The class of 2029 will see a much different version of college admissions exams from the screens of laptops and tablets after College Board’s switch to digitalization within the next three years.

To cater to its dwindling applicability and pandemic restrictions, College Board announced the decision to move the aper-form Scholastic Aptitude Test exclusively online starting spring 2024 for domestic test takers and 2023 for international students. U.S. and international students alike are set to take the PSATs digitally in fall 2023.

The College Board released a YouTube video, “The Digital SAT Suite of Assessments,” in which Vice President of College Readiness Assessments Priscilla Rodriguez addressed the changes of the online test.

“It won’t simply be a digital version of the current paper-and-pencil test,” Rodriguez said. “It will be a better, more flexible test that’s easier to take, easier to give, more secure, and more relevant.”

The test remains taken at school or in a testing center scored on a 1600-point scale to measure a students’ readiness to attend college or pursue a career. 

The SAT, however, will take two hours to complete rather than three and reading passages will be cut shorter and less wordy, featuring one question per brief excerpt. Calculators, both brought from home and built into the testing app, are allowed on both math portions of the test. Students will receive their scores within days rather than weeks, previously.

The College Board promises ease in the event of technical difficulties, including dead computer battery or lost Wi-Fi connection. Rodriguez promises the organization will provide computers and/or tablets for schools or students without them. Khan Academy continues to offer free, full-length test prep materials for the new version, too.

With intentions of creating a test more students are likely to succeed at, college admissions boards speculate on how important SAT scores will be in deciding entry of applicants.