The College Board states that the SAT is intended to measure literacy, numeracy and writing skills that are needed for academic success in college. They state that the SAT assesses how well the test-takers analyze and solve problems—skills they learned in school that they will need in college. SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), is generally required by undergraduate colleges and the Universities in the U.S.A. In order to admit and provide scholarships to the students. This test assesses the ability of students’ in their Reading, Writing and Math.

SAT FORMAT
The SAT is a 3 hour 50 minute exam (including an optional essay which takes 50 minutes), consisting of five sections: Reading, Writing, Math (with calculator), Math (no calculator), and Essay (optional).

SAT Test Section # of Questions and Types Content Timing
EVIDENCE-BASED READING & WRITING
Reading 52 standard multiple-choice Writing 44 standard multiple-choice
Relevant words in context (Reading, Writing) Command of evidence (Reading, Writing) Expression of ideas (Writing) Standard English conventions (Writing)
100 minutes Reading One 65-minute section Writing One 35-minute section
MATHEMATICS
45 standard multiple-choice 13 student-produced response
The heart of algebra Passport to advanced math Problem solving & data analysis
80 minutes One 25-minute section (no calculator) One 55-minute section (calculator allowed)
ESSAY (OPTIONAL)
1 evidence-based essay
Analyzing a source
50 minutes One 50-minute essay
The SAT is a paper-based test administered at schools and sites around the country on select dates throughout the year. Students are allowed to take the test as many times as they want; most universities will only look at the highest score or the super-score (a combination of the highest sections). However, since the scoring format changed in 2016, schools may tweak their policies accordingly. For more accurate information, please contact individual universities to confirm their score acceptance policy.

SAT SCORING/GUESSING PENALTY

College Board does not deduct any points for an incorrect question. This means that you should not leave any questions blank on the test. With the sections being quite long, pacing and timing are crucial. Your tutor will help you master these skills. The SAT scoring model has become more complex, providing a more detailed analysis and breakdown of students’ scores. Area scores, each scored out of 800, are combined to create a composite score for a maximum possible score of 1600. For a more detailed breakdown of what each score means, please see the table below.

Score Type Score Range Details
COMPOSITE SCORE
400-1600
This score is the sum of the two area scores
AREA SCORES Evidence-based reading & writing Math
200-800
The Evidence-based reading and writing score is the sum of the Reading test score and Writing & Language test score
TEST SCORES Reading Writing & Language Math
10-40
These scores tell you how you performed on individual test sections
ESSAY (scored separately)
6-24
The essay is scored in three categories: Reading, Analysis, and Writing Each category is scored from 2-8
CROSS-TEST SCORES History/Social Studies Science
10-40
These scores reflect your performance, categorized by the context of each question Questions may span different test sections.
SUBSCORES Relevant words in context (R, W&L) Command of evidence (R, W&L) Expression of ideas (W&L) Standard English convention (W&L) Heart of algebra (M) Passport to advanced mathematics (M) Problem solving & data analysis (M)
1-15
These 7 sub scores will tell you how you did on specific question types or content. Some subscores pull questions from multiple tests. R – Reading test W&L – Writing & Language test M – Math test

ORDER OF DIFFICULTY

Only the math sections are loosely based on order of difficulty for both the multiple choice and student-produced response questions. Depending on your performance, your tutor can use order of difficulty to choose the pacing and test-taking strategies that will help you achieve your highest possible score.