Understanding the Digital SAT: A Parent’s Guide to the New Test

The world of college admissions is constantly changing, and a major difference your high school student faces is the switch to the digital SAT. The days of the paper SAT are over for most students. Now, they’ll experience a shorter, more modern, and adaptive way of testing that changes based on how they answer questions.

This big update aims to make the whole testing experience better for current students. However, it’s natural for parents supporting their child’s college readiness to have questions. This guide breaks down the most important details about the new digital SAT, what it means for SAT prep, and how it affects college admissions.

From Pencil to Screen: Key Differences in the Digital Format

The College Board officially introduced the digital SAT for all U.S. students in spring 2024, after launching it internationally. This change applies to the SAT and the PSAT tests.

A Shorter Test with Focused Content

The biggest change is the length. The old paper version took about three hours. The digital version is a significantly shorter test, lasting only 2 hours and 14 minutes. This is possible because there are fewer questions overall.

Key format differences:

• Reading and Writing Section: Instead of long passages followed by many questions, the new Reading and Writing section uses shorter passages (or text excerpts). Only one question follows each short passage. This change makes the reading passages less tiring and the questions more direct.
• Math Section: Students can now use a built-in, online calculator called Desmos for the entire Math section. The content in the SAT Math still covers algebra, data analysis, and problem-solving, along with some geometry and trigonometry.

The Digital Testing Experience

Students take the digital SAT at a test center (usually their school) on a digital device—either their own laptop/tablet, or a device provided by the College Board. They take the test with the Bluebook app.

• Device Requirements: Students must install the Bluebook app on an approved device (Windows laptop/tablet, Mac laptop, iPad, or school-managed Chromebook). Cell phones are not allowed.
• Scratch Paper: Even though the test is digital, students still get scratch paper and a pencil. This is helpful for taking notes and working out complex problem-solving questions, especially in the math module.

Understanding Adaptive Testing

The most significant change to the SAT is that it’s now an adaptive format. This feature, called Multistage Adaptive Testing (MST), is important for parents to understand when helping with test prep.

How Adaptive Testing Works

Each of the two main sections (Reading and Writing, and Math) is split into two timed modules.

1. First Module: This first part includes a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions.
2. Second Module: The test’s difficulty level for the second module changes based on how the student did in the first module.
   • If a student does well in the first module, they will get a harder second module.
   • If a student struggles in the first module, they will get an easier second module.

This adaptive testing structure allows the digital version of the SAT to figure out a student’s skill level quickly and accurately using fewer questions. This keeps the scoring scale fair despite the shorter testing time.

Is the Digital SAT Harder than the Paper Test?

The new version of the test is not necessarily harder. It’s designed to measure the same knowledge and skills as the paper test. However, because of the adaptive nature, students aiming for the highest digital SAT scores will face a section of more difficult questions in their second module. This is how the test ensures that very high scores are accurately measured. The difficulty is equivalent to the paper-and-pencil SAT.

Digital SAT Scores and College Admissions

Even with the format changes, the scoring scale remains the same: a total score from 400 to 1600, with each section (Reading and Writing, Math) scored from 200 to 800.

• Score Comparability: A score of 1200 on the digital SAT means the same thing for college admissions as a 1200 on the old paper version. Colleges will view the scores equally (College Board comparability report).
• Understanding Percentiles: Instead of focusing only on the numerical score, it’s helpful to understand the student’s percentile rank. A percentile shows the percentage of other test takers whose scores are the same as or lower than your child’s score. For instance, a student in the 75th percentile scored as well as or better than 75% of the other students.

Essential SAT Prep and Practice Strategies

Test prep for the new digital SAT needs to be smart, focusing on the new digital style and using the official tools available.

1. Familiarize yourself with the Bluebook app: Knowing how to use Bluebook is crucial since the test is digital. The College Board offers full-length, official SAT practice tests through Bluebook. These practice tests are adaptive and feel just like the real test day. Using a tool like Acely in addition to Bluebook will make sure students don’t run out of tests.
2. Focus on the First Module: Encourage your student to focus their effort on the first module of each section. Strong performance here unlocks the harder second module, which they must achieve to earn the highest possible SAT scores.
3. Review Core Skills: While the test format is different, the core knowledge hasn’t changed. SAT prep should focus on the main skills in the math section (algebra, problem-solving) and the writing section (grammar, structure). Free, official test prep is available through the College Board’s partnership with Khan Academy.
4. Practice Timing: The app has a timer and a feature to flag questions to come back to. Students should practice pacing themselves to ensure they use their testing time effectively within each module.
5. Learn Desmos: Having a built-in graphing calculator available on the entire math section can be a game-changer if students learn how to properly use it. Acely’s offers free tutorials and a guide to help students learn all the ways Desmos can help with various question types.