How the digital SAT is built
The digital SAT is taken on a computer. Reading and Writing comes first, then a break, then Math. Each section is split into two modules, and the second module you are given depends on how the first one went. That is 98 questions and about 2 hours 14 minutes of testing time, plus the break.
The shape of the test
| Section | Modules | Questions per module | Minutes per module |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and Writing | 2 | 27 | 32 |
| Math | 2 | 22 | 35 |
The second module adapts
Everyone gets the same first module in a section. How you do on it decides whether the second module is the easier set or the harder one, and the harder set is the only path to the top of the scale. The two modules are scored together, so the first one matters twice: once for its own questions, and once for the door it opens.
The College Board has not published where that line sits, so nobody honestly can tell you. Our practice test routes at 60% of the first module correct, and that number is written down in the app rather than tuned behind your back.
What the score is made of
Each section is scored from 200 to 800, and the two add up to a total from 400 to 1600. There is no penalty for a wrong answer and no penalty for guessing, so leave nothing blank.
Raw score - how many you got right - is turned into the scaled score by a table, and the easier second module has a lower ceiling than the harder one. A perfect run down the easier path does not reach the top of the scale.
What a question looks like
Reading and Writing questions each come with their own short passage, usually well under 150 words, and one question about it. You never read a long article and answer ten questions on it. Every question has four choices.
Math is about three quarters multiple choice; for the rest you type your answer in. A graphing calculator is built into the app and allowed on every math question, and a sheet of the common area, volume and right-triangle formulas is on screen throughout. The trigonometric ratios, the slope formula and the equation of a circle are not on it.
Inside a module you can move between questions freely and flag anything you want to come back to. Once you hand a module in, it is closed.
Where our practice test differs
The real test hides a couple of unscored questions in each module to try them out on you; you cannot tell which they are. Ours scores every question, so the count you see is the count that made your score.
Everything else follows the shape above: same number of questions, same minutes, same adaptive second module, same break.
What helps
Spend your first module like it counts double
It does. The questions are worth the same as any others, and they also decide which second module you get.
Answer everything
Nothing is subtracted for a wrong answer. A blank and a wrong answer are worth the same, so a guess is free.
Flag and move on
You can return to any question in the module you are in. Ninety seconds spent stuck is two easier questions you did not reach.
Try it yourself
Pick an answer and check it. Nothing is saved, and you do not need an account.
Loading the questions...
Practice the rest of it
Every page here ends with two or three questions. The app has hundreds more, sorted by skill, with a full-length test that adapts the way the real one does.
Create your account