In 2021, at Thomas Jefferson High School, the first digital SAT test was taken. The College Board announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2022, that the SAT will soon be taken only on a computer.  When it does go completely digital, the SAT will be shortened from three hours to two hours.  According to New York Times, doing this will be  “ending an era in which high schoolers have had to make sure their No. 2 pencils were sharpened and their answer bubbles were completely filled in.”   The College Board will also allow calculators on the entire math section, shorten reading passages, and reflect a wider range of topics.  These changes will happen in the US by 2024, but in other countries in 2023.

According to New York Times, “A growing number of colleges have eliminated the requirement that applicants submit scores from the SAT or the competing ACT, and the trend of “test-optional” admissions accelerated greatly during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1,800 schools did not require standardized test scores for 2022 admissions, according to the nonprofit organization FairTest.”  SAT test-takers declined from 2.2 million high schoolers who graduated in 2020 to 1.5 million in the class of 2021.  It dropped almost halfway.

During a test drive for the digital SAT, 80% of the students said the digital was way easier and less stressful compared to the paper SAT.  Priscilla Rodriguez, Vice President of College Readiness Assessments for the College Board, said the changes would make the test more relevant.  “In a largely test-optional world, the SAT is a lower-stakes test in college admissions,” Ms. Rodriguez said in a statement.  Christal Wang, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., took both the digital test and the pencil test last year.  “I definitely preferred that format with the shorter passages, just because it was a lot easier to read and easier to stay focused,” Wang, age 16, said. “I also felt less drained at the end.” Digital SAT tests show people are less stressed at the end of it compared to the paper and pencil SAT test.