SAT Exam Syllabus 2026-27
The SAT exam syllabus for 2026, and for the rest of the 2026-27 testing year, is two sections: Reading and Writing, then Math. You get 98 questions and 134 minutes of testing, plus a 10-minute break between the sections. College Board lists the domain names and the share each domain holds. The topic list under those names is narrower than a school course, and it barely shifts from one Saturday to the next.
The S in SAT should stand for Standardized. This is the most standardized test ever made. College Board repeats questions across forms and years, which is why they keep quiet about the item-level map. The way in is the official material: the question bank, Bluebook full-length tests, and Khan Academy practice. We went through those items and built the list below. Math is five Algebra topics, three Advanced Math topics, eight Problem Solving topics, and six Geometry topics. Reading and Writing is a fixed set of named skills. Work that list first. Broad topic study waits. The full skill map, with the same counts, sits on MyCollegeBook’s curriculum page.
What is the SAT exam pattern in 2026?
The SAT you take in 2026 and through June 2027 has two sections, each cut into two timed modules. Reading and Writing comes first: 54 questions in 64 minutes (two modules of 27 questions and 32 minutes). Math comes after the break: 44 questions in 70 minutes (two modules of 22 questions and 35 minutes). The total is 98 questions and 2 hours 14 minutes of testing. Each section score spans 200 to 800. The total spans 400 to 1600.
Each module also holds two unscored pretest items used to build later forms. You cannot tell those items apart while you work, and they do not change your score.
| Section | Modules | Questions | Time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and Writing | 2 × 32 min | 54 | 64 min | 200–800 |
| Math | 2 × 35 min | 44 | 70 min | 200–800 |
| Total | 4 modules | 98 | 134 min + 10 min break | 400–1600 |
Reading and Writing items are four-choice multiple choice, each paired with its own short passage (about 25 to 150 words) or a pair of short texts. Math is about three-quarters multiple choice and about one-quarter student-produced response, where you enter a number. A graphing calculator, including the Desmos tool inside Bluebook, is open on every Math item. There is a formula sheet for area, volume, special triangles, and circles. There is no essay. There is no guessing penalty.
The same pattern is used in every country. If you are testing in India, grab the date on the 2026-27 SAT dates page and register on College Board. The syllabus does not change by country.
How does the adaptive format change what you study?
The current SAT is multistage adaptive. Module 1 of each section is a mix of difficulties. Your Module 1 result routes you to a harder or easier Module 2. The scaled score uses both modules and the difficulty of the second one. A strong Module 1 is how you leave the high end of the 200–800 scale open.
That routing is why careless misses in the first 32 or 35 minutes cost more than they used to on paper. It does not change the syllabus. Both modules still pull from the same four Reading and Writing domains and the same four Math domains.
What does change your hours is how often the same skills show up. On Math, every Module 1 item, and about 17 or 18 items on the harder Module 2, is a skill that already exists in the College Board bank, the Bluebook forms, or the old QAS papers, recast. A handful of Module 2 items use the same skills in a new application. Third-party books that walk off that list (Barron’s and Princeton Review are the usual examples) build patience on extra difficulty. They do not train recognition of the items you will actually see. Work official stems. Khan is the licensed exception.
What is on SAT Reading and Writing?
Reading and Writing is 54 questions across four content domains. Passages come from literature, history and social studies, the humanities, and science. About half the passages already use a science setting; that mix is part of the ordinary test, and it also supplies the spring 2027 science score. You do not need outside science facts. The passage or the graphic gives you what you need.
College Board’s operational mix, from the assessment framework:
| Domain | Share | Questions | What it tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craft and Structure | ~28% | 13–15 | Words in context, text structure and purpose, cross-text connections |
| Information and Ideas | ~26% | 12–14 | Central ideas and details, command of evidence (text and data), inferences |
| Standard English Conventions | ~26% | 11–15 | Boundaries; form, structure, and sense |
| Expression of Ideas | ~20% | 8–12 | Rhetorical synthesis, transitions |
Those four names are the official syllabus. The named skills under each heading, below, are what the items actually ask.
What Algebra topics are on the 2026-27 SAT?
Algebra is about 35% of Math, 13 to 15 questions. Every Algebra item lands in one of five topic areas.
- Linear equations in one variable
- Linear equations in two variables
- Linear functions
- Linear systems
- Linear inequalities
Quadratics live in Advanced Math. If the item is a straight line, a slope, or a two-variable linear system, it goes in one of these five buckets. Fluency here is the fastest way to raise a SAT Math score, because Algebra plus Advanced Math is about 70% of the section.
