What is the digital SAT?
Most students take the SAT in College Board's Bluebook app; approved paper-based accommodations remain available for some students. The test has 134 minutes of testing time and uses the 400 to 1600 score scale. Its adaptation happens between modules, not after each individual question.
How it is structured
There are two sections, Reading and Writing first, then Math. Each section is split into two equal-length parts called modules. Reading and Writing has two modules of 27 questions with 32 minutes each, for 54 questions in 64 minutes. Math has two modules of 22 questions with 35 minutes each, for 44 questions in 70 minutes. That is 98 questions and 134 minutes of testing, with a 10-minute break between the sections.
Reading & Writing · 64 min
Module 1
27 questions · 32 min
Module 2
27 questions · 32 min · adapts
Math · 70 min
Module 1
22 questions · 35 min
Module 2
22 questions · 35 min · adapts
What "adaptive" actually means
The first module in each section contains a broad mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. Your performance routes you to a second module with a mix that is higher or lower in difficulty on average. Both routes still include varied difficulty, and your section score uses responses from both modules. The official scoring model also considers question characteristics, so a correct-answer total alone cannot reproduce an official scaled score. You can explore a labeled practice estimate with the digital SAT score calculator, or read the official College Board structure.
What is on each section
Reading and Writing uses short passages, each with a single question, spanning four content areas: Information and Ideas, Craft and Structure, Expression of Ideas, and Standard English Conventions.
Math covers Algebra, Advanced Math, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, and Geometry and Trigonometry. An on-screen graphing calculator is available for the entire Math section, and some questions are "student-produced responses" where you type the answer instead of choosing from options.
How it is scored
Each section is scored from 200 to 800, and the two add up to your 400 to 1600 total. College Board uses Item Response Theory and considers the pattern of right and wrong answers along with characteristics of the questions administered. Two students can therefore answer the same number correctly and receive different section scores. Some questions are pretest items and do not count, but they are not identified during the test. For students trying their best, College Board says it is generally better to guess than leave an item blank, especially after eliminating choices. For a rough, nonofficial practice estimate, use the score calculator.
How to prepare for it
Take full-length practice tests in conditions close to the real thing, get familiar with the digital tools before test day, and focus your studying on the specific skills that need more work. Combine instruction and feedback with spaced, active practice. If nerves are part of your story, our guide on managing SAT test anxiety walks through what helps, and the guide on using Bluebook practice tests covers the official app.