SAT Syllabus 2025: Exam Pattern & Section-wise Syllabus (Latest)

Before diving into the syllabus, it’s essential to understand the SAT exam pattern so that you can familiarise yourself with the format. The SAT 2025 consists of 2 sections - the Reading & Writing section and the Math section, with 64 minutes allotted for the former, and 70 minutes allotted for the latter section. 

Let’s look at the SAT exam pattern 2025 for Indian students: 

The SAT Exam Syllabus 2025 is divided into two sections: Reading & Writing and Math, with a focus on real-world skills. The RW section tests grammar, comprehension, and analysis through short passages, while the Math section covers algebra, advanced math, and data analysis. Each section has two timed modules, and the digital format adapts based on your performance.

Let’s now explore each section of the syllabus in detail to help you understand what to expect and how to prepare.

SAT Digital Reading & Writing Syllabus 2025 

The SAT digital reading and writing section spans a duration of 64 minutes and consists of 54 questions with 10-11 passages. It tests your ability to read and comprehend passages and categorize the main ideas discussed in the passages using effective command of English skills. 

The details for the SAT digital reading and writing syllabus are as follows:

Types of SAT Digital Reading & Writing Questions

The SAT digital reading and writing section evaluates your ability to comprehend, analyse, and synthesise information from reading passages, as well as tests your vocabulary and formal English grammar. Most of the questions will be based on school-level grammar, so make sure you prepare well from the textbooks.

Let’s discuss the types of questions in the SAT digital reading and writing sections in detail:

1. Reading for the Main Idea 

Here, you get questions to identify the central theme or main purpose of a passage. You need to recognize the following elements while reading a given passage: 

• The topic of the passage 
• The author’s perspective on the topic 
• The main purpose or argument the author is trying to make 
• The supporting details used by the author to reinforce the main idea of the passage

2. Drawing Inferences

Drawing inferences is a crucial part of the reading process, where you need to draw or deduce conclusions based on the information provided to you in the passage. This can be done through multiple ways, like:

• Implicit information: Extracting information based on the context and clues provided in the reading comprehension passage. 
• Author’s attitude or tone: Inferring the author’s viewpoint or emotional state based on the words and phrases used and the overall messages conveyed in the passage. 
• Relationship between ideas: Understanding the connections between different ideas, arguments, or themes within the passage. 

3. Punctuation 

These questions evaluate your writing skills and correct usage of punctuation marks like commas, full stops, colons, dashes, and apostrophes. 

4. Subject-Verb Agreement 

These questions test your ability to write clear and cohesive sentences. 

5. Pronouns 

These questions evaluate your skill to use a variety of pronouns in sentences, like personal, possessive, reflexive, indefinite, and relative pronouns.

6. Tenses and Modifiers 

These questions assess your ability to effectively use the time at which an action has occurred and provide insights into your ability to write clearly and coherently. 

7. Parallelism and Comparisons 

These types of questions test your skill to maintain consistency, clarity, balance, and coherence within sentences and paragraphs. You will be required to identify and correct errors in parallel structure and comparisons and determine the appropriate structure for a given context.   

SAT Digital Math Syllabus 2025

The SAT Digital Math 2025 exam spans 70 minutes, 10 minutes less than the old format and consists of 44 questions that assess your mathematical reasoning skills. You get 35 minutes each for the 2 modules, and questions span topics like linear equations, variables, functions, geometry and trigonometry. Scores in this section range from 200 to 800. 

Let’s go through them in detail:

Types of SAT Math Questions 

SAT Maths consists of arithmetic and geometric progressions. You may also get questions on data analysis, related to statistics.
The types of questions in the SAT math section are as follows: 

1. Advanced Math-1 

Under Advanced Math-1, you get questions on Functions and Graphs. You need to identify the domain and range of a function, evaluate and solve an equation. 

2. Advanced Math-2 

Advanced math- contains questions on arithmetic and geometric progressions:

• Arithmetic Progression: You will be given a series or a sequence of numbers in which each term is obtained by adding, substrating, multiplying, or dividing a fixed constant value. 
• Geometric Progression: It is a sequence of numbers in which each term after the first is found by multiplying the previous term by a constant number called the common ratio.