What Advanced Math topics does the SAT test?
Advanced Math is another 35%, another 13 to 15 questions. This is where quadratics, polynomials, and exponential functions appear, and they appear more often on the harder Module 2.
- Equivalent expressions: factoring, like terms, exponent rules, rational expressions
- Nonlinear functions: quadratic, absolute value, exponential, rational, square root, and polynomial functions
- Nonlinear equations: solving equations that use those function types
Equivalent Expressions is make-it-match work. Nonlinear Functions and Nonlinear Equations cover every curve on the test. The SAT Math cheat sheet is a compact reminder of the identities that keep repeating.
What Problem Solving and Data Analysis topics appear on the SAT?
Problem Solving and Data Analysis is about 15% of Math, 5 to 7 questions. The stems are real-world: graphs, tables, experiments, unit conversions. About 30% of all Math items are set in context; this domain holds a lot of those.
| # | Topic | What you actually do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One-variable data | Mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation |
| 2 | Two-variable data | Scatterplots and lines of best fit |
| 3 | Probability | Basic rules, including conditional probability |
| 4 | Experiments | Generalization, margin of error, whether a sample supports a claim |
| 5 | Linear and exponential models | Pick the model and read the constants |
| 6 | Ratios, proportions, and rates | Set up the relationship and solve |
| 7 | Percentages | Percent of a total and percent change |
| 8 | Unit conversion | Dimensional analysis |
The Experiments items catch people who try to play statistician in their head. The question is whether the sample supports the claim. You are not running a t-test.
What Geometry and Trigonometry topics are on the SAT?
Geometry and Trigonometry is about 15%, 5 to 7 questions. Trigonometry here means SOH CAH TOA, special triangles, and a little unit-circle sine and cosine.
- Angles: parallel lines, transversals, angle relationships
- Similar and congruent triangles
- Areas and volumes: rectangular prism, cylinder, sphere, cone, pyramid
- Circles: theorems and circles on the coordinate plane
- Unit circle trigonometry: basic sine and cosine
- Right-triangle trigonometry: Pythagorean theorem, SOH CAH TOA, 30-60-90 and 45-45-90, and cos x = sin(90 − x)
If a question asks you to find an angle, that angle comes from a right triangle you can see. It will be 30, 45, or 60 degrees. Inverse trigonometric functions are out of scope.
What math topics are not on the SAT?
These topics appear in high school math courses and do not appear on the 2026-27 SAT. Leave them when you are prepping this test.
Logarithms. Binomial theorem. Inverse trigonometric functions. Calculus. Advanced statistical tests (t-test, chi-square, regression inference). Matrix equations. Absolute-value equations as a separate Algebra bucket.
If a topic is missing from the four Math domains above, it will not be on the exam. Time spent on logarithms or calculus for SAT Math is time spent on a paper that does not exist.
The PSAT uses the same eight content domains. Difficulty is lower. You cannot skip a SAT topic by prepping only for the PSAT.
What does Craft and Structure test?
Craft and Structure is about 28% of Reading and Writing, 13 to 15 questions. Official testing points are words in context, text structure and purpose, and cross-text connections. In the items, that breaks into five named skills.
- Vocabulary: the missing word, or the meaning of a word in this sentence
- Overall structure: how the passage is built as a whole
- Main purpose: why the author wrote this passage
- Function of an underlined sentence: what that sentence is doing
- Cross-text connections: how two short passages relate
Vocabulary on this test is fit-the-sentence work. You are picking the word that matches the logic and the tone. A high-utility word list is useful; a 3,000-word brute-force list is surplus. Start with the 250 must-know SAT words if you need a finite set.
What does Information and Ideas test?
Information and Ideas is about 26%, 12 to 14 questions. These items test how accurately you take what the passage says and what it licenses.
- Main ideas
- Details
- Command of Evidence, data: graphs, tables, charts
- Command of Evidence, text: the sentence that supports a claim
- Illustrate a claim using quotes
- Inferences: what the passage implies and never states outright
On Command of Evidence, find the evidence first, then pick the answer. Students who pick an answer first and hunt for support miss these at a higher rate.
What grammar rules does the SAT test?
