Transition to Digital Format: The SAT is changing from a paper and pencil test to a digital adaptive test in 2024. It cannot be taken at home; it must be taken at a testing center.
Duration: The test duration is reduced from three hours to two hours and 14 minutes.
Section Changes:
The Reading and Writing sections have been combined into one section.
The two Math sections have been combined into a single Math section.
A Desmos calculator will be available for the entire Math section.
Question Format:
Each section is divided into two modules.
The Reading and Writing module has 27 questions to be answered in 32 minutes.
The Math module has 22 questions to be answered in 35 minutes.
The first module of each section has a range of questions that everyone gets. The second module’s difficulty is based on performance in the first module.
Scoring:
Scoring details are not fully disclosed by the College Board.
Based on experiments, it seems that getting a perfect score on the first module is crucial for a high overall score. Missing questions on the second module is less penalizing than missing questions on the first module.
Content Changes:
The test is moving away from long passages and word problems to shorter, isolated questions.
In the Reading section, long passages are replaced with shorter paragraphs and sentences with fill-in-the-blanks.
In the Math section, word problems are a smaller proportion of questions. The content breakdown is approximately 35% algebra, 35% advanced math, 15% problem-solving and data analysis, and 15% geometry and trigonometry.
Imaginary numbers have been removed from the Math section.
Use of Desmos Calculator:
The Desmos calculator can be used for the entire Math section and can solve a variety of problems, including systems of equations and graphing functions.
Score Release:
Scores will be available in days instead of weeks, as the digital format allows for immediate processing.