On January 25, the College Board announced sweeping changes to the way the SAT and PSAT will be administered. Beginning in March 2023, students outside of the United States will take a new digital version of the SAT; students in the US will begin using the digital format a year later. These will be the first major changes to the SAT since 2016, when the College Board transitioned from using a 2400-point scale back to the original 1600-point scale.
Because this shift will not take place immediately, current juniors and seniors will not be affected. Current sophomores (the Class of 2024) will be the first international students to take the new versions of the PSAT and SAT, and current freshmen (the Class of 2025) will be the first domestic students to be affected.
So what will be different about these future tests? Here’s a rundown of the changes that have been announced:
And here’s what’s not changing:
As testing requirements shift for colleges and universities, it remains to be seen if this new format will have an impact on how schools consider test scores in the admissions process. For now, you can learn more about these changes at sat.org/digital.
Sarah received a BA from Davidson College and M.Div. from Vanderbilt University. Sarah has more than seven years of admissions and advising experience at several institutions, including Emory University, College of Charleston and Vanderbilt. Sarah also spent five years working in nonprofit program management and leads AcceptU’s partnerships with college access organizations. Sarah manages a caseload of clients as well as a team of AcceptU counselors. Sarah is an IECA Associate Member.