College Board Will No Longer Offer SAT Subject Tests or SAT Essay

Due to school closures and public health guidelines during the coronavirus outbreak, the College Board made changes to its SAT exam schedule for the 2020-2021 exam year. The College Board said it will ensure students have opportunities to take the SAT throughout the remainder of the year, but some testing centers are closed for this weekend's scheduled exam due to the fact that "Local schools and test centers make individual decisions about whether to administer the SAT," according to the College Board's website.

Find out if your testing center is closed for this weekend's exam on the College Board's website.

“We know students and educators are worried about how the coronavirus may disrupt the college admissions process, and we want to do all we can to help alleviate that anxiety during this very demanding time,” said College Board CEO David Coleman, in a press release. “Our first principle with the SAT and all our work must be to keep families and students safe. The second principle is to make the SAT as widely available as possible for students who wish to test, regardless of the economic or public health circumstances.”

Though many colleges and universities have announced they will waive the standardized testing requirements for 2021 applicants due to many high schools being closed and utilizing remote learning. Among these colleges and universities are Williams, Amherst, the University of California system, Tufts, Northeastern, Boston University, Vassar, Tulane, and more.

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Changes to the SAT Exams for 2020-2021

Coleman shared three ways the College Board is working to ensure the SAT is available for all students in the fall:

• As long as it’s safe, from a public health perspective, the SAT exams will be administered each month through the end of the calendar year beginning in August. The currently scheduled weekend dates are Sept. 26, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, and Dec. 5. A test date will be added in January 2021 if there is a demand for it. In addition, the College Board is offering Fall SAT School Day tests on Oct. 14, with a makeup test date of Oct. 27. Plus, there are four SAT School Day tests planned for the spring, according to the College Board website.
   
• The College Board will offer the opportunities to take the SAT during the school day this fall to replace the spring administration days that were canceled. “This is an important opportunity for the many students who take the SAT for free as part of state- and large district-sponsored programs. Specific information about state and district testing will be shared with our partners in the coming weeks so they may create their testing plans for students,” according to the press release.
    
• In the event that schools remain closed in the fall, the College Board aims to provide a digital version of the SAT for at-home testing. Just like the organization is delivering digital Advanced Placement exams to students this spring, the College Board says it will ensure the at-home SAT test is simple, secure and fair, accessible to all, and valid for college admissions.

“Our commitment to students is to give them as many opportunities as we can to show their strengths to admissions officers, while relying on the guidance of public health officials,” Coleman added. “Throughout, we’ll continue to place a special focus on students benefitting from fee waivers and those requiring accommodations.”