SAT English Syllabus & Course
Digital SAT Reading and Writing — the full syllabus, format and a study roadmap.
About SAT Reading and Writing
Digital SAT Reading and Writing pairs each question with its own short passage drawn from literature, history/social studies, science and the humanities. It tests close reading, command of evidence, vocabulary in context, and the rules of standard written English — applied quickly rather than through long passages.
Good to know
The Digital SAT no longer uses long shared passages — every question stands on a short text of its own, and the four domains are weighted: Information & Ideas and Craft & Structure together make up over half the section.
Exam format at a glance
| Structure | Two adaptive Reading and Writing modules (the second module's difficulty adapts to your first-module performance). |
|---|---|
| Questions | 54 questions |
| Time | 64 minutes (two 32-minute modules) |
| Section note | Each question has its own short passage (25–150 words); questions are roughly grouped by difficulty within a module. |
| Question types | Multiple choice (4 options), one short passage per question |
| Scoring | Reading and Writing is scored 200–800, half of the 400–1600 total. |
Full syllabus
Vocabulary in context, text purpose and connections.
- Words in context (high-utility academic vocabulary)
- Text structure and purpose
- Cross-text connections (comparing two related texts)
Comprehension, evidence and inference.
- Central ideas and details
- Command of evidence — textual
- Command of evidence — quantitative (data in tables/graphs)
- Inferences
Grammar, usage and punctuation.
- Boundaries — punctuation and sentence boundaries
- Form, structure and sense — verbs, agreement, modifiers, pronouns
Revising for clarity and effective writing.
- Rhetorical synthesis (using notes to meet a writing goal)
- Transitions
How to prepare
- Build a strong academic vocabulary — "words in context" is the single most frequent question type.
- Learn the grammar rules cold (punctuation, agreement, modifiers); conventions are ~26% of the section.
- Practise reading short passages fast and answering only what is asked — every question has its own text.
- For quantitative-evidence questions, read the graph or table before the answer choices.
Study material & tests
Exam-aligned practice and mocks for SAT are in development — this page is the syllabus and study roadmap.