Standard English Conventions is about 26%, 11 to 15 questions. The 2026-27 SAT tests 13 grammar topics. Those are the rules that pay.
| # | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verbs, finite vs non-finite | The most common verb item |
| 2 | Verbs, subject-verb agreement | High frequency |
| 3 | Verbs, tenses | Less common; simple present for facts and past perfect when they appear |
| 4 | Pronoun-antecedent agreement | Number only (it vs they) |
| 5 | Apostrophes for possessives | Possessives, not contractions |
| 6 | Subject modifier placement | The modifier sits next to what it modifies |
| 7 | Independent clauses | IC; IC or IC. IC or IC, FANBOYS IC |
| 8 | Dependent clauses | Subordinating conjunctions and comma placement |
| 9 | Essential vs non-essential elements | Commas around the extra phrase |
| 10 | Incorrect comma use | Commas that split a subject from its verb |
| 11 | Question marks | Indirect questions do not take a question mark |
| 12 | Complex lists | Items that already contain commas; use semicolons |
| 13 | Title names | Aunt Lucy, with no comma after Aunt |
Everything else is out of scope for this domain. Practice these 13 until the wrong form looks obvious.
What does Expression of Ideas test?
Expression of Ideas is about 20%, 8 to 12 questions. Transitions do most of the work. Rhetorical synthesis is the other regular type: a short list of notes, a stated goal, and one sentence that meets that goal.
- Support transitions: addition, examples, clarification, similarity, emphasis
- Contrast transitions: contrast or concession
- Causal transitions: does sentence 1 answer the why of sentence 2
- Sequence transitions: time order or place order
- Meaning-bearing transitions: words such as ironically or surprisingly that carry content, not only glue
- Effective writing: sentence-level clarity (if you are defining a quenched galaxy, the main clause should be “A quenched galaxy is…”)
Read both sentences, tag the logical relationship, then pick the transition that names that relationship. The wrong answers name a different relationship.
How is the SAT scored?
Raw score is the number of questions you get right. Blank and wrong score the same, so you answer every item. Equating turns that raw score into 200–800 per section so that a 700 on one form matches a 700 on another. The total is the sum. A good SAT score is still that 400–1600 number, checked against the colleges on your list.
Starting with the March, May, and June 2027 SAT, and with spring SAT School Day, the report also adds a science score from 65 to 95. That number is a second cut of items you already answered in Reading and Writing and Math. It does not add a science section and it does not change the 1600. Fall 2026 administrations do not include it.
How do you find wrong answers on SAT Reading?
Every wrong answer on SAT Reading falls into one of six buckets. Learning the buckets by name is more useful than generic comprehension practice.
Try this on a short made-up stem. Research suggests Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals because researchers have shown that his sister was visually impaired, which might explain the energy he put into the invention.
| Wrong-answer type | Example choice |
|---|---|
| Off by One Word | His sister has a congenital vision problem. |
| Not Relevant | He wanted to revolutionize the way society wears glasses. |
| Unsupported | Franklin loved his sister and wanted to make her life easier. |
| Reasonable but Unsupported | He thought better vision would help his countrymen work more productively. |
| Direct Contradiction | His sister’s perfect vision served as an inspiration. |
| Confused Relationship | His sister invested in a cure for his vision problems. |
Reasonable but Unsupported is the costly one. The choice feels fair. It might even be true in the world. The passage never said it, so it is wrong. Ask where the sentence lives in the text.
Negative prefixes do extra damage under time. A passage says “It was not a pretty house at all.” A choice says “The house is beautiful and well-built.” People mark it because the eye grabbed “pretty house” and lost the “not.” Watch unresolved, misclassified, misunderstood, unlikely, not, never, nor, except.
A real bank item does the same trick. “Any astronomy textbook will tell you that the Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite, but it would be more accurate to say that the Moon is Earth’s only permanent natural satellite.” The underlined bit refines a claim. A choice that says the consensus was overturned, or that objects were misclassified, is wrong because of one heavy word. The passage never overturned anything and never talked about misclassification.
How was this SAT syllabus breakdown built?
This page uses three official sources: the College Board question bank, Bluebook adaptive tests with scoring, and Khan Academy SAT practice (licensed from College Board). Domain shares and the high-level skill lists come from College Board’s own framework. The counted topic lists (five Algebra, three Advanced Math, eight Problem Solving, six Geometry, thirteen grammar rules, six Reading miss types) come from going through those items and labeling what actually appears.
That item-level map is the same work behind What’s on the SAT and the decoding curriculum page. Practice the skills on MyCollegeBook. Official full-length tests still live in Bluebook.
What should you study this week?
Write down the four Math domains and the four Reading and Writing domains. Mark every topic you cannot yet do without looking. Take one Bluebook module in Math and one in Reading and Writing. Tag each miss with the topic name from this page, not with a vague “algebra” or “reading.” Then spend the week on the two Math topics and the two Reading and Writing skills that created the most misses.
If you want a teacher on those misses, book a trial class below. If you want a self-paced video path through the same list, the SAT online course uses official items.
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