SAT Math

The Math skills required for the SAT are of a basic standard that should be within the reach of a tenth grade student. You don't need to learn up lots of new formulae but you will need to sharpen up your thinking skills.

Questions are of two main types:

• Problem solving - multiple choice (5 answer choices)
• Student-produced response questions ('grid-ins')

The three Math sections are organized as follows:

• One section of 25 minutes containing 8 problem solving questions and 10 grid-ins
• One section of 25 minutes containing 20 problem solving questions
• One section of 20 minutes containing 16 problem solving questions

You will see that there are a total of 54 scored math questions on one test. [Remember that each actual SAT test contains one experimental section of 25 minutes; this section could be math, writing or critical reading. Experimental sections will not be scored... they are used for research purposes.]

Math questions on the SAT will be of different difficulty levels. Each section will start out easy, move to medium level and end with hard questions.

In any of the question types you may be tested on basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry and a few miscellaneous topics (mainly data interpretation and applied math).

Practice Tests

To see the required level of difficulty and the type of topics tested we have provided you with free practice tests on each of the question types you will encounter on the SAT.

• 12 Problem solving practice tests
• 12 Grid-in practice tests

More information

You are allowed to use a calculator and you should have one with you while doing tests. But for most questions you won't need it: use it mainly to check your arithmetic. You are allowed to do rough work on the paper, so have some rough sheets available when you start the mini tests. Remember, math skills improve with practice.

It is important to try full-length practice tests under timed conditions; for this we recommend the tests in the Official SAT Study Guide.