Fact Sheet
Since its launch in 1926, the SAT has helped millions of students prepare for college success and today remains the most reliable, effective measure of a student's college readiness. The SAT tests the subject matter learned by students in high school and the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in college.
The SAT:
- Is offered seven times a year in the United States and six times a year at international sites
- Assesses critical thinking and problem-solving skills in three areas:
- Critical reading
- Mathematics
- Writing
- Takes three hours and 45 minutes
- Consists of 10 separately timed sections:
- Three sections test critical reading (70 minutes total)
- Three sections test mathematics (70 minutes total)
- Three sections test writing (60 minutes total)
- One variable (unscored) section tests critical reading, mathematics or writing (25 minutes total)
- Includes three kinds of questions:
- Multiple-choice questions (machine-scored)
- Student-produced responses (mathematics only, machine-scored)
- Essay question (scored by readers who are experienced high school teachers and college faculty members)
SAT™ Sections
The first section is always the essay, and the last section is also a writing section. In between, the academic content areas can come in any order.
| Content | Minutes | Total Time | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing (essay) | 25 | 60 minutes | The essay measures a student's ability to develop and express a point of view on an issue. |
| Writing (multiple choice) | 25 | The multiple-choice questions ask students to:
|
|
| Writing (multiple choice) | 10 | ||
| Critical reading (multiple choice) | 25 | 70 minutes | The questions assess students' reading skills, such as:
|
| Critical reading (multiple choice) | 25 | ||
| Critical reading (multiple choice) | 20 | Mathematics (multiple choice and student-produced response) | 25 | 70 minutes | The questions require students to apply mathematical concepts and to use data literacy skills in interpreting tables, charts and graphs. They cover skills in four major areas:
|
| Mathematics (multiple choice) | 25 | ||
| Mathematics (multiple choice) | 20 | ||
| Variable (unscored, multiple choice) | 25 | 25 minutes | This section may have critical reading, mathematics or multiple-choice writing questions. It does not count toward the final score. |
Changes to the SAT
In March 2005 significant changes were made to the SAT, as outlined below.
Writing
- A new writing section was added to the test, including a 25-minute essay, which is similar to the kind of writing required on in-class college essay exams and accounts for approximately 30 percent of the scaled writing score of 200 to 800 points.
- The writing section also includes multiple-choice questions that measure the ability to identify sentence errors, improve sentences and improve paragraphs.
- The total test time for writing is 60 minutes.
Mathematics
- Topics from third-year college-preparatory math, such as exponential growth, absolute value, functional notation, and negative and fractional exponents, were added to the content.
- Quantitative comparisons were eliminated.
- The total testing time for mathematics was changed from 75 minutes to 70 minutes.
- Scores from the previous mathematics section remain comparable to scores on the current mathematics section of the SAT.
Critical reading
- The verbal section was renamed the critical reading section and short reading passages were added.
- Analogies were eliminated.
- The total testing time for critical reading was changed from 75 minutes to 70 minutes.
- Scores from the previous verbal section remain comparable to scores on the current critical reading section of the SAT.