SAT Terms Explained: A Digital SAT Glossary

SAT terms are the words College Board uses to describe how the Digital SAT works: sections, modules, adaptive routing, scaled scores, percentiles, Score Choice and superscoring. You need them to read a score report, pick test dates and send scores the right way. This glossary defines 44 of them in plain English, with the official numbers.

If you already have a score, see what a good SAT score is for your percentile and goal. Every definition below comes from a College Board page we read on October 13, 2026.

What SAT terms should you know first?

Start with these six. Most other terms build on them.

Term	What it means	Official number
Section	One of the two parts of the test: Reading and Writing, and Math	2 sections
Module	Half of a section, with its own timer	2 per section, 4 in total
Adaptive testing	Your Module 1 result decides whether Module 2 is harder or easier	Applies to both sections
Section score	Your score for one section	200 to 800
Total score	Your two section scores added together	400 to 1600
Percentile	The share of students who scored at or below you	Below 1 to 99+

Sources: College Board's How the SAT Is Structured and What Do My SAT Suite Scores Mean?

What do the test format terms mean?

These words describe what you see on test day. The SAT has 98 questions and takes 2 hours and 14 minutes of testing time.

• Digital SAT. The current SAT, taken in the Bluebook app. College Board says the digital SAT is still scored on the same 400 to 1600 scale as the paper test.
• Bluebook. The College Board app you test in. It also runs the official full-length practice tests.
• Reading and Writing section. 54 questions in 64 minutes, split into two 32-minute modules. Each question has a short passage of 25 to 150 words.
• Math section. 44 questions in 70 minutes, split into two 35-minute modules.
• Break. A 10-minute break between the Reading and Writing section and the Math section.
• Module 1. The first module in each section. It has a broad mix of easy, medium and hard questions.
• Module 2. The second module. Based on how you did in Module 1, it is either more difficult or less difficult. People call this "routing" to the hard or easy module.
• Multistage adaptive design. College Board's name for this two-stage setup. The test adapts between the two modules of each section, based on your Module 1 result.
• Pretest questions. Each module has two questions that do not count. College Board uses them to try out questions for future tests.
• Operational questions. The questions that do count: 20 to 25 per module.
• Student-produced response (SPR). A math question where you type your own answer instead of picking one. About 25% of Math questions use this format, and some have more than one correct answer, per College Board's student-produced responses page.

To see how these counts break down by question type, read how many questions are on the Digital SAT by type.

What are the Bluebook tool terms?

Bluebook has built-in tools. College Board's Bluebook testing tools page lists them.

• Desmos calculator. The graphing calculator built into the test. You can switch between scientific and graphing modes at any point in the Math section.
• Reference sheet. A list of common math formulas you can open during the Math section.
• Mark for Review. A bookmark that flags a question so you can come back to it.
• Option Eliminator. Lets you cross out answer choices you think are wrong.
• Question Menu. Shows which questions you skipped or marked, and lets you jump to any of them.
• CAS calculator. A calculator with a computer algebra system that can factor or solve equations as symbols. These are not allowed. Under the calculator policy, you can bring a non-CAS handheld calculator or use Desmos.

You can practice with the same calculator on our Desmos for the Digital SAT page. To check the rules first, see is Desmos allowed on the SAT.

What do the SAT score terms mean?

You will see these words on your score report and in College Board's score guides.

• Scaled score. The score you get after College Board converts your answers to the 200 to 800 section scale. It is not the number of questions you got right.
• Item Response Theory (IRT). The scoring method, explained on College Board's How Are Scores Calculated? page. Your score depends on which questions you got right, how hard they were, and whether your answers look like guessing. Two students with the same number right can get different scores.
• Score range. A band around your score. It shows how much your score would likely move if you took a different test form under the same conditions.
• Nationally representative percentile. Compares you to all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, whether or not they take the SAT.
• User group (All Tester) percentile. Compares you to SAT takers who graduated in the past three school years.
• Benchmark. College and Career Readiness Benchmarks are 480 for Reading and Writing and 530 for Math. Meeting one predicts a 75% chance of a C or higher in a related first-semester college course.
• Knowledge and Skills. The part of your score report that shows how you did in each of the eight content domains.
• Score Sends Held. A note at the top of a score report. It means College Board could not confirm a full set of responses, so it will not send those scores unless you ask.

For the full scoring walk-through, read what the SAT is out of and how it is scored. If you wonder whether College Board grades on a curve, is the SAT curved answers that.

What is an average SAT score and a top score?

College Board says the average SAT score is around 1050, and a score of 1350 or higher is in the top 10% of test takers. On its percentile table, a 1200 is at the 75th user group percentile and a 1400 is at the 93rd.

Total score	User group percentile	Nationally representative percentile
1000	47	48
1050	55	58
1200	75	81
1350	89	94
1400	93	97
1500	97	99

Source: SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles. Look up any score on our SAT percentiles tool, or read what percentile a 1400 is. For more on the middle of the scale, see what the average SAT score is.

What are domains and skills on the SAT?

A domain is a content area. Each section has four, and the questions in a domain test a group of related skills.

Section	Domains
Reading and Writing	Information and Ideas; Craft and Structure; Expression of Ideas; Standard English Conventions
Math	Algebra (13 to 15 questions); Advanced Math (13 to 15); Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (5 to 7); Geometry and Trigonometry (5 to 7)

Sources: College Board's Reading and Writing section and Math section overview. In Reading and Writing, College Board groups questions that test similar skills and orders them from easiest to hardest. In Math, each module runs from easiest to hardest.

