A digital SAT test will be the norm in the not-too-distant future, according to College Board’s announcement in January 2022. A new digital SAT test will replace the traditional test beginning in 2023 internationally and 2024 in the US. With the new digital test comes a new format, shorter test sections, and faster scoring.
But a digital SAT test means students will have to re-learn test-taking strategies as well as acquaint themselves with the intangible format of a digital test. In this post we’re sharing a resource for the latter: a short digital SAT practice test created by College Board.
Digital SAT Test Preview
Access College Board’s digital SAT preview here. We’ll walk through the changes you’ll find below.
Digital SAT Reading Section Preview
After clicking through a series of settings and instructions, the practice test opens to a Reading question. The passage is on the left side of the screen and the question is on the right. You can make the passage fill the screen using the black arrows at the top of the passage. The hamburger menu next to these arrows opens to offer options for highlighting the text.
After choosing an answer, you click the green arrow in the top left corner to go to the next question. At anytime you can save your answers using the “Save” button in the top left corner of the screen. After finishing the four questions in this preview Reading section, the test moves on to the Writing and Language section.
Digital SAT Writing and Language Section Preview
Just like the Reading section, in the Writing and Language section the passage is on the left and the questions are on the right. As in the paper test, a numerals in the text correspond with each question. Again, like in the Reading section, there is a hamburger menu with options for highlighting the text and black arrows to expand or contract the size of the passage.
Next, the digital SAT practice tests moves on to the Math section.
Digital SAT Math Section Preview
The Math section begins with a set of instructions, including a formula chart. This appears to be the same formula chart given on the paper SAT test. On the digital test (unlike the paper test), you may use your calculator on the entire Math section.
After the instructions, you “Next” to move on to the math questions. If you are familiar with Olive Book’s SAT course, the digital SAT math questions are similar in format to Olive Book’s Math section.
The digital SAT test also includes fill-in-the-blank math questions like the paper test.
Navigating the Digital Test
There are tools embedded into the testing platform to help you flag questions, highlight text, and even strikethrough answers.
As we mentioned earlier, there is an option to highlight text in the Reading and Writing and Language sections. In all sections, there is also the option to pull up the directions, strikethrough an answer, flag a question, and highlight text.
If at anytime you want to return to an earlier question, you can click “Questions” in the top left corner to view all questions.
What Next?
The digital SAT test isn’t launching in the US until 2024, so as of now, the best thing to do is stay aware of news from College Board about the test. Paper tests are still the norm and still important to practice with when studying for the SAT test. But studying with an online SAT prep program is an easy way to get used to a digital SAT format and there are plenty of options online, including Olive Book’s online SAT course.