What Is SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing?

Makers of the new SAT have decided that the Reading and Writing sections go together like peanut butter and jelly. Instead of treating them separately, College Board now combines Reading and Writing together in the same section.

This guide will go over the Reading and Writing section of the SAT and how this new format affects your test prep. To begin, let’s define this new section on the SAT.

What Is SAT Reading and Writing?

Ah, the million dollar question! Before we answer it, we need to go over the major changes that took effect when the SAT went fully digital in 2024. 

The new, digital SAT format now only has two total sections on the entire test: the Math section and the Reading and Writing section. Both of these sections are further divided into two modules each, so there are 4 total modules on the test. 

The SAT Reading and Writing section is made up of two 32-minute modules with 27 questions each. So combined, the Reading and Writing section has 54 questions and takes 64 minutes to complete. The highest score for this section is 800. Combined with the 800 points possible on the Math section, the SAT is still scored out of 1600.

On the old, old SAT (before 2016), Reading and Writing were scored separately (800 points possible for each), resulting in a maximum possible score of 2400. In those days, the verbal sections (technically called Critical Reading and Writing) made up two-thirds of your total score (800+800), while math only made up one-third (800). Not the ideal make-up for students who were stronger in math, but English-oriented kids were sitting pretty.

When the SAT underwent major changes in 2016, the Reading and Writing sections—though still separate sections on the actual test—were scored together as Evidence Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) and worth up to 800 points total. So, this meant that half your score was verbal (Reading section + Writing section = EBRW, 800 points possible), and the other half was math (800 points possible), and so a perfect score was 1600.

This hasn’t changed with the new digital SAT—the score breakdown still remains the same. Reading/Writing and Math are still equal! The major change here is that Reading and Writing are no longer two separate sections on the test. All of the Reading and Writing content is grouped together in the SAT Reading and Writing section.

Another major change to SAT Reading and Writing is the way reading passages are used. The old SAT (2016-2023) featured just a few passages in the Reading and Writing sections, and multiple questions were tied to each lengthy passage. The new digital SAT uses much shorter passages (25-150 words) and links only one question to each passage (the exception here is that a few questions will have two passages, or a passage pair.) 

How Should I Prep for SAT Reading and Writing?

If you’re looking to improve your skills and get a great score on SAT Reading and Writing, you should start by taking real practice tests. These tests not only include the specific content that will be on the real test, but they’ll also prepare you for what the format of the test will be like. 

The new digital SAT is—as you might have guessed—administered 100% digitally. This means that you’ll be using a computer, tablet, Chromebook, etc. to take the real test. More specifically, you’ll be using a software called Bluebook created by the College Board. Check out our Ultimate Digital SAT Study Guide for even more helpful tips, plans, and practice for SAT Reading and Writing. 

If you’re reading to kick your prep up a notch and to make sure you’re studying with the most up-to-date materials for the digital SAT, check out the PrepScholar Complete Program. Our self-paced adaptive program covers all the material you’ll see on test day, and it even helps you focus on areas where you need the most help.

Stick around until the end of the article to learn all about the new and improved SAT Reading and Writing, including five helpful tips you can use to master the content you’ll see on this section of the SAT. 

Let’s start by tackling scoring on SAT Reading and Writing and how it factors into the overall test. I’ll go over the process for how the SAT is scored in the steps below.

Where Does Your SAT Reading and Writing Score Come From?

Like mentioned, the Reading and Writing section is scored between 200-800, so it’s equal to the scoring for the other section on the test: SAT Math. The first section you’ll see on test day is SAT Reading and Writing. You’ll begin with Module 1, which is 32 minutes long and has 27 questions. Then you’ll move into Module 2, which has the exact same format, but is slightly different. How, you may be wondering? Module 2 actually adapts to how you performed in Module 1. 

