SAT Study Guide 2026 | Exam Predictor

Part 12 sections, 4 modules, 2 hours 14 minutes

How the Digital SAT Works

Two sections, four modules, and a multistage adaptive design. Understand the structure before you study a single skill.

The SAT is no longer a paper test with long passages and separate calculator and no-calculator math. College Board moved the SAT to a digital format at international test centers in spring 2023 and at US schools and test centers in spring 2024. You take it in Bluebook, College Board's testing app, on a laptop or tablet.

The Shape of the Test

Reading and Writing: 54 questions in 64 minutes, split into two 32-minute modules of 27 questions.
10-minute break between the two sections.
Math: 44 questions in 70 minutes, split into two 35-minute modules of 22 questions.

Total testing time is 2 hours 14 minutes for 98 questions. Each module is timed separately: when time runs out on module 1, Bluebook moves you to module 2, and you cannot go back.

Multistage Adaptive Testing

Each section adapts once, between its two modules:

Module 1 contains a broad mix of easy, medium and hard questions.
Your performance on module 1 determines whether module 2 is, on average, more difficult or less difficult.
Your section score reflects your performance across both modules.

Unlike question-by-question adaptive tests, you can move freely within a module: skip ahead, go back, and mark questions to revisit before the module timer ends.

Unscored Pretest Questions

Every module includes 2 pretest questions that College Board is trialling for future tests. They look exactly like the real ones and do not count. So Reading and Writing has 50 scored questions (25 per module) and Math has 40 (20 per module). Because you cannot tell which ones are pretest items, treat every question as if it counts.

Built-In Tools Worth Practising With

Mark for review: flag a question and return to it from the module's question navigator.
Countdown timer: you can hide it, and you get an alert when 5 minutes remain in a module.
Annotation: highlight text and leave yourself a note.
Desmos graphing calculator and a reference sheet on every Math question.

Key Concepts

ModuleA separately timed block of questions. Each section has two equal-length modules.

Multistage adaptive testThe test adapts once per section: module 2 is easier or harder on average depending on how you did in module 1.

Pretest questionAn unscored trial question. There are 2 in every module and they are indistinguishable from scored questions.

BluebookCollege Board's testing app. You take the real SAT and the full-length practice tests in it.

Operational questionA scored question: 25 per Reading and Writing module and 20 per Math module.

Exam tip: Module 1 decides which version of module 2 you see, so do not rush it. Accuracy on the first module matters more than speed. Use mark for review on anything that takes too long, finish the module, then go back.

Common mistake: Do not try to work out from how hard module 2 feels whether you are doing well. Second modules are only harder or easier on average, every one still mixes difficulty levels, and second-guessing yourself mid-test wastes time.

Part 254 questions, 64 minutes (2 modules)

Reading and Writing Section

54 short-passage questions across four content domains, each passage paired with exactly one question.

Forget the long passages of the old SAT. Every Reading and Writing question gives you a short text (25 to 150 words) or a pair of short texts, followed by one four-option multiple-choice question. Texts come from literature, history and social studies, the humanities and science, and some include a table, bar graph or line graph.

The Four Content Domains

Domain	Skills tested	Share of scored questions
Craft and Structure	Words in Context; Text Structure and Purpose; Cross-Text Connections	About 28% (13 to 15 questions)
Information and Ideas	Central Ideas and Details; Command of Evidence (textual and quantitative); Inferences	About 26% (12 to 14 questions)
Standard English Conventions	Boundaries; Form, Structure, and Sense	About 26% (11 to 15 questions)
Expression of Ideas	Rhetorical Synthesis; Transitions	About 20% (8 to 12 questions)

The Order Is Predictable

College Board's specifications describe the same running order in every module: Craft and Structure first, then Information and Ideas, then Standard English Conventions, then Expression of Ideas. Questions that test the same skill are grouped and run from easiest to hardest; the Standard English Conventions questions run from easiest to hardest as one block, with their skills mixed together. That predictability is a pacing tool: if Words in Context items are fast for you, bank that time for the evidence and inference questions that follow.

