The Digital PSAT: Changes for the better or worse?

By Daniel Ein Alshaeba, 2025

Published 9/27/23

With September coming to a close, the CollegeBoard once again made its way to students’ inboxes, reminding them of the upcoming PSAT.  This year, however, a digital version will be taking the place of the typical paper test booklet and answer sheet.  In addition to this shift, the test will also involve extensive changes to the Reading, Grammar, and Math sections.  

In the typical SAT format, students will be given a brief introduction to the test-taking requirements– the usual “No talking,” “No phones,” and “No moving back to previous sections,” – before being met with a rather daunting, imposing passage, typically a fictional story as boring as Pride and Prejudice.  After this, students will be expected to absorb as much information as possible from their rushed skim of the text, and answer roughly 10-11 questions.  Once the reading section concludes, students– their brains thoroughly fried for the rest of the day– have to embrace their inner editor and push through the grammar section, hoping that the archaic word they didn’t know was the right answer, and that they did, in fact, know how to use a comma.  

In the Digital PSAT, however, the CollegeBoard went away with long passages, instead favoring several short passages roughly 6-8 lines long, each being paired with a single question.  To add, rather than have a section dedicated to typo-inspection, the CollegeBoard eliminated the Grammar section, electing to sprinkle grammar questions throughout the digital reading sections.  Yes, reading sections.  The test, in addition to being divided into Reading and Math sections, is also divided into two modules, each containing one reading and one math section.  For the Reading section, students will have 32 minutes to complete the first module, before moving on to the second, which is  another 32 minutes.  

While the reading section is almost universally shunned by students, the math section of the SAT generates mixed responses.  While some consider it a convenient break from grammatical purgatory, others see it as a further descent into the nightmare the CollegeBoard disguises as a standardized test.  Typically, the math section would begin with the 25-minute “No-Calculator” section, followed by the “Math With Calculator” section, which is a less-bearable 55 minutes long. In stark contrast, the digital PSAT will have no calculator restrictions during either of its math sections, each being only 35 minutes long.  To add, instead of having a dedicated open-ended area for the math section, the digital PSAT will have open-ended questions placed throughout the math section.  However, just like the SAT, the digital version will have math questions get progressively harder as the test progresses.  

Whether or not this new format will truly lead to an “easier” test is yet to be determined.  While the format may seem friendly at a first glance, the exam may end up featuring a less forgiving score curve or much harder questions.  Regardless, while previous math practice books will survive the new format, the almost unrecognizable reading section will make reading practice books and tests completely obsolete.  However, the CollegeBoard offers a few practice tests for the Digital PSAT and Digital SAT on its website, and Khan Academy has also begun providing resources for the test as well.