That’s right: every single test taker will see a second module that is specially adapted to them, based on how well or how poorly they performed in the first module. If you do really well in Module 1, Module 2 will have more difficult questions. If you don’t do so well in Module 1, Module 2 will include less difficult questions. College Board says that “you don’t need to answer every question correctly to get a good score” if your second module includes more difficult questions, meaning: the harder the question = the more valuable the answer. 

We know there are different values associated with the difficulty of questions, but we don’t know what those values are. So, it’s difficult to figure out exactly what score you’ll get on the test just by plugging in the number of correct answers. The good news? You really don’t need to worry about calculations anymore! Because the test is digital, it calculates all of that for you—including the official digital SAT practice tests. These practice tests simulate the exact format you’ll see on test day, so you’ll get to experience the modules/adaptive testing well before you show up at your testing center. As soon as you finish the practice tests your scores are calculated and you can see exactly how many questions you got correct and incorrect

This might sound a little scary at first if you’ve never taken an adaptive test before, but there are a lot of positives: adaptive testing allows the test to be shorter, to be individualized to every student, and to more accurately measure students’ knowledge and abilities. This was actually one of the major reasons the SAT went digital—to allow for this type of adaptive testing. 

In addition to the six fully digital practice tests that are currently available on Bluebook, there are also six official paper practice tests available from the College Board. If you’ve taken and scored these paper tests, then you may be familiar with the new scoring process. 

It’s important to note that these paper practice tests aren’t completely equivalent to the digital SAT because they don’t use the adaptive testing model. Since the test can’t adapt those second modules to your performance, the paper tests have more questions than the digital SAT will have when taken on a computer (the paper test has 66 Reading and Writing questions and 54 Math questions—22 more questions than the fully digital SAT). College Board recommends that only students with an approved accommodation to take the digital SAT in paper form use these tests. However, you can use them for extra practice if you’ve already taken all 6 of the fully digital practice tests offered in Bluebook. 

To score your paper practice tests, first add up your raw score in each Reading and Writing module, giving yourself one point for every right answer and zero points for wrong or skipped answers. Add the two raw scores (for Module 1 and Module 2) together to get your combined Reading and Writing section raw score. Here’s a breakdown of how to add those modules together and find your Reading and Writing section raw score.

After you’ve got your Reading and Writing section raw score calculated, you’ll need to convert your raw score to the corresponding upper and lower value found on the provided conversion chart. Here’s a representative sample chart from an official SAT paper practice test:

Let’s look at an example. 

This whole “upper and lower score” business might sound a little tricky, but the good news is you really don’t have to focus too much on the underlying math for why there are two scores (an upper and a lower) for the same raw score. The short explanation for this is because the test doesn’t have the adaptive model that the computer version has. College Board explains that the scoring method for the paper version of the digital SAT is “a simplified (and therefore slightly less precise) version of the one used in the actual test.”

SAT Reading and Writing: An Overview

SAT Reading and Writing is always your first section on the SAT. It tests your literacy skills to measure your college and career readiness. You can expect to see lots of short reading passages and questions that focus on comprehension, rhetoric, and language use. Below you’ll find an overview of the Reading and Writing section’s format and question types.

SAT Reading and Writing Format

All of the questions in the Reading and Writing section are multiple choice with four possible answer choices, A, B, C, and D. Each question in this section will include a short (25-150 word) reading passage (or a pair of them). These passages come from world literature, history or social studies, the humanities, and science. Some passages will be accompanied by a graphic, like a chart, table, or graph.

SAT Reading and Writing Content 

Although the Reading and Writing section has been drastically shortened from the previous versions of the test (now comprising a single section of the test with 54 total questions), it still tests the same skills that the old, separate Reading and Writing sections used to (when it was known as Evidence Based Reading and Writing, or EBRW). 

You’ll need to read, comprehend, and use information and ideas in texts from various genres; to analyze the craft and structure of these passages; to revise these passages to improve the rhetorical expression of ideas; and to edit these passages to conform to core conventions of Standard English. 

