What to Know Before the December SAT Administration

New York, N.Y.—Since August, more than 1 million students have taken the SAT during the SAT Weekend and SAT School Day administrations. For the December SAT^® and SAT Subject Tests™ administration, approximately 383,000 students registered to test. As a result of local test centers deciding to close or reduce capacity due to covid-related health and safety measures, 124,000 December-registered students are unable to test as of November 30, with the remaining 259,000 able to test. Of test centers initially scheduled to administer the tests, 67% are currently open for December, though some have reduced capacity; 11% of open centers are at capacity; and 33% of centers announced they are closed.

The College Board is prioritizing health and safety while working with educators to provide opportunities for students who wish to test. The College Board requires test centers to follow local public health guidelines and College Board health-related policies. At all weekend test centers, students and staff must wear a mask or protective face covering throughout the SAT administration and students must be seated at least six feet apart during testing. Students must confirm a series of health and safety statements (including that they don’t have covid-19 symptoms and are not violating any travel or quarantine requirements) before entering the test center or testing room.

Local schools and test centers make individual decisions about whether to administer the SAT. The College Board has asked weekend test centers to report closures or capacity reductions as quickly as possible, after which College Board directly emails students about the change and posts the reported closures on our Test Center Closings page. College Board encourages students to opt in to receive text message updates, check their email regularly, check with their test center, and check the Test Center Closings page up until the morning of the test. If their test center closes, students will receive a refund and can register for a future test date.

Due to the disruption and uncertainty students are facing, the College Board has asked colleges to extend deadlines for receiving test scores and to equally consider students for admission who are unable to take the test due to covid-19. Colleges understand that testing opportunities are limited this year, and most are not requiring a test score for the upcoming admissions cycle.

For more information, please visit the SAT Coronavirus Updates page.

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