College Board announces the SAT will move to a digital format
- Event date
- Published on WAC News
College Board announced on January 25, 2022 that the SAT would be delivered digitally, ending the paper-and-pencil format of the college admissions test. The digital exam was scheduled to launch at international test centers in 2023 and in the United States in 2024.
The organization said the new version would take about two hours instead of three and would give students more time per question. Reading passages would be shorter, with a single question attached to each, and calculators would be permitted throughout the Math section. Because each student receives a unique test form, College Board said security would improve, and it added that scores could be returned in days. Students would be able to use their own or a school-issued device, with College Board lending one where needed. The 1600-point scale was kept.
The change extends across the SAT Suite of Assessments: the PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 8/9 were due to go digital in 2023 and the PSAT 10 in 2024. College Board said a pilot of the digital test in November 2021 found that 80 percent of participating students considered it less stressful than the paper version.
Why it matters
Moving a widely used admissions exam to a shorter digital format changed how the test is delivered, secured and scored, and set a reference point for other large-scale assessments.
Key facts
- Digital SAT announced January 25, 2022
- International launch planned for 2023 and US launch for 2024
- Test length reduced from about three hours to about two
- Scores remain on the 1600-point scale
- 80 percent of students in a November 2021 pilot found the digital test less stressful
Organisations in this story
- College Board
Sources
- Digital SAT Brings Student-Friendly Changes to Test ExperienceCollege Board Newsroom · January 25, 2022
This is an independent summary written by the WAC editorial team from the published sources listed above. It describes the situation on the event date. The organisations named are not affiliated with the World Assessment Council and have not reviewed this summary. How WAC News works · Send a correction
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