SAT Reading and Writing asks you to examine both big picture ideas and little picture details, as well as to manage your time efficiently. Each module has 27 questions and lasts 32 minutes, so you’ll see 54 questions in 64 minutes across the entire Reading and Writing section. 

The questions on the Reading and Writing section cover four types of content. Take a look at the breakdown in the table below.

Some elements that the Reading and Writing section asks about are main idea, important details, and vocabulary in context. By analyzing the text, we’ve actually picked out eight main types of questions that focus on the “Reading” part of the Reading and Writing section. They are big picture/main idea, little picture/detail, inference, vocabulary in context, function, author technique, evidence support, and data interpretation.

For a detailed breakdown of each question type, along with sample questions of each, check out our full guide to the SAT Reading section! For now, let’s take a look at what makes up the “Writing” part of SAT Reading and Writing. 

SAT Reading and Writing also asks you to be an editor. You’ll read passages that have errors of grammar and punctuation, as well as unclear organization. Then you’ll identify the errors and provide suggestions for how to fix them. You might replace a word, fix a mistake in grammar or punctuation, rearrange sentences, or even add or delete details to improve organization and clarity. 

College Board categorizes about 74% of the Reading and Writing questions as Information and Ideas, Craft and Structure, and Expression of Ideas. These questions ask about how ideas develop or get supported, the proper use of vocabulary, and organization.

The remaining 26% of SAT Reading and Writing questions ask about Standard English Conventions. These include questions about sentence structure, usage, and punctuation. These questions tend to get down to the nitty-gritty of sentence mechanics and little details like comma and apostrophe use. You can find a full breakdown of the skills tested in SAT Reading and Writing in this comprehensive guide.

As you can see, the Reading and Writings section tests your verbal skills in many distinct ways. So does the fact that Reading and Writing is now one, single section affect your prep at all?

The Writing section's like the Reading section, except the passages are all messed up. You get to fix them!

Prepping for SAT Reading and Writing: 5 Tips

It’s important to remember that the SAT Reading and Writing section is full of questions that ask about both. Even though the new digital SAT combines Reading and Writing into a single section, the skills being tested are largely the same as they were when they were two separate sections. So instead of thinking about it as prepping for two separate test sections that will ask you to use different skills, think about it as prepping for those four major question types: Information and Ideas, Craft and Structure, Expression of Ideas, and Standard English Conventions. 

You’ll need to be prepared to read lots of short passages and to answer questions about words in context; text structure and purpose; cross-text connections; central ideas and details; command of evidence (both textual and quantitative); inferences; boundaries; form, structure, and sense; rhetorical synthesis; and transitions. 

The great news is that the content/question types on the digital SAT Reading and Writings section are largely the same as they were on the old paper version (2016-2023). The biggest change is that Reading and Writing are now combined into one, single section. The second biggest change is that the reading passages are shorter and each passage (or passage pair) is linked to one single question. 

This similarity in content means that the massive amount of content prep dedicated to the old pencil and paper SAT can still be helpful if you know how to navigate it. As long as you understand the updated format you’ll see on SAT Reading and Writing, you can use older materials to aid in your prep. 

Read on for five essential pieces of advice that will help you get ready for all the question types on SAT Reading and Writing.

#1: Focus on Command of Evidence

The old SAT (2016-2023) had a content category called “Command of Evidence” for both the Reading and Writing sections. Now that the Reading and Writing are a single section on the test, these command of evidence questions are still very much included on the test, they’re just categorized under the ‘Information and Ideas’ content category. You need to base your answers on evidence from the text for these questions. 

Here are a few examples that use this “eye for evidence” key skill in the Reading and Writing Section. These questions refer to passage from SAT Practice Test 2 (non adaptive, linear paper test).

Notice that this first example has a passage pair—two short passages that are both relevant to the question. 

Command of evidence questions—though now grouped under the Information and Ideas category—are still present on SAT Reading and Writing. You should hone this skill to improve your Reading and Writing score as a whole.  Make sure you practice close reading and base your answers entirely on the text.

