The College Board announced it will cancel the June 2020 SAT exam session and will offer digital, at-home exams if coronavirus lockdowns keep students at home this fall.
College Board CEO David Coleman said in a statement he recognized the anxiety many high school juniors feel about grades, scores, and college admissions hiccups as schools remain shuttered.
“Our first principle with the SAT and all our work must be to keep families and students safe,” Coleman said.
The College Board will administer the SAT test every month through the end of the calendar year, beginning in August, so long as it’s safe for students to attend. This includes a new date in September and the previously scheduled testing times on August 29, October 3, November 7, and December 5.
Coleman said that if schools reopen this fall, the College Board will offer more dates for students to take the exam whether in-person or digitally.
“While the idea of at-home SAT testing is new, digital delivery of the test is not,” Coleman said, noting digital versions have previously been administered in certain districts.
In the worst-case scenario of schools remaining closed this fall, the College Board pledged that at-home testing would be “simple, secure and fair, accessible to all, and valid for use in college admissions.”
The rival ACT exam is still scheduled for June 13, but it’s unclear whether that will still take place.
Also scheduled around this time are Advanced Placement (AP) exams, which allow high school students to earn college credit through testing before they enroll in a university. AP exams will be administered digitally for the first time in an open-book format, with written responses instead of multiple choice.
Most U.S. college applications require students submit scores from either the SAT or ACT exams as part of their application, but as so many school districts and universities have closed for the remainder of this school year, the reality of preparing for remote learning for the fall semester has begun to sink in.
The original May test dates for both exams were canceled weeks ago as coronavirus swept through the country. In light of the cancellations, several universities are considering waiving the scores requirement — though Ivy League schools will still require it.