3. Data Analysis

These questions will be related to statistics and analysis of a given piece of data or information. You may be asked to calculate the mean, median, mode, range, and standard deviation.

4. Geometry and Trigonometry 

Geometry 1 deals with angles, lines, and parallelograms, whereas Geometry 2 includes questions on circles and spheres. For trigonometry, learning the formulae are very important.

Let’s look at them in detail:

• Geometry-1: This section deals with different types of lines, angles, parallel lines, polygons, triangles, congruent triangles, Pythagoras theorem, Pythagoras triplets, and rhombus, trapezoid. You must be asked to calculate the area of these diagrams. 
• Geometry- 2: This section includes circles, spheres, cubes, cuboids, cylinders, and cones. You are required to calculate the diameter, radius, chord, central angle, tangent, arc and arc length, sector, volume, surface area, etc. for these diagrams. 
• Trigonometry: This uses all the trigonometry angles, like sin, cos, and tan. You might be asked to measure angles in radians and convert radians to degrees. 

5. Algebra

Questions on algebra test your ability to solve linear equations to deduce the equation to three types of solutions- unique, infinite, and no solution. In addition, problems of inequality can be raised. 

6. Problem-solving-1 

These types of questions test your skill related to the classification of numbers, percentages, common fraction-to-percent equivalents, percentage change, simple interest, compound interest, and unit conversions. 

The SAT is scored between 400 and 1600, with 1600 being the highest possible score. This scoring system stayed the same, even after the recent changes to the SAT exam pattern.

This Composite Score is the total marks you score in both the sections combined (reading & writing, and math). You can score a range of 200 - 800 marks in each of these sections. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic, most standardized tests were shifted to an online platform to avoid the risks associated with a traditional pen and paper approach. Similarly the SAT Exam was also shifted to a digital landscape. 

After going digital, the SAT Exam Syllabus changed as well. With adaptive testing in place, the SAT Exam 2025 is all set to increase accessibility, efficiency, and adaptability. 

The SAT is also adaptive, which means if you answer a question wrong, you get easier questions next. This wasn’t possible in the traditional pen and paper method. Hence, the digital SAT is much easier to handle.

There is a huge difference between the old SAT and the new digital SAT syllabus that started in March 2025. The reading passages of the revised format have gotten shorter, allowing students to better understand the nuances of the content. Shorter content passages also allow the test-takers to focus on clarity and not get confused by rhetorical questions. 

In the case of mathematics, the new digital SAT focuses on shorter problem-solving strategies, instead of longer problems, which were much more complex to understand. 

Let’s go through them one by one:

The best way to cover the complete SAT syllabus on time is to allocate enough time for preparation, practise and revision. You need to give at least 3-4 months of extensive studying to ace your SAT. 

Let’s look at some more crucial steps to help you make the best of your preparation:

1. Time Management: Allocating at least 3-4 months for focused preparation for the SAT while balancing school studies will give you an early start. 
2. Study Plan: After you have chosen a date for your SAT test, build a structured plan. Ensure that you are focusing on your weaker areas, setting goals, and practicing enough to get a score that aligns with the college you aim for. 
3. External Guidance: Look for a good coaching centre, and if you don’t have the time, get good SAT prep books, and online guidance. 
4. Practice: Practice regularly, solve previous years’ papers and practise topic-specific questions. Since the SAT Exam is a test of time management as well, practice pacing yourself optimally during mock tests to ensure you complete all the sections without rushing.
5. Reading and Maths: Read regularly to boost your skills and confidence. Similarly, practise math problems regularly to get familiarised with different question types.

The SAT is one of the most important standardised tests for undergraduate education. It allows you access to the best universities - whether Harvard, Princeton or Oxford. Offered by the College Board, it’s essential that you take your time to understand the format and syllabus before taking the SAT. 

The most effective way to nail your SAT score is to start your preparation in advance. Grab your golden chance and get further guidance from Yocket’s top advisors. We’ve helped more than 30,000 students get into top universities abroad, and we can help you too! Let’s connect.