SAT Changes Will Make Exam Shorter, Simpler and Digital

“The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give and more relevant,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

The new test will take about two hours, down from three. Reading passages will be shorter and will be followed by a single question, and math problems will be less wordy, Ms. Rodriguez said. Calculators will be allowed for all math questions, and scores will be returned in days instead of weeks. The test will be administered only at schools or testing sites.

The SAT has lost market share to its rival, the ACT, and colleges and universities are moving away from requiring the tests as part of the application process. Schools cite concerns that the test scores are often closely tied to a student’s race and wealth, and hurt the admissions odds of low-income students and those from communities of color.

This year, more than 76% of all four-year colleges and universities won’t mandate an entrance exam score for admissions, according to FairTest, a nonprofit that advocates for a more limited use of standardized tests. Most will continue making the tests optional through at least the 2023 admissions cycle. The move away from the standardized tests accelerated in 2020 after the University of California dropped the exam just as the pandemic forced testing sites to close, making the exam difficult to administer.

This shift has dented the College Board’s balance sheet. In 2020 its fees from programs and services declined to $760 million from $1.05 billion the prior year, according to financial statements. Last January the company laid off about 14% of its employees and eliminated SAT subject tests.

Bob Schaefer, the executive director of FairTest called the move a marketing ploy that wouldn’t make the test more fair or valid for assessing college readiness.

The digital test will continue to be scored on the 1600-point scale. Students will be able to take the digital exam on their own tablet or laptop or on a device provided to them. The College Board has been hit with security breaches in the Middle East and Asia and said the digital platform will make the test more secure. The new format enables each student to have a unique test form, making it “practically impossible to share answers,” according to the College Board.

John Barnhill, a College Board Trustee and associate vice president for academic affairs at Florida State University, said he believes the largest impact will be on international students, who will have greater access to the test.

“Testing internationally has been very problematic,” he said. “There aren’t as many tests available, and sometimes there are some dramatic cancellations.”

For admissions officers, the critical question will be how reliable the scores are, and that remains to be seen, he said.

The College Board piloted the test this fall, and Christal Wang, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Arlington, Va., is among the students who volunteered to take it. Because the digital exam was an hour shorter, she said, it was significantly easier.

“It doesn’t test your attention span the same way,” she said. “You definitely don’t feel as strained.”

Ms. Wang said she was pressed for time taking the old test but finished with time to spare on the digital exam. “What I would tell other students is that you don’t have to practice reading the same way,” she said.

Write to Douglas Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com