The SAT will become fully digital—and shorter—by 2024. Here's what's changing and what's staying the same. (2024)

Updated October 2023

Major changes to the SAT are here. The exam is shifting to a digital format and shrinking to about two hours in length. The College Board has presented these as student-friendly changes, with Priscilla Rodriguez (vice president of College Readiness Assessments at the College Board) saying, "The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give, and more relevant." And so far, reactions from students who sat for pilot exams and the international administrations this spring have indeed been positive.

Here's the timeline of the rollout of the shorter, digital SAT:

• March 2023: International test centers began administering the digital SAT.
• Fall 2023: All test centers administered the digital PSAT.
• March 2024: Test centers in the U.S. will begin administering the digital SAT.

Here's what we know and what these changes mean for students.

What's changing?

The newest version of the SAT looks and feels different in several key ways.

• The test lasts for about two hours (shrinking by one hour).
  • Students also have more time per question. In fact, we're hearing that during pilot tests and the initial administrations of the dSAT, students finished with around five minutes to spare at the end of each section.
• There are two sections—a Reading & Writing section and a Math section—instead of four.
  • Reading passages are shorter, and students answer only one question per passage.
  • Students have more time per question.
  • Students no longer receive separate Reading and Writing subscores.
• Students take the test on a laptop or tablet.
  • A digital testing app will need to be downloaded before test day. The digital testing app saves students' progress while they work, even if they lose internet access or their computer crashes. During pilot tests, a small number of students lost power, but all students ultimately were able to submit their exams.
  • Students have access to a series of tools through the digital testing app, including a timer, an annotator, a calculator, a reference sheet, and a flagging tool to mark questions for review.
  • Students' devices should be fully charged in advance. Test centers arenot obligated to provide power to every student (only those with extended time), and students are not able to see their battery percentage while in the digital testing app.
• Students can use a calculator on the entire Math section. Students can bring their own or use the Desmos graphing calculator built into the testing app. We recommend that students do both: plan to bring their own and practice with the Desmos calculator in preparation for test day.
• The test is adaptive. Each section begins with an introductory module. A student's performance on that first set of questions determines the difficulty level of the questions they see in the second module.
• There are more test dates for international students. The College Board has added two international test dates to the calendar, matching the number of administrations offered to students in the U.S.

What's staying the same?

Some aspects of the SAT are remaining the same.

• Students take the test at a school or test center, not at home.
• Scores are still out of 1600. Each section (Reading & Writing and Math) is scored on an 800-point scale. The College Board’s extensive internal testing has shown that scores on the paper and digital SAT are comparable. In fact, the College Board is encouraging universities to superscore between test formats. For that reason, the College Board and ACT do not have plans to update their concordance table, since scores will continue to align the way they do now.
• Both sections feature multiple-choice questions. The Math section also includes questions that students must answer by entering their solutions directly into the app.
• Accommodations are available to students who need them. This includes paper testing for accommodations that cannot be supported digitally.

What does this mean for students?

The SAT is fully digital for international test-takers, and the international rollout has been overall successful. International students should continue to plan to complete diagnostic exams for both the ACT (CBT) and the dSAT in order to determine which test is right for them.

Domestic students planning to test in 2023 and 2024 have several options.

• Students who have completed Algebra 2 and intend to finish testing by December should take full-length paper ACT & SAT diagnostic exams, then prep for the test they perform better on. Because the paper SAT will cease to be offered after December, students hoping to take the final paper SAT should register now to reserve seats at their desired testing locations.
• Students who are hoping to begin prepping in the fall, sit for an official exam in December, and continue testing in the spring should consider the paper ACT in order to avoid switching between test formats.
• All other students should complete paper ACT and digital SAT diagnostic exams, then prep for their stronger test.
• It's more important than ever before to talk to your college counselor to start planning ahead. Your counselor has the best understanding of your unique situation in the context of your target colleges and universities, goal scores, and other factors. See more information here.
• The College Board has released four full-length practice tests through the Bluebook app. In addition, ArborBridge students have access to more practice tests through our own dSAT platform, which mimics the interface and content students will encounter on the real exam (including a fully integrated Desmos calculator), providing them with valuable opportunities to master the new test format.

In short, there's nothing to fear from the latest version of the SAT. The changes to the exam favor many students: more time per question, shorter passages, and an overall more streamlined test day experience. And digital, adaptive testing isn't new—for years our experts have been preparing students with well-worn techniques to succeed on similar exams.

Need more individualized advice?

The recommendations above are general suggestions. If you have specific questions,reach out to our experts here. We’re happy to help in any way we can.

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