How to Attack Each Domain

Words in Context: cover the choices, predict your own word from the sentence's logic, then match. The right answer fits the precise meaning, not just the general tone.
Command of Evidence (quantitative): read the claim first, then find the exact rows or bars that test it. Wrong choices often describe the graph accurately but do not support the claim.
Inferences: the blank at the end of the passage must follow logically from everything before it. Pick the choice that is required by the text, not merely possible.
Boundaries: know when a clause can stand alone. Two independent clauses need a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction; a colon introduces an explanation or list after a complete clause.
Form, Structure, and Sense: subject-verb agreement (find the true subject, skipping prepositional phrases), pronoun agreement, verb tense, and modifier placement.
Transitions: label the relationship between the two sentences (contrast, cause, example, addition, sequence) before looking at the choices.
Rhetorical Synthesis: you get a student's bulleted notes and a stated goal. Read the goal first; the answer is the choice that accomplishes that goal, even if other choices are accurate.

Exam tip: Rhetorical Synthesis questions can be answered almost entirely from the question stem. If the goal is to 'emphasize a difference' between two studies, eliminate every option that mentions only one study or only a similarity. Do not reread all the notes first.

Common mistake: Choosing an answer that is true but irrelevant. On Command of Evidence questions, several choices may be accurate statements about the passage or graph. Only one of them directly supports (or weakens) the specific claim in the question.

Key Concepts

Independent clauseA subject plus a verb that can stand as a sentence. Joining two of them with only a comma creates a comma splice.

Cross-Text ConnectionsQuestions on a pair of short texts asking how one author would respond to the other.

Command of EvidenceChoosing the quotation or data point that best supports or illustrates a claim.

Rhetorical SynthesisSelecting the sentence that uses given notes to meet a specific writing goal.

Part 344 questions, 70 minutes (2 modules)

Math Section

44 questions across Algebra, Advanced Math, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, and Geometry and Trigonometry, with a calculator allowed throughout.

The digital Math section is a single section with the calculator allowed on every question. About 75% of questions are four-option multiple choice and about 25% are student-produced response (SPR) questions, where you type your answer. About 30% of questions are set in a science, social studies or real-world context; the rest are pure math. Within each module, questions run from easiest to hardest.

The Four Content Domains

Domain	What it covers	Share of scored questions
Algebra	Linear equations in one and two variables, linear functions, systems of two linear equations, linear inequalities	About 35% (13 to 15)
Advanced Math	Equivalent expressions, nonlinear equations and systems, nonlinear functions (quadratic, exponential, polynomial, rational, radical, absolute value)	About 35% (13 to 15)
Problem-Solving and Data Analysis	Ratios, rates, proportions and units; percentages; one- and two-variable data; probability and conditional probability; inference and margin of error; evaluating statistical claims	About 15% (5 to 7)
Geometry and Trigonometry	Area and volume; lines, angles and triangles; right triangles and trigonometry; circles	About 15% (5 to 7)

Algebra and Advanced Math together are about 70% of the section. If your study time is limited, that is where it should go.

The Calculator: Desmos Is Built In

Bluebook includes a Desmos calculator you can switch between graphing and scientific modes. You may also bring your own approved handheld calculator, but calculators with computer algebra system (CAS) functionality are not allowed. No calculator may be used in Reading and Writing. Practise with Desmos before test day: graphing both sides of an equation and reading the intersection, or graphing a quadratic and clicking its vertex, can turn a multi-step algebra problem into a few seconds of work.

Student-Produced Response Rules

Up to 5 characters for a positive answer, up to 6 for a negative answer (the minus sign counts).
If more than one answer is correct, enter just one.
A fraction that does not fit: enter its decimal. A decimal that does not fit: truncate or round at the fourth digit, so 2/3 can be entered as 2/3, .6666, .6667, 0.666 or 0.667, but not 0.66 or .67.
Mixed numbers must be entered as an improper fraction or decimal: 3 1/2 becomes 7/2 or 3.5.
Do not type symbols such as %, $ or commas.

