New SAT from 2016

Hyderabad: ‘SAT to be changed from 2016’, these lines that were published in the newspapers across the world have sent many youngsters into a tizzy. There were apprehensions that it is going to be even tougher. However, College Board that organises the exam quashed rumours and said that the new norms are student-friendly. Exam for 1.600 points; essay to be optional.

“The current version of SAT that came into force in 2005 will cease to exist and the Redesigned SAT will be launched in the spring of 2016. Students who are currently in Grades XI and XII (as of Dec 2014) will not be impacted by the changes, whereas younger students will,” informed Lisa Jain, India Representative of the College Board.

From 2016, SAT will be for 1,600 points with essay being optional and there will be no negative marking unlike the current system. The test will consist of two sections of 800 points each, and essay will be scored separately. One section is mathematics and the other is evidence based reading and writing. The redesigned SAT will emphasise more on reasoning besides focusing on skills for career readiness.

The College Board is partnering with Khan Academy that would be developing free test preparation materialsto train students for SAT 2016. Students from Andhra Pradesh will now have all the reason to rejoice as Visakhapatnam will be a new centre for SAT. SAT, which was primarily used to gain admission into Universities in the USA,Singapore, and other parts of the world,is now embraced by few Indian varsities.

Though, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS) has BITSAT for local admissions, they do take SAT scores into consideration while taking admissions of international students. A couple varsities in the north India, such as Ashoka University and Jindal Global University,are also taking SAT score into consideration for admissions.Additional information on the Redesigned SAT can be accessed on www.deliveringopportunity.org