International students will take the digital SAT starting March 11, 2023. If you have a current senior planning to take the December SAT outside the US, they’ll still take the paper version. All other students should plan to familiarize themselves with the digital version.
For US students, the SAT will be fully digital starting March 9, 2024. That means that current seniors planning on one more test before applications are due, as well as current juniors planning to test this spring and next fall, will still take the paper test.
Current sophomores who plan to take a first test in the spring of junior year will be taking the new, digital version.
College Board promises that the new test covers the same content and skills as the current version—and like the current version, it’s still scored out of 1600. While there are some changes to the length of the test (the digital test is one hour shorter) and the format, students need the same college-level reading and writing and high school math skills, regardless of which version they take.
Talk to your child’s tutor or reach out to our Client Services team to discuss your family’s test prep plan. Every student’s timeline is different, and while the shift to digital will mostly impact current sophomores, if you’re anticipating testing outside of the usual spring of junior year/fall of senior year time frame, you may wish to factor the shift to the digital test into your preparations.
And for current sophomores, rest assured that the transition to the digital SAT will involve plenty of opportunity for practice. Next fall’s 11th grade PSAT will be administered digitally, giving students a chance to get familiar with the format, and plenty of time to prep, before taking a first official test in the spring or following fall.
College Board has released four official digital practice tests. These are available through Bluebook, College Board’s test-delivery app, or as paper downloads at the College Board website. This is also a great time to create a College Board account, which you’ll need both to register for the official test and to access full-length digital practice tests in the app. You can also check out Khan Academy’s new digital SAT practice course.
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