The experts at FLEX have been fielding a lot of questions about the “digital SAT” since the College Board announced in early 2022 that it would offer the PSAT/NMSQT® and the SAT® digitally starting in 2023 and 2024. Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions as well as answers to the questions you should be asking about the “digital SAT.”
Exam Logistics
When is the SAT changing to the digital format?
March 9, 2024, for students taking the official exam in the US. International SAT administrations are already using the digital format. The PSAT will be switching to the digital format in October 2023.
How many opportunities are left to take the paper exam?
Remaining test dates in 2023 are: November 4 and December 2.
What is the structure of the digital SAT?
The digital SAT will be a shorter exam, both in the number of questions and in total time. There will be 2 Reading and Writing sections, followed by a 10-minute break, followed by 2 Math sections. The digital SAT will now be an adaptive test where students will see a harder or easier second module based on how they do on the first module in each section of the exam. See the diagram below:
How does this structure compare to the paper SAT?
On the paper SAT, there are also 4 sections. However, the English sections are split between (1) Reading Comprehension and (2) Writing and Language, with different question types in each. The math sections are split between a (3) No-Calculator section and a (4) Calculator allowed section. The 2 English modules and the 2 Math modules are now identical in terms of content, although not equally difficult since the digital SAT is now adaptive.
How much time do students get for the digital SAT?
Total exam time is now 2 hours and 14 minutes (plus a 10-minute break). The paper SAT has 3 hours of testing time, not including breaks.
What does it mean to say the digital SAT is an adaptive test?
For both the Reading and Writing and Math portions of the exam, all students will receive the same questions in the first module (question order will be randomized for each test taker). Then, based on how many questions the student answered correctly in the first module, an algorithm will generate either a harder or easier second module. For example, if a student answers every question correctly in their first module, they will receive a second module which contains a greater number of “hard” questions (and fewer “easy” questions). Note, the digital SAT is only adaptive from module to module unlike some other exams which can be adaptive from question to question.
How will students take the digital SAT?
The test will be administered through the College Board’s proprietary Bluebook™ testing application. Students will need to download this app to their personal electronic devices (or to a school device for in-school administrations). Test takers will need a Windows or Mac device, an iPad, or a school-managed Chromebook. Mobile phones may not be used to take the digital SAT. Students will still need to take the exam at a test center (or their high school for School-Day administrations) with a proctor present.
What if a student doesn’t have an eligible device?
Students can borrow a device from a family member or friend or receive a loaned device from the College Board. When registering for the SAT, students can request to borrow a device as long as this request is made at least 30 days in advance of the test date. Students who show up at the test center without an eligible device will be unable to take the exam and will be dismissed from the test center.
What about power outlets for my device?
Students are instructed to bring a fully charged device that can operate for at least 3 hours. Testing centers are not obligated to provide power outlets for test takers but are able to if it is possible to do so fairly and without disrupting other students. Students should bring their chargers but cannot expect that they will be able to use them. Testing centers are only obligated to provide power to students who receive extended time accommodations for the exam (although this access to power does not need to be continuous).
What happens if the test center or the student’s device loses internet connectivity?
The College Board says that their app is designed to be able to save a student’s progress (and freeze their timer) in case of a loss of connectivity. It remains to be seen how true this proves to be in practice.
What features are available on the College Board’s Bluebook™ application?
Students will be able to access a timer, a built-in Desmos graphing calculator, formula sheets for math, mark questions so they can return to them later, and zoom in and out.
Can students return to previous questions on the digital SAT?
Students are free to return to any question within the module that they are currently working on. They can even mark questions for later review and have the option to return to those questions when they reach the end of a module. Students will not be able to return to questions from any previous modules once the time has elapsed or they have clicked to finish that module.
Can students still bring their own calculators from home?
Yes, students can still bring their own calculators to the exam if they wish. Any calculator that is currently allowed for the paper SAT can be used for the digital SAT.
Will students still be able to use scratch paper and write things down while taking the exam?
Yes, testing centers should still have scratch paper available and students can bring in pens and pencils to write with.
Is the scoring system changing for the digital SAT?
The scoring system will remain exactly the same. Students will receive a score between 200-800 points for both the Reading/Writing and Math sections for a composite score between 400-1600. There will still be no guessing penalty, so students should answer every question.
What about superscoring? Can digital and paper SAT scores be combined for superscoring?
Whether or not applicants can superscore is a decision of the individual university, not the College Board so students should check the admissions policies of the schools that they are applying to. Generally speaking, schools that currently allow superscoring seem to be allowing students to combine paper and digital SAT scores, but applicants should confirm this for the schools to which they are applying.
Exam Content
What will be tested on the Reading and Writing section of the digital SAT?
Each question will now be accompanied by its own (shorter) reading passage between 25-150 words long. The questions will fall into one of the following four content domains.
- Information and Ideas
- Measures comprehension, analysis, and reasoning skills and knowledge and the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, and integrate information and ideas from texts and informational graphics (tables, bar graphs, and line graphs).
