The SAT, a standardized test used for college admissions, will be administered as a digital exam instead of paper and pencil starting during the  2024 school year.

The test will be one hour shorter than the original time of three hours, giving students more time to answer each question. 

Robert Schombs, Co-founder and Chief Tutor at Brilliant Prep Test and College Prep, shares his thoughts about the changes. 

“I think students will benefit from the changes, mostly because the test will be shorter and the curves will hopefully be a little more fair, making it easier to get a better score,” Schombs said. 

Some students may find it hard to focus while taking tests digitally.

“I prefer taking tests on paper because reading the passages online can strain the eyes,” Saanvi Tiruveedhula, junior at Independence High School, said. “It’s also easier to make quick notes about the passages on paper than it is digitally.”

Although online tests may be more difficult for some students, the digital version comes with a few benefits. Students will receive their scores faster, and the use of a calculator is permitted on the entire Math section. 

Students can also use their own devices or a school-issued device for the exam. College Board will provide devices for students who don’t have one, and the digital test is designed so that even if a student has connectivity problems, they won’t lose their work or their time. 

“Online tests are more convenient because of how they are formatted,” Vishnu Tumuluru, freshman at Centennial High School, said. “While taking a test on paper, flipping between pages to look at the passages takes longer than clicking the question number on a computer. This saves time for other questions.”

The SAT will also be more secure due to the changes.

“Test security has always been an issue internationally, and tests have sometimes even been canceled because of this problem,” Schombs said. “This is a way to hopefully correct some of those security issues and make sure no paper tests are being circulated on the internet.”

Each student will have a unique test form, making it impossible to share answers or cheat on the exam.

Students’ tests being unique and different from others will affect SAT coaching and preparation methods.

“We’re probably not going to look at practice tests, which makes it harder because for standardized tests, students can look at previous forms of a test and identify patterns and almost predict what the future test will look like,” Schombs said. “We will, however, continue to focus on the fundamental skills and do practice questions to help students prepare.”

The changes will not apply to students graduating before the 2025 school year. 

Current freshmen have the opportunity to take both the paper and digital version depending on when they take the test, but all students graduating after the 2025 school year are required to take the digital version if they choose to take the SAT.

Additional information can be found on the College Board website.