What the Reference Sheet Gives You

The on-screen reference sheet lists area and circumference of a circle, area of a rectangle and triangle, the Pythagorean theorem, the special right triangles, and volumes of a box, cylinder, sphere, cone and pyramid, plus three facts: a circle has 360 degrees and 2π radians of arc, and a triangle's angles sum to 180 degrees.

\begin{array}{ll} \textbf{On the sheet:} & A = \pi r^2,\quad C = 2\pi r,\quad c^2 = a^2 + b^2 \\[8pt] & V_{\text{cylinder}} = \pi r^2 h,\quad V_{\text{sphere}} = \tfrac{4}{3}\pi r^3,\quad V_{\text{cone}} = \tfrac{1}{3}\pi r^2 h,\quad V_{\text{pyramid}} = \tfrac{1}{3}lwh \\[14pt] \textbf{Not on the sheet:} & m = \dfrac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1},\quad y = mx + b,\quad y = a(x-h)^2 + k \\[12pt] & x = \dfrac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a},\quad \text{discriminant } b^2 - 4ac \\[12pt] & (x-h)^2 + (y-k)^2 = r^2,\quad \sin\theta = \cos(90^\circ - \theta) \end{array}

The formulas in the second group are not provided but appear constantly in Algebra and Advanced Math. Learn them until they are automatic. The discriminant tells you how many real solutions a quadratic has: positive means two, zero means one, negative means none. For a circle equation given in expanded form, complete the square on x and on y to find the centre and radius.

Exam tip: For SPR questions, sanity-check your answer against the character limit. If your answer will not fit in 5 characters, it is either a fraction you should convert, a decimal to round at the fourth digit, or a sign that you made an arithmetic slip.

Common mistake: Answering the wrong quantity. Many SAT Math questions ask for an expression such as x + y, 2x or the value of f(3), not x itself. After solving, reread the last line of the question before you select or type an answer.

Key Concepts

Student-produced response (SPR)A Math question with no answer choices; you type your answer. About a quarter of Math questions.

Discriminantb squared minus 4ac. Its sign tells you whether a quadratic has two, one or zero real solutions.

No solution / infinitely many solutionsA linear system has no solution when the lines are parallel (same slope, different intercept) and infinitely many when the equations are equivalent.

Percent change(new minus original) divided by original. Successive percent changes multiply; they do not add.

Exam prediction: This topic frequently appears on the SAT exam. See our full SAT predictions

Part 4Total 400 to 1600

How the SAT Is Scored

Scale scores from 400 to 1600, item response theory, no guessing penalty, and how Score Choice and superscoring work.

The Score Scale

You receive a Reading and Writing section score and a Math section score, each from 200 to 800. Your total score is their sum, from 400 to 1600. Your score report also shows a score range (how much your score might vary on retesting), percentiles, and a Knowledge and Skills breakdown across the eight content domains, which tells you which domains to target next.

Not Every Question Is Worth the Same

The digital SAT is scored with item response theory. Your score depends on which questions you answered correctly, taking into account their characteristics such as difficulty, not just a count of correct answers. College Board states plainly that two students who answer the same number of questions correctly in a section may earn different section scores. Your section score reflects your performance across both modules.

Always Answer Every Question

There is no penalty for a wrong answer. College Board's advice is that guessing is better than leaving a question blank, especially if you can eliminate one or two choices first. Never leave a module with an empty answer, including SPR questions: a reasonable typed estimate is better than nothing.

Score Choice and Superscoring

Score Choice lets you choose which test dates' scores to send to a college. You send whole test dates, not individual sections. If you do not use it, all your scores are sent.
Superscoring is a college's policy, not College Board's: a superscoring college combines your highest section scores across test dates. Each college sets its own policy, and some require you to send all scores, so check each college's admissions page before choosing what to send.

\text{Total score} = \underbrace{\text{Reading and Writing}}_{200\text{ to }800} + \underbrace{\text{Math}}_{200\text{ to }800} \in [400,\ 1600]

Exam tip: If the colleges you are applying to superscore, plan your retakes around one section at a time. A second attempt focused on raising your weaker section can lift your superscore even if your other section dips that day.

Common mistake: Estimating your score by counting correct answers and multiplying. Because of item response theory and unscored pretest questions, the only reliable way to estimate a score is a full-length Bluebook practice test, which is scored on the real scale.

Key Concepts

Section score200 to 800 for each of Reading and Writing and Math.