#2: Study Words in Context 

The Reading and Writing section will have 13-15 questions about words in context. As all of the questions are passage-based, all of the vocabulary questions require you to understand how a word is being used in context and to pick the most fitting vocabulary word.

Here are a few typical examples of vocabulary questions in the Reading and Writing section. They refer to passage from SAT Practice Test 1 (non adaptive, linear paper test).

To prepare for these questions on SAT Reading and Writing, you should make sure you understand how the meanings of words shift depending on their contexts. The words might not be especially advanced, but they often are ones that can have multiple meanings. Focus on these kinds of mid-level, multiple meaning words as you study for SAT Reading and Writing.

#3: Practice Data Interpretation Questions

SAT Reading and Writing also asks you to interpret data from charts, tables, and/or graphs. These graphs will relate back to a passage.

Here are examples of data interpretation questions from the Reading and Writing section, also from SAT Practice Test 1 (non adaptive, linear paper test).

To prepare for SAT Reading and Writing, you should practice data interpretation questions. Strengthen your skills at interpreting and describing data in graphs and charts, and keep an eye on the relationship between a passage and its corresponding graphic.

Your SAT prep materials should have sample questions for you to use, and you might also practice with data interpretation questions from the Science section of ACT practice tests.

#4: Read and Write Widely

You just saw three specific ways that SAT Reading and Writing asks questions and addresses specific literacy skills. On a more big picture level, the Reading and Writing section tests your understanding of the English language.

By practicing reading widely and writing often, you can greatly improve your skills. As you saw, this section selects passages from various genres, mainly those that are nonfiction and argument-based. To prepare, therefore, you should practice reading not just prose, but also works from history and science.

There are specific methods you can use to break down the structure of an argument or analyze an author’s word choice. When you’re not taking such an analytical approach, though, you should practice reading and writing as often and possible. Over time, you'll see gradual improvement in your reading comprehension and writing skills.

#5: Be Strategic About Your Scores

One final tip: remember that your final scores will be half math and half verbal. 

Questions about Reading and Writing are now combined into the same section with a total score between 200-800. You no longer have to worry about scoring two separate sections to get one verbal score—what you see is what you get with SAT Reading and Writing. 

However, the Reading and Writing skills tested are the same as the previous version of the SAT (2016-2023), so you still need to be prepared to answer questions about both Reading and Writing! Figure out where your strengths and weaknesses lie and what question types you can study to improve your overall Reading and Writing score. 

There are other important strategies you can use to study for each of the four content areas on this section of the test, but these five tips are the most important ones to remember when thinking about the SAT Reading and Writing as a whole.

In closing, let’s review the key points you need to remember about SAT Reading and Writing.

SAT Reading and Writing: Final Thoughts

If you take anything away from this guide, it should be this: with the new digital SAT, Reading and Writing is a single section scored between 200-800. The Reading and Writing section is divided into two 32-minute modules with 27 questions each (so you’ll see 54 total Reading and Writing sections in 64 minutes). Each of the questions will include a short passage (or a pair of them), and the questions will include content about Information and Ideas, Craft and Structure, Expression of Ideas, and Standard English Conventions.

The Reading and Writing section asks questions about reading comprehension, analysis, synthesis, editing mistakes in grammar, organization, and punctuation, and more. All of the questions in this section are passage-based and emphasize command of evidence, an understanding of words in context, the ability to interpret data, and, of course, your overall English language skills. 

Finally, as you prep, remember that the Reading and Writing section is half of your overall test score. The Math section makes up the other half, so you want to make sure and study for both sections!

What’s Next?

Would you like to learn more about the Writing and Language section? Check out this guide for a full overview of the Writing section of the SAT.

SAT Reading has changed a lot this year. This guide goes over the five key changes that you need to know.

Do you feel like you get what the verbal sections are all about? To learn more about the Math No Calculator, check out this comprehensive guide.