There is no fixed SAT paper to practise from. The digital SAT is adaptive by module — how you do on the first module of each section decides whether the second is harder or easier — so candidates on the same day do not all see the same questions. College Board's own official practice material is the closest thing to the real test; the twelve questions below are extra practice. They are drawn from the Myndaq practice bank and are not reproductions of any official item, grouped by College Board's content domains with worked answers, alongside the Myndaq SAT course.
The pattern you are practising for
- Reading and Writing: 54 questions in 64 minutes, two 32-minute modules. Each question is a short passage of 25 to 150 words, or a pair of passages, with one multiple-choice question.
- Math: 44 questions in 70 minutes, two 35-minute modules. Most questions are multiple choice; some ask you to enter the answer.
- Adaptive by module; a 10-minute break between the sections.
- Math domains: Algebra (13–15 questions), Advanced Math (13–15), Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (5–7), Geometry and Trigonometry (5–7), in every module, easiest to hardest.
- Calculator throughout Math: your own approved non-CAS calculator or the built-in Desmos calculator.
- Scores: 400–1600 total, 200–800 per section.
Reading and Writing: Information and Ideas
Question 1 — main idea. The following text is from an article about nutrition.
Many people assume that all dietary fats are unhealthy, but nutrition research tells a more nuanced story. Certain fats, such as those found in nuts, fish, and olive oil, can support heart health and help the body absorb essential vitamins. Other fats, particularly those in heavily processed foods, may raise the risk of disease. The type of fat consumed, rather than fat in general, is what matters most for health.
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?
- A. Many people wrongly assume that all dietary fats are unhealthy.
- B. The type of fat a person consumes, not fat in general, is what most affects their health.
- C. Fats found in heavily processed foods may raise the risk of disease.
- D. Nuts, fish, and olive oil contain fats that support heart health.
Answer: B. The last sentence states the claim the rest supports. A is the opening assumption the text corrects; C and D are details on either side of the argument. In a 70-word text, the main idea is usually stated outright — often at the end.
Question 2 — evidence for a conclusion. The following text is from a study on language learning.
Researchers tested whether watching films with subtitles in a target language could improve learners' listening comprehension. They concluded that watching subtitled films for thirty minutes daily significantly improved how well learners understood spoken language after one month.
Which finding from the study would most directly support the researchers' conclusion?
- A. Learners who watched subtitled films daily scored substantially higher on a listening comprehension test after one month than learners who did not.
- B. Learners who watched subtitled films could read written passages more quickly after one month.
- C. Learners who watched subtitled films reported enjoying them more than learners who studied from textbooks.
- D. Learners who watched subtitled films learned more new vocabulary words than learners who did not.
Answer: A. The conclusion is about listening comprehension, and only A measures that — with a comparison group. B, C and D are all plausible benefits of subtitled films, but they measure something else. Match the evidence to the exact claim.
Reading and Writing: Craft and Structure
Question 3 — words in context. The mayor's proposal initially seemed straightforward, but as council members examined its provisions, they discovered that several clauses ______ one another: one section guaranteed funding for a program that another section explicitly defunded.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word?
- A. anticipated
- B. reinforced
- C. exaggerated
- D. contradicted
Answer: D. The colon introduces the definition of the blank: funding and defunding the same programme is contradiction. B is the exact opposite. Method: read past the blank to the explanation, then choose.
Question 4 — cross-text connections.
Text 1: Economist Lila Okonkwo argues that raising the minimum wage substantially benefits low-income workers without significantly reducing employment. Reviewing data from several U.S. states that recently raised their wage floors, she found that job losses were minimal and earnings for affected workers rose.
Text 2: Economist Pierre Dubois contends that minimum wage studies focused on short time horizons miss longer-term effects. In his analysis, employers initially absorb higher wages but, over five to ten years, increasingly automate routine tasks, gradually eliminating the very positions the policy was meant to protect.
Based on the texts, how would Dubois most likely respond to Okonkwo's conclusion?
- A. By questioning whether minimum wage policies benefit workers in any economic sense.
- B. By insisting that minimum wage increases produce immediate, severe job losses.
- C. By suggesting her findings reflect only short-term outcomes and may understate eventual job losses from automation.
- D. By agreeing fully that wage increases have negligible effects on employment.
Answer: C. Dubois does not dispute what happens at first — employers "initially absorb" the cost — only what happens later. B overstates him ("immediate, severe"); A goes beyond anything he says. Cross-text questions reward stating each author's claim in one line before reading the options.
Reading and Writing: Expression of Ideas
Question 5 — transitions. Ecologists once assumed that old-growth forests reached a stable climax state and remained essentially unchanged for centuries. ______ recent long-term studies reveal that even ancient forests undergo constant species turnover and structural shifts driven by subtle disturbances.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- A. However,
- B. Likewise,
- C. Therefore,
- D. For instance,
Answer: A. "Once assumed" followed by what studies "reveal" is a reversal. Identify the relationship between the two sentences — contrast, similarity, cause, example — before looking at the options.
