The digital SAT has something closer to a syllabus than most admissions tests: College Board names four content domains in each section and, for Math, says how many questions come from each. What it does not have is a list of books to read or formulas to memorise beyond school maths. This page sets out the published structure and content from College Board's own pages, alongside the Myndaq SAT course.
The structure
- Reading and Writing — 54 questions in 64 minutes, in two modules of 32 minutes.
- Math — 44 questions in 70 minutes, in two modules of 35 minutes.
- Total: 98 questions in 134 minutes, with a 10-minute break between the two sections.
It is adaptive by module. In each section, how you perform on the first module decides whether the second module is more or less difficult. The first module of each section therefore does more than count towards your score: it sets which second module you get.
Question format. Most questions are multiple choice; some Math questions ask you to enter the answer rather than select it.
Reading and Writing: four domains
Every question in this section is a short passage — 25 to 150 words — or a pair of passages, followed by a single multiple-choice question. Because each passage carries one question, you read and decide 54 times, and a slow read on one passage costs only that question — but the same slow read repeated costs the section.
College Board's four domains:
- Information and Ideas — comprehension, analysis and reasoning: locating, interpreting, evaluating and integrating information and ideas from texts and informational graphics.
- Craft and Structure — the comprehension, vocabulary, analysis, synthesis and reasoning needed to understand and use high-utility words and phrases in context.
- Expression of Ideas — revising texts to improve the effectiveness of written expression and to meet specific rhetorical goals.
- Standard English Conventions — editing text to conform to core conventions of sentence structure, usage and punctuation.
Put simply: the first two are reading, the last two are writing and editing. The page used for this article does not give per-domain question counts for Reading and Writing, and none are given here.
Math: four domains, with question counts
- Algebra — 13 to 15 questions
- Advanced Math — 13 to 15 questions
- Problem-Solving and Data Analysis — 5 to 7 questions
- Geometry and Trigonometry — 5 to 7 questions
Questions from all four domains appear in each module, arranged from easiest to hardest. Algebra and Advanced Math together are well over half the section, so fluency with linear equations, functions and quadratics repays more than any other preparation. Geometry and trigonometry is the smallest domain.
Calculator. You may use your own approved handheld calculator or the Desmos calculator built into Bluebook, College Board's testing app, in graphing or scientific mode. Only non-CAS calculators (no computer algebra system) are allowed. Learning the built-in Desmos calculator before test day is worthwhile: it is always there, and it can graph a system faster than you can solve it by hand.
How the SAT is scored
- Total score: 400 to 1600.
- Two section scores, Reading and Writing and Math, each 200 to 800.
- Your score report includes percentiles comparing you with other students who took the same test.
There is no pass mark. Universities publish the ranges of scores their admitted students hold, and that is the figure to aim at.
Preparing domain by domain
The counts suggest where time goes furthest:
- Math: Algebra and Advanced Math supply 26 to 30 of the 44 questions. Secure these first — linear equations and systems, functions, quadratics and exponential models — before working on the smaller domains.
- Reading and Writing: Standard English Conventions is rule-based punctuation and grammar, the most learnable domain in the section. Craft and Structure rewards vocabulary in context; Information and Ideas rewards careful reading of a short text or a graph.
- Both sections: because the first module decides the second, accuracy on the early, easier questions matters. Rushing module one to save time for the hard questions later is the wrong trade.
What the published content does not tell you
- Per-domain counts for Reading and Writing — not stated on the page used here.
- Exactly which second module you will get — it depends on your first-module performance.
- A raw-to-scaled conversion — the scores page used here does not publish one.
For a study plan, see the SAT preparation guide. For fees and the cancellation rule, see SAT fees and registration. For worked questions from each domain, see SAT practice questions.
Quick answers
What is the SAT syllabus?
Reading and Writing covers four domains — Information and Ideas, Craft and Structure, Expression of Ideas and Standard English Conventions. Math covers Algebra, Advanced Math, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, and Geometry and Trigonometry.
How many questions are on the SAT?
98: 54 in Reading and Writing and 44 in Math.
How long is the SAT?
134 minutes of testing, plus a 10-minute break between the two sections.
Is a calculator allowed on the SAT?
Yes, throughout Math: your own approved non-CAS calculator or the Desmos calculator built into the testing app.
What is the highest SAT score?
1600, made up of two section scores of up to 800 each.