- Craft and Structure
- Measures the comprehension, vocabulary, analysis, synthesis, and reasoning skills and knowledge needed to understand and use high-utility words and phrases in context, evaluate texts rhetorically, and make connections between topically related texts.
- Expression of Ideas
- Measures the ability to revise texts to improve the effectiveness of written expression and to meet specific rhetorical goals.
- Standard English Conventions
- Measures the ability to edit text to conform to core conventions of Standard English sentence structure, usage, and punctuation.
How has the Reading and Writing exam content changed on the digital SAT?
The digital SAT no longer has long reading passages followed by multiple questions. Instead, each question is now self-contained with a much shorter reading excerpt with its own question. This means that students no longer have to retain lots of information from a long passage anymore.
Many of the questions still test similar concepts as before in terms of comprehension and grammar rules. There seems to be a greater emphasis on vocabulary than previously. Students will also see poems as reading passages.
What Math topics will be tested on the digital SAT?
- Algebra (13-15 questions per exam)
- Advanced Math (13-15 questions per exam)
- Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (5-7 questions per exam)
- Geometry and Trigonometry (5-7 questions per exam)
How has the Math exam content changed on the digital SAT?
There have been relatively few changes to the math section from the standpoint of content so students will still be tested on the same math topics as before. The one important difference is the availability of a Desmos graphing calculator to all students. Many questions can be solved more efficiently if students are familiar with Desmos, and this should become part of the preparation for any SAT student. Another structural difference is that Grid-In questions (aka “Student Produced Responses”) and Multiple-Choice questions will now be intermingled throughout the math sections. Previously, these were separated into separate subsections.
Will the digital SAT have an essay?
No, students will not have to write an essay on the digital SAT.
Is the exam easier or harder now?
It depends in what sense. In terms of the exam content, certain concepts/skills have been eliminated and others have been added. In terms of the test-taking experience, students should find it much more manageable. There will be less reading, and the exam will be shorter overall. In terms of the actual score, the College Board says that they have done extensive testing to calibrate scores between the digital SAT and the paper version (using student volunteers who took both exams over the past few years). In theory then, a student should receive roughly the same scaled score (out of 1600) that they would have gotten on the paper version.
What is the best way for students to prepare for the digital SAT?
Currently, students are able to download the Bluebook application from the College Board website and gain access to the digital SAT practice materials that have been released. There are currently 4 practice SAT exams and 1 practice PSAT exam available for students.
Students should be very cautious about using practice materials from 3rd party companies like Kaplan, Barron’s, Princeton Review, etc. There is very limited information available right now regarding the exact makeup of digital SAT questions and much of the material in the prep books will not necessarily be representative of what the exam questions will look like. Even Khan academy, the official partner of the College Board, doesn’t have officially sanctioned practice materials available.
What should my student be doing?
Based on our experiences from the last time the SAT underwent major changes (back in 2016), the digital SAT will likely also undergo a period of significant fluctuation, both in the types of questions that show up and in how the exam is “curved” (how a raw score gets converted into the scaled score). That is, a student may miss the same number of questions on the exam but receive a significantly different scaled score between 2 administrations. There were even cases where students missed fewer questions overall but received a lower scaled score!
Students who are particularly sensitive to this type of uncertainty can consider preparing for the ACT instead. The ACT is not changing, and FLEX has great expertise in helping students get great scores on this exam.
FLEX Recommendations
Which test should my student prepare for?
This largely depends on the class year of the student and their level of exam preparation thus far. Here are some general guidelines but these may not apply to all students in all situations:
- Class of 2024
- Paper exam – students will need to submit their scores before any digital exam administration (unless they are international students)
- Class of 2025
- If students are close to their target score:
- Continue preparation for the paper SAT and take the exam by December at the latest
- If students have only recently started preparation/are not close to their target score
- Start preparation for the digital SAT or
- Prepare for ACT
- If students are close to their target score:
- Class of 2026 and later
- Prepare to take the digital SAT or ACT
Standardized test requirements of colleges and universities will not be changing as a result of the shift to the digital format. If a school was test optional or test blind before, they will remain so independent of this shift. On the student end, the SAT is now a shorter and less burdensome exam to take (less time, no more long reading passages). This is good news for students who were planning on submitting an SAT score anyway.
How can FLEX help?
FLEX can help students determine if they should take the SAT, the ACT, or any standardized test at all depending on their college goals and academic abilities. For those where submitting an SAT score makes sense, our test-prep approach will be to prepare students to score highly through the hardest modules of each section, regardless of the adaptive algorithm, using examples and strategies specifically tailored to the new types of questions and tools that students will be seeing on the digital SAT.
Students at FLEX are coached by expert instructors, all of whom are top scorers in the subject areas that they teach. In addition, FLEX instructors and curriculum writers routinely sit in for standardized exams, continually updating and refining strategies based on real-time information from the test-makers.
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