Reading and Writing: Standard English Conventions
Question 6 — verb tense. The team of researchers ______ their findings at the annual conference next week.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. have presented
- B. are presenting
- C. will present
- D. present
Answer: C. "Next week" fixes the time as future. A is past. B and D can refer to the future in informal speech, but will present is the clear, conventional choice when a future time is stated. On Conventions questions, find the word in the sentence that decides the rule.
Math: Algebra
Question 7 — linear model. The number of gallons G of fuel remaining in a generator's tank after t hours of operation is given by G(t) = 42 − 1.75t. What does 42 represent in this context?
- A. The number of gallons of fuel in the tank when operation begins.
- B. The number of gallons of fuel consumed each hour.
- C. The number of hours the generator can run before running out of fuel.
- D. The total number of gallons of fuel consumed during operation.
Answer: A. At t = 0, G = 42: the starting amount. The rate of use is 1.75 gallons an hour, the coefficient of t. Interpreting a linear model always comes down to the same two questions: what is the value when the input is zero, and what changes per unit of input?
Math: Advanced Math
Question 8 — entered answer. What is the product of the solutions to the equation x² − 5x − 14 = 0?
Answer: −14. Factor: (x − 7)(x + 2) = 0, so x = 7 or x = −2, and 7 × (−2) = −14. The shortcut: for ax² + bx + c = 0 the product of the roots is c/a. On entered-answer questions, type the negative sign — there are no options to catch the error.
Question 9 — system with exactly one solution. In the xy-plane, the line y = 2x + 1 intersects the parabola y = x² − 4x + k at exactly one point. What is the value of k?
- A. −10
- B. −8
- C. 8
- D. 10
Answer: D, 10. Set them equal: x² − 4x + k = 2x + 1, so x² − 6x + (k − 1) = 0. One intersection means the discriminant is zero: 36 − 4(k − 1) = 0, so k − 1 = 9 and k = 10. With Desmos: graph both with a slider for k and watch where the line touches the parabola — a legitimate check on the digital SAT.
Math: Problem-Solving and Data Analysis
Question 10 — two-way table, entered answer. A regional hospital surveyed 480 patients about whether they received a flu vaccine this season and whether they contracted the flu:
- Vaccinated: got flu 18; did not get flu 222; total 240
- Not vaccinated: got flu 72; did not get flu 168; total 240
- Total: got flu 90; did not get flu 390; total 480
Given that a randomly selected patient contracted the flu, what is the probability that the patient was not vaccinated?
Answer: 4/5 (0.8). "Given that the patient contracted the flu" restricts you to the 90 who did. Of those, 72 were not vaccinated: 72/90 = 4/5. Dividing by 480 or by 240 answers a different question. On conditional probability, the "given" part is always the denominator.
Question 11 — mean and median. A data set contains the five values 4, 8, 10, 12 and x, where x > 12. The mean of the data set equals the median. What is x?
- A. 11
- B. 13
- C. 16
- D. 18
Answer: C, 16. Because x > 12, the order is 4, 8, 10, 12, x and the median is 10. A mean of 10 needs a total of 50, and 4 + 8 + 10 + 12 = 34, so x = 16. A breaks the condition x > 12.
Math: Geometry and Trigonometry
Question 12 — right-triangle trigonometry. In right triangle ABC, angle C = 90°, AC = 15 and AB = 17. What is tan B?
- A. 8/17
- B. 8/15
- C. 15/17
- D. 15/8
Answer: D. BC = √(17² − 15²) = √64 = 8. From B, the opposite side is AC = 15 and the adjacent side is BC = 8, so tan B = 15/8. B is tan A — the commonest error is reading the ratio from the wrong angle. Label opposite and adjacent from the angle you are asked about before writing the ratio.
How to use practice like this
Score yourself by domain, not by total. The Math counts tell you where the points are — Algebra and Advanced Math supply 26 to 30 of the 44 questions — and in Reading and Writing, Standard English Conventions is the most rule-based and therefore the fastest to improve. Then work College Board's official practice material under real timing, 32 and 35 minutes per module. For the full structure, see the SAT syllabus and sections; for a study plan, see the SAT preparation guide.
Quick answers
Are there SAT previous year papers?
Not as a fixed paper — the digital SAT is adaptive by module. College Board's official practice material is the closest equivalent.
How many questions are on the SAT?
98: 54 in Reading and Writing and 44 in Math.
Does the SAT have questions where you type the answer?
Yes. Most Math questions are multiple choice, but some ask you to enter the answer.
Which Math topics carry the most questions?
Algebra and Advanced Math, with 13 to 15 questions each.
Can I use a calculator on every Math question?
Yes. A calculator is allowed throughout the Math section, including the Desmos calculator built into Bluebook.
