If you’re taking the SAT and aiming for a top score, then the official practice tests are by far your best practice resource. These are the gold standard!
Unfortunately, since making the switch to the digital SAT format in 2024, the College Board has only made 6 official practice SATs available to students. While that might sound like a lot of SATs to take, most high-scoring students we work with actually take 10+ practice SATs.
Because of that, we also recommend strategically using official SAT practice materials from the former, paper version of the test.
The new Digital SAT practice tests require you to download an app to your computer before accessing them. That app is called Bluebook, and it’ll be the same interface through which you take the SAT during your official test sitting at school.
Official Former SAT Practice Tests – Download Links
The same content that’s on the digital tests also exists in printable, paper form on College Board’s website. We include that link here as well, but you should not rely on this paper version for full-length mock testing. It’s simply not the same experience you’ll see on test day and won’t prepare you for the digital, adaptive nature of the test.
As we’ve said, 6 tests isn’t nearly enough if you’re serious about targeting a top score of 1500+.
But there’s some good news. While the former, paper version of the SAT is a totally different format from the new one, the content on the tests is almost exactly the same.
So, if you just want to practice your grammar or math skills with official SAT practice questions, the old tests are a perfect resource.
However, we do not recommend practicing the old, paper SAT version of Reading Comprehension. To be honest, it would be a huge waste of time: reading on the digital SAT is completely different from on the old paper version.
Remember that these old paper tests are a useful supplement to your test prep, but you should treat them as banks of questions for drilling and review. These are not meant to be taken as full practice tests, since the digital SAT has completely different timing and structure.
While College Board has made these old paper tests a bit hard to find, we’ve collected all the links to the tests, answers, and explanations below (Tests #2 and #4 are no longer available).
When you only have 6 digital tests, you need to pace them out very carefully. Here’s our recommendation:
Use 1 test for a diagnostic at the start.
Spend 1 month building up content knowledge using other resources, then take the 2nd official Digital SAT Practice test.
Continue building up content skills with other resources. Once you feel ready, take the remaining official Digital SAT Practice tests at the rate of 1 per week in the month before your actual test date.
Review each test with a tutor.
Reviewing a test is even more important than taking it. Here’s a rule of thumb: you should spend at least as long reviewing each test as taking it.
Don’t just review missed questions! Review everything.
Effectively reviewing a test on your own is almost impossible. Why? It’s too easy to let yourself off the hook and not fully engage with what went wrong.
An expert tutor can help you identify things you can’t see: patterns in your thinking, mistakes in your strategy, trends in what you get wrong.
Practice like you play.
In other words, take each practice test exactly as you’d take the official SAT. That means:
No phone, no distractions, nothing you wouldn’t have on the real test.
Sit upright at a desk: don’t take these tests in bed, on the couch, etc.
Abide by the official timing instructions, even for breaks.
Use ALL the time. Always, always, always. Ending a section early is simply wasting a valuable chance to check your work.
Track your stats.
We don’t just mean your overall scores. You should make a spreadsheet in which you track:
Dates, times, and overall scores of tests.
All subsection information.
All missed questions, with notes on the difficulty level, subject matter, and any issues you faced.
This data is invaluable: it tells you what you need to practice, and it tells you whether that practice is actually working.
Focus on… focus!
It might seem obvious or redundant, but it’s true: you need to actively develop your focus, concentration, and mental stamina while taking these practice tests.
When taking practice tests, be on the lookout for moments where your attention begins to wander. It happens to everyone, but these practice tests offer you the chance to notice these moments and get back on track before you lose too much time.
Wherever you are in your test prep journey, an experienced SAT tutor can make a world of difference.
They can teach you the content, help you organize your test prep timeline, and make sure you’re actually learning the necessary strategies and techniques from your practice tests.
Our tutors include top scorers at Ivy League schools, professional educators, and graduate students. What they all have in common? A track record of proven excellence, having helped thousands of our students excel at the SAT, ACT, and college admissions.
Greg and Kevin are brothers and the co-founders of PrepMaven and Princeton Tutoring. They were engineering majors at Princeton and had successful careers in strategy consulting and finance. They now apply their data and research-backed problem solving skills to the college preparation process. Their unique approach places a heavy emphasis on personal development, character, and service as key components of college admissions success.
Taking official practice tests is one of the best ways to prepare for the SAT. Here you will find detailed instructions for how to take your own practice SAT test.
