Big News for SAT Test Takers! SAT is going digital.

Students, Parents, Teachers:
You may have already heard that the SAT and ACT are quickly transitioning to digital, rather than the more familiar pen-and-paper, testing. For the SAT, some drastic changes are coming with the shift—for the ACT, things are staying more or less the same. We wanted to take a moment to outline things and how they’ll affect test-taking starting in Spring 2024.



What’s changing about the SAT?
The SAT Suite of Assessments is becoming fully digital for all students beginning in Spring 2024. The digital SAT will be accompanied by a number of other changes to the exam. For students taking the PSAT 8/9 and PSAT/NMSQT, digital testing will be introduced this semester, Fall 2023, in order to get them acquainted with the digital format of the SAT, next semester.

Why are these changes being introduced?
The College Board has decided to take measures to match the pace at which students today are utilizing technology. You’ve probably already experienced, or seen your students experience most of their classes using some form of technology in the classroom. Taking the SAT digitally will also allow testing to be administered more flexibly.

Will there still be a pen-and-paper option?
No, the SAT will be full digital by Spring 2024 for all students. Guidebooks, practice tests, and other support materials will also be entirely digital.

What if the student does not have a device they can use on test day?
College Board will be able to provide any student a testing device in case they need one.

What else is changing about the SAT?
The structure and format of the SAT will be changing drastically as well. There will only be two sections, ‘Reading & Writing’ and ‘Math.’ While students will have more time per person, the exam will take less time overall, being shortened by an hour. In the Reading & Writing section, questions will be paired 1:1 with much shorter passages, rather than multiple questions associated with much longer passages. In the Math section, students will be able to use a calculator for the entire section. The sections will be ‘adaptive’ as well, meaning that they will be separated into two modules; the questions that appear in the second module of each section will be based on answers the student gives in the first module. The score will still be out of 1600, but the results will arrive
in a matter of days, rather than weeks.

What’s changing about the ACT?
The ACT will also be trialing a digital version of their exam beginning in December 2023 for a small pilot group. Otherwise, however, the ACT is staying the same between paper and digital versions.

What do I need to do?
Stay up to date on new material coming from College Board that lines up with the changes in test
structure and content. As always, iLearn Academy is here to help with digitial practice tests and personalized instruction. We  will be caught up on the most recent information from both College Board and the ACT in order to help you or your
student succeed, no matter what changes come our way.

---