be provided, but the biggest change is that students are expected to bring their own fully powered devices (sites are not obligated to provide power). Students need to carefully check if their device meets all requirements before their test date. Sites must provide power to students with extended time accommodations and existing accommodations will be maintained.
Test scores will be available within a few days after the exam, but students will no longer have access to their questions/answers; in fact questions may be re-used as each student is generated a unique individual exam by the algorithm. This means fewer updated practice materials will be available.
A limited number of practice exams will be made available on the College Board’s Bluebook practice app. Our expert tutors are available to help students adjust to these changes and make the most of their revision time to maximize their score.