Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard the big news: the SAT went digital in 2023 for international students and will do so in March 2024 for U.S. students.

One of the biggest changes is that the new SAT will be adaptive. You may have heard this testing buzzword if you’ve heard college students talk about the GRE or similar tests. But what is adaptive testing? And what does it mean for high schoolers taking the SAT? Below, we answer some common questions about this new test format.

What is an adaptive test?

Unlike a paper-and-pencil test, a digital test can adjust based on a student’s input—questions shown can be more or less difficult based on previous answers. The digital SAT will be section adaptive. That means that students will see a fixed first section of 22–27 questions. A student’s performance on that first module will determine the difficulty level of the second module.

What does this mean for scores?

Students will still receive a score out of 1600 on the digital SAT; the same as on the current paper version. They will still receive a score of 800 for Math and 800 for Reading and Writing, which are added to find the composite score.

The scoring system from the College Board is complicated. What we do know, though, is that students need to hit a certain threshold of correct answers to get the more difficult second module. To get the highest possible scores, a student needs to get into the higher difficulty module.

How should students prepare?

Even though the new digital SAT will be shorter, students will still need to practice and learn all of the concepts that could show up on the exam. Some work will look the same—using and reviewing topics learned at school and practicing those on paper or online. Taking practice tests in a digital format, though, will be key! Getting the feel for adaptive testing and the mindset required to perform under stress will help students bring their best to test day.