What to Know Before the November SAT Administration

New York, N.Y.—Approximately 312,000 students registered for the November 7 SAT^® and SAT Subject Tests™ administration. As a result of local test centers deciding to close or reduce capacity due to covid-related health and safety measures, 96,000 November-registered students are unable to test as of October 27, with the remaining 216,000 registered students able to test. Of test centers initially scheduled to administer the tests, 70% are currently open for November, though some have reduced capacity; 15% of open centers are at capacity; and 30% of centers announced they are closed.

"More than one million students have been able to test safely during the summer and fall SAT Weekend and SAT School Day administrations. We're grateful to educators across the country who were able to provide these opportunities for students who want to take the SAT during this challenging time," said Priscilla Rodriguez, the College Board vice president of College Readiness Assessments. "We will continue to work together with educators to provide safe testing opportunities for students throughout the rest of the academic year."

The College Board requires test centers to follow local public health guidelines as well as 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. Additionally, students must confirm a series of health and safety statements (including that they don't have symptoms of covid-19 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 or close. The College Board has asked weekend test centers to report closures as quickly as possible to help ensure students are informed before test day. When weekend test centers notify the College Board they have closed or reduced capacity, College Board directly emails students about the change and posts the reported closures on our Test Center Closings page, which is updated continuously. College Board encourages students to opt in to receive text message updates if they haven’t already, check their email regularly for messages from the College Board, check with their local 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.

For all other questions, please see our contact us page.