Skills are the smaller units inside each domain. College Board's own Student Question Bank filters questions by domain, skill and difficulty. Our SAT Question Bank uses the same idea. Recent banks, such as June, September and October 2026, are sorted by domain, skill and difficulty, so you can drill the skill your score report flags. The June 2026 Reading and Writing Question Bank is free with a free account. For one skill at a time, use the free SkillDrill topic drills.

What do Score Choice and superscore mean?

Score Choice is how you pick which test dates to send. A superscore is how some colleges combine your best section scores. They are different things.

• Score Choice. A free College Board option that lets you choose which test dates to send. Some colleges and scholarship programs still require all scores. It does not apply to the free score sends you pick at registration.
• Superscore. A college takes your best Reading and Writing score and your best Math score, even if they come from different test dates.
• Single highest test date. Some colleges use your best total from one sitting, even if it is not your latest.
• All scores required. Some colleges ask for every SAT you took.
• Test-optional. You decide whether to send scores. Colleges that are test-optional may still have rules for students who do send them.
• Free score sends. When you register for a weekend SAT, you can pick score recipients. You have nine days after the test to change them for free.
• Standard and rush delivery. College Board gives a typical time of 5 to 10 business days from your order for standard sends. Rush sends go out within 1 to 4 business days and only for released scores.

Sources: College Board's Score Choice, What's an SAT Superscore? and Sending Scores from SAT Weekend. Each college sets its own policy, so check its admissions page.

What are the registration terms?

These terms control when and how you sign up.

• SAT Weekend. The Saturday test you register for yourself. The next dates are November 7 and December 5, 2026, then March 6, May 1 and June 5, 2027.
• SAT School Day. The SAT given at your school. Your school or district registers you.
• Registration deadline. The last regular day to sign up. For the November 7 test it is October 23, 2026.
• Late registration. A few extra days after the deadline, for an added fee. For November 7, the late deadline is October 27, 2026.
• Sunday testing. Only for students who cannot test on Saturday for religious reasons.
• Fee waiver. Lets eligible students take the SAT for free and get other benefits. You can use one fee waiver code, or get the benefits straight from College Board, once per lifetime.

Sources: College Board's SAT dates and deadlines and SAT fee waivers. Our SAT test dates page has a countdown and every deadline, and the last day to register explains late fees.

How do you turn these terms into points?

Knowing the words helps you read your score report. Points come from practice on the domains it flags. Use this order:

1. Open the Knowledge and Skills part of your score report and find your two weakest domains.
2. Drill those domains in the SAT Question Bank. The newest set is the October 2026 Math Question Bank.
3. Take a timed, adaptive section to practice Module 1 and Module 2. Create a free account and take one full-length adaptive SAT section free, with a scaled score.
4. Estimate your score from correct answers per module with the Digital SAT score calculator.
5. Set a weekly plan. How many hours to study for the SAT gives a starting number.

Looking for vocabulary instead? "SAT words" means something else. See what SAT words are. You can also browse every test in the practice test catalog.

How we built this page

Verified 2026-10-13. Every definition and number comes from College Board pages fetched that day: How the SAT Is Structured, How Are Scores Calculated?, What Do My SAT Suite Scores Mean?, the Fall 2026 SAT Weekend Understanding Scores guide, the SAT percentile tables, the Math overview and Student-Produced Responses pages, the Reading and Writing section page, Bluebook Testing Tools, the calculator policy, Score Choice, Sending Scores from SAT Weekend, the College Board blog post on superscoring, SAT dates and deadlines, and SAT fee waivers. Question bank details come from The Test Advantage's own database, read the same day. The Test Advantage is not affiliated with College Board.

Frequently Asked Questions

What SAT terms should you know first?

Start with six: section (Reading and Writing, and Math), module (two per section), adaptive testing (Module 1 decides whether Module 2 is harder or easier), section score (200 to 800), total score (400 to 1600) and percentile (the share of students who scored at or below you).

What does module mean on the SAT?

A module is half of a section with its own timer. Reading and Writing has two 32-minute modules and Math has two 35-minute modules. Module 1 has a mix of easy, medium and hard questions, and Module 2 is harder or easier based on how you did.

What do Score Choice and superscore mean?

Score Choice is a free College Board option that lets you choose which test dates to send. A superscore is a college policy that combines your best Reading and Writing score and best Math score, even from different test dates.

What are pretest questions on the SAT?

Each module includes two pretest questions that do not count toward your score. College Board uses them to try out questions for future tests. The other 20 to 25 questions in each module are scored.

What is a student-produced response question?

It is a math question where you type your own answer instead of choosing one. College Board says about 75% of Math questions are multiple choice and the rest are student-produced responses, and some have more than one correct answer.

What do the SAT score terms mean?

A scaled score is your converted section score from 200 to 800. A score range shows how much your score could move on another form. Percentiles compare you to other students. The benchmarks are 480 for Reading and Writing and 530 for Math.

Related Concepts

SAT Digital SAT College Board Bluebook module multistage adaptive testing pretest questions student-produced response Desmos Item Response Theory scaled score score range percentile College and Career Readiness Benchmarks Knowledge and Skills Score Choice superscore test-optional fee waiver The Test Advantage

Related Guides

Sources and Citation Targets

• College Board: How the SAT Is Structured
• College Board: How Are Scores Calculated?
• College Board: What Do My SAT Suite Scores Mean?
• College Board Research: SAT percentiles
• College Board: The Math Section Overview
• College Board: Student-Produced Responses
• College Board: Bluebook Testing Tools
• College Board: Score Choice