The digital SAT represents a stark departure from the format of the paper SAT that was administered up through March 2024. Especially for students and educators who got used to the old format, it’s important to understand the nuts and bolts behind how the new digital SAT is structured.
Two sections, two modules each
The digital SAT is divided into two sections — the Reading and Writing section and the Math section. Each section consists of two modules, or sub-sections, which are about half-an-hour long. Every student takes the same first module in each section, and then depending on their performance, they receive one of two different second modules. Students who score above a certain threshold get a second module that’s harder than the first, and students who score below get an easier second module.
Timing and module structure
The digital SAT starts with the Reading and Writing section. Each module consists of 27 questions in 32 minutes, which amounts to about 71 seconds per question — for many students, timing will end up being a meaningful constraint. Each question comes with a short paragraph, and the entire Reading and Writing section is multiple choice.
Questions always come in a predictable order: vocabulary in context, identifying the function of sentences and passages, completing arguments, grammar, transitions, and then choosing a sentence that fulfills a purpose based on bullet-pointed notes.
There is no break between the two modules within each section — on Bluebook, the digital SAT’s testing software, the second module will begin immediately when the time for the first module ends, and students may not begin the second module early. There is a ten-minute break, however, between the Reading and Writing section and the Math.
Each module in the Math section consists of 22 questions in 35 minutes, which amounts to about 95 seconds per question, and like the Reading and Writing, many students will end up coming up against the time limit. The Math has a mix of multiple-choice and free-response questions, and unlike the Reading and Writing, there is no specific order to the content tested. However, each Math module does generally go from easy to hard.
Scoring
Scoring on the digital SAT is relatively simple: every correct answer counts for one point, and every incorrect or blank answer counts for zero points. Because incorrect answers are worth the same as blank answers, there is no “guessing penalty,” and students running out of time should take the last fraction of a minute to pick random answers on their remaining questions. Each module has two experimental questions which don’t count towards students’ scores, but it’s not worth students’ time to speculate on which questions are experimental.
Depending on whether students received the harder or easier second module, their scores on both sections are converted to a score between 200 and 800. The specific of the conversion depend on the particular test. Then students’ Reading and Writing score and Math score are added together to get a composite score between 400 and 1600.
