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SAT Syllabus 2024 - Everything You Need to Know

SAT Syllabus 2024 - Everything You Need to Know

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SAT Syllabus - Are you planning to give the SAT examination? If yes then explore this blog to get detailed knowledge about SAT syllabus.

GyanDhan
BIPASHA GOSWAMI
Updated on:  25 Oct 2023  | Reviewed By:  Aman  | 3.12K | 11  min read
SAT Syllabus 2022-23 
 

In most US universities, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is used as part of the admissions process. The SAT evaluates their skills in these areas as a measure of a candidate's writing, reading, and mathematics ability. SAT exam preparation begins with understanding the SAT exam pattern and syllabus. So, let's look at the SAT syllabus and its structure. 

It consists of three tests and takes three hours to complete:

  1. list items Reading Test
  2. list items Writing and Language Test
  3. list items Math Test.
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 Overview of SAT Syllabus

Reading

65 minutes

52 multiple-choice questions

Writing and Language

35 minutes

44 multiple-choice questions

Math

80 minutes

38 (30 MCQs and 8 Grid-in) and 20 (15 MCQs and 5 Grid-in)

Total

180 minutes

154  Questions


 

Most of the questions are multiple-choice, but some math questions require you to write in your answer.

It is better to guess than to leave the response blank on all questions.

Read more about: What is the SAT Test and How To Prepare For It?

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The Reading Test: Overview

During the Reading Test, you will read five passages and answer multiple-choice questions about them. A total of 52 questions are included in this test, which has a time limit of 65 minutes. The five passages on the Reading Test include four standalone passages and one pair of passages that you read together. The standalone passages and the paired set are each 500–750 words. The passages are drawn from the following types of documents: 

  • list items 1 literary passage from a work of fiction. 
  • list items 1 or 2 passages from a U.S. founding document or a text in the Great Global 
  • list items 1 passage from a work of economics, psychology, sociology, or some other social science. 
  • list items 2 passages from scientific works that examine foundational concepts and developments in Earth science, biology, chemistry, or physics.   

Reading Test Questions Are Like:

The questions on the reading test fall into three broad categories: 

  1. list items How the Author Uses Evidence 

You may be asked to demonstrate your understanding of how an author uses evidence to support a claim. Depending on the question, you might be asked to: 

  • list items Identify the part of a passage that supports a point the author is making. 
  • list items Find evidence in a passage that best supports the answer to a previous question. 
  • list items Find a relationship between an informational graphic and the passage it’s paired with.   
  1. list items Understanding Words in Context

Many of the questions on the Reading Test ask you to identify the meaning of a word in context. The “in context” part is important: the questions ask you to use context clues in a passage to figure out which meaning of a word or phrase is being used. Other questions will ask you to decide how an author’s choice of words shapes meaning, style, and tone. 

  1. list items Analysis in History/Social Studies and in Science 

The Reading Test includes passages in the fields of history, social studies, and science. You’ll be asked questions that require you to draw on the reading skills needed most to succeed in those subjects.

For instance, you might read about an experiment and then see questions that ask you to: 

  • list items Examine hypotheses. 
  • list items Interpret data. 
  • list items Consider implications. 

The answers are based only on the content stated in or implied by the passage, not your prior knowledge of the subject.

Read Also:

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The Writing and Language Test

The Writing and Language test is a multiple-choice test in which you read passages and find and fix mistakes and weaknesses. 

This part of the SAT is 35 minutes long, includes 4 passages, and contains 44 multiple-choice questions.  

What the Writing and Language Test Passages Are Like

The 4 passages on the test are each 400–450 words. The complexity of the passages varies: some are more challenging and others more straightforward.

The passages are about a variety of topics, including careers, science, the humanities, and history and social studies.

The purpose and format of each passage varies:

  • list items At least 1 is a narrative, meaning it describes events in a storylike way. This passage is not a work of fiction, but it could be a nonfiction account of an historical event, or it might describe the sequence of events in a scientific experiment.
  • list items The other passages are either argumentative, meaning they try to convince or persuade the reader of something, or else informative and explanatory.  

Some of the passages contain charts, graphs, or infographics that you interpret together with the written part of the passage.

What the Writing and Language Test Questions Are Like

Each passage has 11 multiple-choice questions.

The questions fall into two main types: those where you improve the expression of ideas, and those where you have to recognize and correct errors in sentence structure, grammar, usage, and punctuation.

Expression of Ideas

These questions ask you to improve the substance and quality of the writer’s message.
They can be divided into three kinds:

  • list items Development questions are about main ideas (topic sentences and thesis statements), supporting details, focus, and quantitative information in tables, graphs, and charts.
  • list items Organization questions focus on logical sequence and placement of information and ideas as well as effective introductions, conclusions, and transitions.
  • list items Effective Language Use questions ask you to improve precision and eliminate wordiness, consider style and tone, and combine sentences to improve flow and to achieve particular rhetorical effects (such as emphasizing one point over another).

Standard English Conventions

These questions focus on recognizing and correcting grammar, usage, and mechanics problems in passages. These questions ask you to recognize and correct errors in sentence structure (like run-on or incomplete sentences), usage (like lack of subject-verb or pronoun-antecedent agreement), and punctuation (like missing or unnecessary commas).

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The Math Test: Overview

The Math Test focuses on the areas of math that play the biggest role in college and career success: 

  • list items Heart of Algebra, which focuses on the mastery of linear equations and systems.
  • list items Problem Solving and Data Analysis, which is about being quantitatively literate.
  • list items Passport to Advanced Math, which features questions that require the manipulation of complex equations.  

The Math Test also draws on Additional Topics in Math, including the geometry and trigonometry most relevant to college and career readiness. 

The Math Test is divided into two parts: a no-calculator portion and a calculator portion. In both portions, most of the test is multiple choice, but some of the questions at the end ask you to write the answer (these are called “grid-ins”). Everyday formulas are provided for you to use. 

Breakdown of the Test 

No-Calculator Portion  

Time allotted

25 minutes

Total Questions

20

Multiple-choice questions

15

Grid-in questions

5

 

Calculator Portion  

Time allotted

55 minutes

Total Questions

38

Multiple-choice questions

30

Grid-in questions

8

Types of Math Tested

The math questions are divided into four categories, with algebra being the most important. 

Heart of Algebra

19

Problem Solving and Data Analysis

17

Passport to Advanced Math 

16

Additional Topics in Math 

6

 

We hope this blog helped you to get in-depth knowledge. If you still have any doubts do let us know in the comment section.

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