Whether you're building your own SAT prep program or just supplementing a class, finding SAT practice tests and questions can pose a serious challenge. This article will go through every type of practice SAT test, including those for the new digital SAT, how to best use them, and, most importantly, where to find them.
What You Need SAT Practice Tests For
Before we get into the many different sources of SAT practice tests, let's talk about why you need a deep well of practice material to draw from and the different ways you'll use these resources.
Real Practice Tests
A key part of SAT prep is taking full-length practice tests in realistic conditions. Since you want to mimic the SAT experience as closely as possible, you'll need to use real SATs. Using official tests for SAT practice questions also gives you a better prediction of your score and can help you determine what areas you need to focus on.
You'll want to use at least three tests for this purpose and make sure they're the most current version of the SAT (the digital SAT, which was released in 20243.
Question Analysis
Official SAT questions have their own style and logic, which other test writers aren't always great at imitating. Unsurprisingly, then, the best way to understand the SAT is to study with actual SATs.
As part of your test prep, spend some time looking really closely at official SAT questions and thinking about what they're asking and how each question is constructed. The more familiar you become with the unique structure and language of SAT questions, the less daunting the test will seem.
Subject Practice
The final type of SAT prep is practicing with the various types of test questions to hone your section-specific strategies and grasp of the content. Subject-targeted practice will also ensure that you know how to employ your math and grammar knowledge effectively to answer SAT-style questions.
Though official SAT questions are the ideal materials for this type of practice, it's less important that you focus exclusively on real SAT questions. Using unofficial materials to practice general strategies will help you save official SATs to use as full practice tests.
Now that you know what you'll need SAT practice tests for, let's go through the different places you can find each type of them—starting with official College Board tests.
Instead of a map of the world, you need a map of SAT practice tests.
Where to Find Current and Old Official SATs
As I described above, there are a number of types of practice that you should only use official SAT questions for. As such, they're the most valuable type of SAT prep material and you'll want to build up as large of a collection as possible.
I've divided these tests up by which version of the SAT they are:
- Current (Digital SAT)
- Old 1600-scale format (2016-2024)
- Old 2400-scale format (2005-2016)
- Very old format (pre-2005)
You'll want to focus mostly on the current tests, but the other versions can still provide helpful extra practice. For more info on how to get the most out of older SAT practice tests, check out our complete guide to old SATs.
Current Digital SAT Practice Tests
Below are all the official practice SATs for the current version of the exam.
6 Official Free Practice Digital Tests
The College Board has released six free, official practice tests for the new digital SAT. To access then, you'll need to download the Bluebook app to your digital device. Bluebook is the College Board’s official testing platform, and it's the same app you'll take the real SAT on during test day.
These six exams are the absolute best practice tests out there. They'll give you an accurate idea of what taking the real SAT will be like and how to navigate Bluebook software and tools.
To download Bluebook to your device, follow this link on the College Board’s official website.
6 Official Paper SAT Practice Tests
On their website, the College Board also offers six PDFs of full-length, linear SAT practice tests. Linear means that the tests aren't adaptive. What does adaptive mean? Adaptive testing changes the difficulty level of exam questions based on each question that a test taker gets right or wrong.
Because these are paper tests that aren't adaptive, they'll be quite a different experience than taking the digital SAT. The College Board recommends that only students with an approved accommodation for a paper-based SAT take these tests. We agree that the official online tests on Bluebook are a better resource, but these are still great options for additional practice questions to work through early on in your test prep, before you focus more on digital tests. Be aware that some questions overlap between these exams and the digital practice tests. Additionally, some of these questions also appear in The Official SAT Study Guide.
- Practice Test 1: Questions | Answers | Scoring
- Practice Test 2: Questions | Answers | Scoring
- Practice Test 3: Questions | Answers | Scoring
- Practice Test 4: Questions | Answers | Scoring
- Practice Test 5: Questions | Answers | Scoring
- Practice Test 6: Questions | Answers | Scoring
Additional Official Practice Questions
Although not a full practice test, the College Board has provided a free resource online that includes actual questions from the new digital SAT as well as explanations of the answers. The PDF includes 15 questions from the Reading and Writing section followed by 18 questions from the Math portion, so it’s a helpful miniature preview of what to expect on the test itself.
The downloadable guide also offers in-depth explanations of the correct answers so that you can develop effective techniques for thinking through each type of question.
Official SAT Prep at Khan Academy
There are a bunch of official SAT practice questions available as part of Khan Academy's free SAT prep. You'll need to sign up for an account to access these resources, but it's completely free and tracks your progress over time.
The lessons and practice questions are all divided by type, so they're very helpful for more targeted studying. While the strategies and suggestions aren't super useful for the Reading and Writing section, there's a lot of Math content if you want to brush up on any concepts you might have missed or forgotten. You can see a sample question below:
Old 1600-Scale SAT Practice Tests (2016-2024)
You can also use older versions of the SAT if you're looking for more practice tests. Note that there are key differences between the digital SAT and the version of the SAT that was given from 2016 to 2024 (besides formatting and the digital SAT being taken online):
- The digital SAT is shorter (2 hours and 14 minutes compared to the old version's 3 hours)
- For the digital SAT, you can use a calculator for every Math question.