Item response theoryThe scoring model behind the digital SAT; question characteristics such as difficulty affect your score, not only the number correct.

Score ChoiceCollege Board's free option to pick which test dates' scores you send.

SuperscoreA college's combination of your best section scores from different test dates.

Part 5Official practice first

A Study Plan That Fits the Digital SAT

Use College Board's own Bluebook tests, Khan Academy and the question bank in the right order.

Step 1: Take a Baseline Test in Bluebook

Download Bluebook and take a full-length practice test under real timing. These practice tests are adaptive just like the real SAT, and once you finish, you can see and download your scores in My Practice. Use the domain breakdown to find your two weakest skill areas. (Bluebook also has a short, untimed test preview that gives no scores; use it only to learn the interface.)

Step 2: Drill by Domain

Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy uses digital SAT questions with answer explanations and lessons on each skill. The Student Question Bank lets you filter official questions by section, domain, skill and difficulty, which is ideal for targeted sets of 10 to 20 questions. Because questions run from easiest to hardest, practise the hard end of your strong domains as well as the easy end of your weak ones.

Step 3: Build Desmos Fluency

Spend a few sessions solving Math questions twice: once by hand and once with Desmos. Learn to graph systems, find intersections and vertices, use sliders to test values, and fit a regression to a table. Knowing which method is faster for each question type is a real advantage under a 35-minute module clock.

Step 4: Review Every Error by Category

Keep an error log with three columns: the skill (for example, Boundaries or Nonlinear functions), why you missed it (content gap, misread, careless, time), and the fix. Most score gains come from eliminating repeated misreads, not from learning new content.

Step 5: Repeat Full Tests at Intervals

Take another full Bluebook practice test every couple of weeks to check progress and stamina. Downloadable paper practice tests exist, but College Board recommends them only for students who will test on paper with accommodations, because they are not adaptive.

Exam tip: Pacing math: Reading and Writing gives you about 71 seconds per question (32 minutes for 27 questions) and Math about 95 seconds (35 minutes for 22). Easy questions come first in each Math module, so move quickly early and save time for the harder questions at the end.

Common mistake: Using full-length tests as your only practice. Each Bluebook test is a scarce, realistic measurement. Do your learning in Khan Academy and the question bank, and save the full tests for checkpoints.

Part 6SAT-style questions

SAT Practice Quiz

8 original SAT-style questions across both sections. Select an answer to see why every choice is right or wrong.

SAT Practice Quiz

Original questions written in the style of the digital SAT. They are not official College Board questions.

8 Questions

Reading and Writing · Words in Context

Early reviews of the bridge design were harsh, but the engineer did not abandon her plan. Instead, she ______ it, keeping the original arch while adding cables that answered every concern the critics had raised.

1Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?

Choose 1 answer:

Reading and Writing · Boundaries

Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean ______ they support roughly a quarter of all known marine species.

2Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Choose 1 answer:

Reading and Writing · Transitions

Most desert plants survive drought by storing water in thick stems or leaves. The resurrection plant takes a different approach. ______ it allows itself to dry out almost completely, then revives within hours of rainfall.

3Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

Choose 1 answer:

Math · Algebra (systems of linear equations)

4If

3 x + 2 y = 19

and

x - y = 3

, what is the value of

x + y

Choose 1 answer:

Math · Advanced Math (quadratics)

5The equation

x^{2} - 6 x + c = 0

, where

c

is a constant, has exactly one real solution. What is the value of

c

Choose 1 answer:

Math · Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (percentages)

6The price of a jacket is increased by 20%, and the new price is then decreased by 20%. The final price is what percent of the original price?

Choose 1 answer:

Math · Geometry and Trigonometry (special right triangles)

7In a right triangle, one angle measures

3 0^{\circ}

and the hypotenuse has length 10. What is the length of the side opposite the

6 0^{\circ}

angle?

Choose 1 answer:

Math · Student-produced response rules

8A student-produced response question has the answer

\frac{2}{3}

. Which entry would receive credit?

Choose 1 answer:

Practise on a predicted SAT paper

Every predicted paper follows the real format, with the answers and the mark scheme. Free with an account.

Open the predicted papers

Sources

Every fact in this guide comes from the exam board's own pages:

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