SAT exam, scheduled for June 6, cancelled
College Board plans more opportunities in fall for exam
The College Board which administers the SAT, an exam critical for students pursuing college, has been cancelled for June 6.
The College Board on Wednesday said it is working to ensure students have more opportunities to take the SAT in the fall.
“We know students and educators are worried about how the coronavirus may disrupt the college admissions process, and we want to do all we can to help alleviate that anxiety during this very demanding time,” said College Board CEO David Coleman. “Our first principle with the SAT and all our work must be to keep families and students safe. The second principle is to make the SAT as widely available as possible for students who wish to test, regardless of the economic or public health circumstances.”
Coleman shared three commitments the College Board is making to ensure the SAT is available to all students this fall:
• If it’s safe from a public health standpoint, there will be weekend SAT administrations every month through the end of the calendar year, beginning in August. This includes a new administration in September and the previously scheduled tests on Aug. 29, Oct. 3, Nov. 7, and Dec. 5.
• To replace canceled SAT School Day administrations this spring, the College Board will offer the SAT in schools this fall. Almost all of College Board state partners and many of its district partners have expressed interest in providing SAT administrations during the school day later this fall. Specific information about state and district testing will be shared with our partners in the coming weeks so they may create their testing plans for students.
• In the unlikely event that schools do not reopen this fall, the College Board will provide a digital SAT for home use, much as the organization is delivering digital exams for three million Advanced Placement (AP) students this spring. As with at-home AP Exams, the College Board would ensure that at-home SAT testing is simple, secure and fair, accessible to all and and valid for use in college admissions.
• For national administrations, students will be able to register beginning in May. Students who registered for June and those in the high school class of 2021 who do not have SAT scores will have early access to register for the August, September, and October administrations. The College Board will communicate directly with students when the exact date is available. Eligible students will be able to take the test with a fee waiver.
For each administration of the test, the organization is preparing to significantly expand its capacity for students to take the SAT as soon as schools reopen. The College Board is calling on member schools and colleges, as well as local communities, to open their doors and provide additional test center capacity so every student who wants to can take the SAT.
Coleman also stressed that it has never been more important than at this unprecedented time to consider the context in which students live and learn. While all students will have the opportunity to take the SAT, the impact of the coronavirus on students varies vastly based on their circumstances. The families hit hardest are most often those with the fewest resources.
The College Board fully supports admissions officers at member colleges who have said the circumstances of the public health crisis will be taken into account when considering test scores, grades, and extracurricular activities in the coming year.
“Our commitment to students is to give them as many opportunities as we can to show their strengths to admissions officers, while relying on the guidance of public health officials,” Coleman added. “Throughout, we’ll continue to place a special focus on students benefitting from fee waivers and those requiring accommodations.”
