Digital SAT Syllabus Tracker
48 Skills Official College Board SpecSAT Syllabus 2026: Every Domain and Skill on the Digital SAT
Last checked: 28 September 2026
The SAT doesn't have a syllabus in the school sense. College Board publishes a test framework instead: two sections, eight content domains, and a list of skills inside each domain. That framework is what this tracker is built from. It splits the official skills into 48 smaller topics, 20 in Reading and Writing and 28 in Math, so you can work through them one at a time.
Every SAT is now digital. It moved to the Bluebook app for international students in March 2023 and for students in the US in March 2024. The content, timing and scoring are the same wherever you take it.
| Section | Questions | Time | Domains and approximate share of questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and Writing | 54, in two modules of 27 | 64 minutes | Craft and Structure (28%), Information and Ideas (26%), Standard English Conventions (26%), Expression of Ideas (20%) |
| Math | 44, in two modules of 22 | 70 minutes | Algebra (35%), Advanced Math (35%), Problem-Solving and Data Analysis (15%), Geometry and Trigonometry (15%) |
| Whole test | 98 | 2 hours 14 minutes, plus a 10-minute break | Scored 400 to 1600, with 200 to 800 for each section |
In the tracker, Standard English Conventions has the most Reading and Writing topics (8), because boundaries, verb forms, pronouns and agreement are tested as small separate rules. In Math, Advanced Math has the most (9), since nonlinear equations and functions cover a lot of ground. If you're short on time, the ★ High Yield filter narrows the list to the 36 topics the tracker marks as most common.
How the test works and how it's scored
- It adapts by module. Each section has two modules. How you do on the first module decides whether the second one is easier or harder, so careless mistakes early cost more than they seem to.
- A few questions don't count. 50 of the 54 Reading and Writing questions are scored, and 40 of the 44 Math questions. The others are pretest questions College Board is trying out, and they look exactly like the rest.
- Passages are short. Each Reading and Writing question comes with its own short passage, or a pair of passages. Questions that test similar skills are grouped together and run from easier to harder.
- A calculator is allowed on all of Math. Bluebook has a Desmos graphing calculator built in, and you can bring an approved calculator too. About a quarter of Math questions ask you to type your own answer instead of choosing one.
- Wrong answers aren't penalised. Answer every question, even if you have to guess.
How to use the tracker's six milestones
Every topic has the same six steps. Tick each one as you finish it, and the topic moves toward mastered.
- Concept: learn the rule or method, such as when a semicolon is correct or how to rewrite a quadratic in vertex form.
- Notes: write one short page with the rule, a worked example and the trap that catches people.
- Drills: do untimed practice until you get the question type right most of the time.
- Official QB: practise with College Board's free Question Bank, which you can filter by domain, skill and difficulty.
- Timed Sets: do mixed sets at test pace, which works out to about 71 seconds per Reading and Writing question and 95 seconds per Math question.
- Review: come back a week later and redo every question you missed, without looking at your notes first.
A realistic way to cover the syllabus
- Start with a full practice test in Bluebook. Your results break your performance down by domain, which tells you where to begin.
- Work weakest first. Take three or four topics a week through Concept, Notes, Drills and Official QB. Use the High Yield filter if your test is less than two months away.
- Mix topics once a week. A timed set that mixes skills is closer to the real test than twenty questions on one rule, and it shows whether you can spot what each question is asking.
- Take another full test every two weeks from about week four, and put every miss in an error log with the reason: didn't know it, misread it, or ran out of time.
- Use the last two weeks for timed sets and review, not new topics.
Common mistakes
- Studying from old paper-SAT books. Their long passages and no-calculator section don't match the digital test. They're fine for grammar and algebra practice, not for timing.
- Rushing the first module. It decides the difficulty of the second, so accuracy matters more than speed early on.
- Never practising with Desmos. Graphing an equation to find an intersection or a minimum can save a minute on a hard algebra question, but only if you've done it before test day.
- Doing questions without reviewing them. Most of the improvement comes from understanding why an answer was wrong.
It helps to know how much real practice you're doing each week. A free online study timer that logs time by subject makes that easy, and you can start a session with this tracker open in another tab.
Frequently asked questions
What is on the SAT syllabus?
How many questions are on the digital SAT?
Is the SAT syllabus the same for international students?
Can I use a calculator on the whole SAT Math section?
What math is on the SAT?
How long should I study for the SAT?
Sources checked in September 2026: College Board's pages on SAT structure, the Reading and Writing section and the Math section, the Assessment Framework for the Digital SAT Suite, the SAT Suite Question Bank and the official full-length practice tests. Domain shares are College Board's approximate figures.