- For Reading and Writing, the digital SAT has much shorter passages, and there will only be one question per passage. On the old version, there were a handful of longer passages, each with multiple questions following.
- For Math, the digital SAT has roughly double the number of geometry and trigonometry questions as the older version.
10 Official Free Practice Tests
The College Board has 10 practice SATs for the old pre-digital version of the test. You can download them below:
- Practice Test 1: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 2: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 3: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 4: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 5: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 6: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 7: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 8: Questions | Answers | Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 9: Questions | Answers| Answer Explanations | Essay
- Practice Test 10: Questions | Answers| Answer Explanations | Essay
Older SATs
Even older, pre-2016 versions of the SAT can still provide you with helpful study material.
Free Full Practice Tests
There are four older practice tests you can download for free:
- SAT Practice Test (2013-2014) Questions | Answers
- SAT Practice Test (2012-2013) Questions | Answers
- SAT Practice Test (2007-2008) Questions | Answers
- SAT Practice Test (2004-2005) Questions | Answers
Unfortunately, these tests don't have explanations for the answers, so you'll have to figure out why the correct answer is correct on your own or ask a friend, family member, or tutor for help.
If you really run out of practice materials, you can turn to the pre-2005 SATs:
- SAT Practice Test (2004-2005) Questions | Answers
- SAT Practice Test (2003-2004) Questions | Answers
- SAT Practice Test (2002) Questions + Answers
- SAT Practice Test (2001) Questions + Answers
You'll notice some question types that no longer exist on the SAT, so make sure that you know which questions to use and which to ignore.
X marks the spot—where you can find SAT practice tests.
Where to Find (and How to Use) Unofficial SATs
Sadly, there aren't a ton of official SAT practice tests available, especially for the new digital SAT. So, if you're planning 40+ hours of studying, you'll probably need some supplementary materials. Note that practice materials not sanctioned by the College Board can vary wildly in quality: some are very similar to the actual SAT, whereas others don't even share the same basic structure as the test!
I've collected the most helpful resources and provided some suggestions on how to get the most out of them in your SAT prep. This list is not exhaustive—there are a lot of unofficial SAT tests out there, and many of them aren't very high quality, so use your judgment when deciding whether to incorporate something you find into your prep. Each of the unofficial tests linked below is updated for the digital SAT.
Barron’s Digital SAT Preview
Published in September 2022, Barron’s eBook Digital SAT Preview: What to Expect + Tips and Strategies provides an overview of the digital SAT. You can also find one full-length practice test with a scoring guide and answer explanations.
This short eBook is free and available from Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, and the publisher’s website.
Princeton Review Practice Test
Princeton Review offers one free digital SAT practice test that's designed to look very similar to the real digital SAT in terms of interface and user experience. You'll need to create an account to access it.
Kaplan Practice Test
Kaplan offers one free digital SAT practice test. You can access it after creating a free account. Along with the test, Kaplan includes a few free additional resources, such as videos on how to approach different SAT questions, as well as several practice questions.
Test Innovators Practice Test
TestInnovators offers one free practice digital SAT. To access it, you'll need to create an account, but you don't need to put in any credit card information. If you like the test, they have up to nine other digital SAT practice tests available if you purchase an access package from them.
Making an SAT Study Plan: 3 Essential Tips
Now that you know where to start compiling the materials you'll need to prepare for the SAT, let's discuss how best to use these resources in a study plan. For more details on how to plan your SAT prep, check out our guide on how to build a prep plan that fits your schedule.
#1: Find Your SAT Baseline Score
Make sure to take a real SAT to determine your baseline score—unofficial diagnostic tests won't give you a realistic sense of what the SAT is like or what your actual strengths and weaknesses are. Take the test in a quiet room without any distractions, and be sure to follow the official time limits.
#2: Practice Skills and Review Content With Supplementary Materials
Because there's a limited number of official SATs available, you should supplement these tests with practice materials focused on specific subjects or question styles, including the official questions on Khan Academy and the SAT website, as well as those from unofficial sources.
Making strategic use of these materials will allow you to try out new strategies and drill specific skills without having to worry about how many full official tests you have left.
#3: Focus On Using Official SATs as Full-Length Practice Tests
Again, because your supply of official SATs is limited, you want to use them judiciously. Don't waste these tests by taking them in bits and pieces or while you're distracted or stressed out.
Instead, use most of the official SAT practice tests as full-length practice tests under real testing conditions: online, all in one sitting, in a quiet room, etc. Once you've taken a test, take time to carefully go over the questions you missed and the ones you guessed on, analyzing why you got each one wrong and how the question is actually solved.
Remember to also save one or two official SATs for the end of your prep schedule!
What's Next?
Taking an SAT practice test is only the first step—you also need to go over your answers. Make sure that you know the best way to review your mistakes.
If you want to focus on a specific SAT section, check out our guides to the best practice materials for Reading, Math, and Writing.
Want to improve your SAT score quickly? Try our 20-hour SAT prep plan or our one-month SAT study plan, depending on how much time you have left before test day.
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