SAT To Go Fully Digital In 2024 (2024)

At last, all college-bound students taking the SAT® college entrance exam are entering the digital age. Starting in 2024, the U.S. SAT will shift from the old pencil-and-paper format to an onscreen-only format. In other countries, the switch happened in 2023.

The new digital format for these exams will affect millions of students. During the 2022–23 school year, 1.9 million students took the SAT, according to exam administrator College Board®.

Nearly all U.S. colleges and universities accept SAT scores along with first-year applications. In fact, until test-optional admissions rose to popularity around 2020, most colleges required applicants to submit SAT scores—and some still do.

Why Are the SATs Switching to a Digital Format?

A 2021 pilot project by the College Board—the nonprofit that runs the SAT and PSAT® programs—revealed that 80% of students found it less stressful to take the test in a digital format than with paper and pencil. As a result, in January 2022, the College Board announced the format change would soon become permanent.

Various practice tests for high schoolers, including the PSAT 8/9 and the PSAT/NMSQT, have already made the shift. The PSAT 10 will graduate to a digital-only format in 2024. Last year more than 5 million students took those tests.

The College Board says the transition to digital testing makes the SAT easier to take, easier to administer and “more relevant.” One key difference: The time limit on the SAT is being shortened from about three hours to roughly two hours and 45 minutes. However, the new exam format also allows students more time to answer each question.

“The shift to a digital test for the SAT may be intimidating for many students,” Abby McLaughlin, lead SAT tutor for Ivy Tutors Network, tells Forbes Advisor in an email interview. But, she adds, the change may present new opportunities as well.

“The new version of the test will play to more students’ abilities and more accurately measure skills relevant to college success,” says McLaughlin.

What You Need To Know About Digital SAT Exams

With the switch to an all-digital testing format, here are some key things students and parents should know about the SAT:

• Students will be able to take the test on their own laptop or tablet or on a school-issued device. The College Board will provide a device on test day to any student without one.
• The test will be administered through a digital app called Bluebook.
• Proctors will still oversee test-taking, which will take place at schools or testing centers. In other words, students won’t be allowed to take the tests at home.
• Test takers can use graphing calculators on the exam’s math section. Previously, students weren’t able to use a graphing calculator for the entire math section.
• The number of test sections is being streamlined from three (reading, writing and language, math) to two (reading and writing, math).
• The digital test will be scored differently. A student’s performance on the first module of each exam section will trigger the software to provide a second module that is either easier or more difficult. Correct answers to harder questions will earn more points.
• Exams will still be scored on a 1,600-point scale.
• Students will now receive their scores in days. With the pencil-and-paper format, scoring took weeks.

Tips for Taking Digital SAT Exams

Consider these SAT tips for the new digital exam:

1. Practice, Practice, Practice

Testing experts strongly urge students to prep for the SAT well before the actual test day comes along.

Rich Goldman, director of tutoring at My College Planning Team, recommends buying an up-to-date SAT study guide. These books typically include practice tests—on paper and often at a linked website—that resemble the digital test’s questions and format. He also notes that the College Board offers practice tests through its Bluebook app.

Other practice options include Ivy Tutors Network’s MockExamApp.com.

Josef Durand, an admissions counselor at Quad Education, urges students to take as many digital practice tests as possible to adjust to the new SAT format.

“Practicing…will show test takers firsthand how to navigate through the computer-based test most efficiently,” says Durand, “with the fewest keystrokes and with minimum human error introduced to the equation.” These strategies can help students avoid incorrect answers and lost points, he says.

2. Develop a Plan

Cindy Chanin, founder of Rainbow EDU Consulting & Tutoring, advises coming up with a specially tailored approach to gearing up for the SAT.

“I still believe that, even with all the changes to the SAT, the best way to get ready for the test is to build and follow a strong, individualized study plan,” Chanin says via an email interview with Forbes Advisor.

“Start preparing early and practice often,” she adds. “Set yourself up to really crush the exam.”

3. Get Familiar With Graphing Calculators

Test takers can use their own graphing calculator during the SAT’s math portion or use the Desmos calculator that’s built into the Bluebook app.

“Although many students will bring their own graphing calculator with them, some questions can actually be solved more efficiently via the built-in calculator,” says Joey Radu, a master tutor at IvyWise.

Khan Academy, a College Board partner, recommends that once a student decides which calculator they’ll use, they should integrate that calculator into their SAT prep. On the Khan Academy website, contributors note that students may complete some math computations faster in their heads than on a calculator, so they might not need to rely on the calculator for every math question.

4. Tech Tools Can Help You Get Ready For Exam Day

Radu recommends these additional tools for getting SAT-ready:

• Khan Academy’s array of online content about the College Board’s tests includes a practice test for the digital SAT.
• Habitica is a productivity app that can help you make SAT prep a daily habit.
• Elevate is a brain-training app designed to help improve your math skills.
• Magoosh is a paid test-prep course aimed at beefing up your vocabulary.