Changes to SAT: Here’s what to know as college entrance exam goes digital
TAMPA, Fla. - The SAT is ditching pencils and paper.
Starting next month, the preeminent college entrance exam is going digital. It’s one of many major changes aimed at taking some of the stress out of test day.
Students will take the SAT on either a laptop or tablet, which they can bring in themselves or request that the College Board provide a device for them.
The test itself will also be a lot shorter, trimmed down from three hours to just over two.
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The College Board says the revamped SAT will be just as challenging and the paper and pencil version, and students will still need to take it in a proctored, official setting.
File: Teen at computer
"The test is going to be the exact same level of difficulty," explained the College Board’s Matthew Chovanec during a recent Zoom demonstration. "We have studied it. We had students take the paper test, we had them take the digital test and they got the same scores on them. We have done a lot of work to make sure that even if this test feels less stressful and feels easier, it’s still the same level of rigor and difficulty that it was before."
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According to the College Board, the SAT will now be adaptive, so the test will adjust itself in real time to a student’s performance.
File: Digital SAT exam
Learn more about the SAT’s adaptive testing here.
While the overall test will take less time, there are fewer questions and shorter reading passages so students will have more time to think through their answers.
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"You have more time for each of these questions. You don’t feel like you’re running or sprinting or that you’re in a race. You’re going to be a lot more comfortable as opposed to the older test in terms of how much time you get per answer on a lot of these questions, but they are some very challenging questions," said Chovanec.
File: Students working on computers.
The test also removes annoying pitfalls like showing up with the calculator -- or no calculator at all. Students will still be able to bring their own SAT approved calculator, but Bluebook, the app used to take the test, has a graphing calculator built into the platform. The app also has reference sheets for common math formulas.
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One of the most popular changes is the new way results will be delivered. Students will not only get their scores back in a matter of days, as opposed to weeks, but they’ll also receive their questions and answers along with explanations. This will make it significantly easier for students to understand their scores and identify areas to focus on if they hope to improve.
File: Teen at laptop
The Bluebook app also includes free test prep and practice exams, and integrates with Khan Academy to tailor suggested SAT study plans to actual test results.
To learn more about the digital SAT or access free test prep and practice exams head to: