New, shorter, digital SAT arriving in 2024

The company behind the SAT standardized test said the upcoming revision will be shorter, simpler, and perhaps, easier.

“The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give and more relevant,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, vice president of college readiness assessments at the College Board, which runs the exam.

The new test will begin rolling out in March 2023 abroad and March 2024 in the U.S. The PSAT will also go digital.

The digital version will take about two hours, one hour shorter than the current one. Reading passages will be shorter and be followed by only one question. Calculators will be allowed for the entire math portion, and scores will be returned in days, not weeks.

Most notably, students will be allowed to take the exam on their own tablet or laptop provided it is brought to the testing site. The new digital platform enables each student to have their own, unique test form, making it “practically impossible to share answers,” according to the College Board.

However, the testing company said there was still work to be done to secure the testing platform and data from hackers.

The digital test is also touted as helping international students by improving access to the test.

“Testing internationally has been very problematic,” said John Barnhill, a College Board Trustee and administrator at Florida State University. “There aren’t as many tests available, and sometimes there are some dramatic cancellations.”

The SAT has fallen out of favor as colleges move away from requiring it for applications. Standardized tests have been criticized as being affected by outside factors, like race and socioeconomic status. The coronavirus pandemic also forced in-person testing sites to shut down.

The College Board's revenue from programs and services declined to $760 million from $1.05 billion the year before, which led to it laying off about 14% of its employees in January 2021.