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SAT R&W

SAT Reading and Writing

Every question type on the Digital SAT Reading and Writing section, drilled one short passage at a time.

Category
SAT and foundations
Units
8 units
Exam
Exam Oct 3, 2026 (in 6 days)
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What the course covers

A complete course for the Reading and Writing section of the Digital SAT. It starts with the machine itself (two adaptive 32-minute modules, one short passage and one four-choice question per item) and the method that works on all 54 questions: read for claim and structure, predict before you look at the choices, and eliminate by naming the trap. Then it works through the four official content domains in the order they appear in every module. Craft and Structure: words in context, text structure and purpose, and cross-text connections. Information and Ideas: central ideas, inferences, and textual and quantitative command of evidence with tables and graphs. Standard English Conventions: every boundary rule for periods, semicolons, colons, commas, and dashes, plus agreement, tense, verb forms, modifiers, and possessives. Expression of Ideas: transitions and rhetorical synthesis from student notes. Every practice item is an original passage written to the official specification.

8 units, with exam weights

  1. Unit 1

    The Digital SAT R&W: Format, Method, and Active Reading

    Method for all 54 questions of examFree
    How the section actually works (two adaptive modules, domain order, IRT scoring, the Bluebook tools), how to identify an item type from its stem, how to read a 25-150 word passage for claim and structure at about 71 seconds per question, and the universal method of predicting before looking and eliminating by naming the trap.
    5 topics
    1. 1.1The section: two adaptive modules, timing, and scoring
    2. 1.2Anatomy of an item and the eleven question types
    3. 1.3Active reading under time
    4. 1.4Predict before you peek, and process of elimination
    5. 1.5The trap-answer taxonomy

  2. Unit 2

    Craft and Structure I: Words in Context

    Part of Craft and Structure (about 28%, 13-15 scored questions) of exam
    The most common single question type on the section. Choosing the most logical and precise word for a blank and determining what a word most nearly means as used, by predicting from context clues, testing connotation and register, and recognizing the less common meanings of familiar words.
    4 topics
    1. 2.1The substitution method: predict, then test each word
    2. 2.2High-utility academic vocabulary, connotation, and register
    3. 2.3Second meanings of common words
    4. 2.4Context clues: contrast, cause, definition, and example

  3. Unit 3

    Craft and Structure II: Text Structure, Purpose, and Cross-Text Connections

    Part of Craft and Structure (about 28%, 13-15 scored questions) of exam
    Reading for what a text does, not only what it says: the overall structure of a passage, the author's main purpose, the function of an underlined sentence or phrase, and how the author of one text would respond to another.
    4 topics
    1. 3.1Overall text structure
    2. 3.2Main purpose of a text
    3. 3.3Cross-text connections
    4. 3.4Function of a sentence or phrase

  4. Unit 4

    Information and Ideas I: Central Ideas, Details, and Inferences

    Part of Information and Ideas (about 26%, 12-14 scored questions) of exam
    Comprehension and reasoning from literary and informational passages: the main idea, what a text says or suggests about a specific detail, and the conclusion that most logically completes a text, without overreaching beyond what it supports.
    4 topics
    1. 4.1Central ideas and main point
    2. 4.2Supporting details: locate and confirm
    3. 4.3Inferences: the most logical completion
    4. 4.4Avoiding over-inference

  5. Unit 5

    Information and Ideas II: Command of Evidence

    Part of Information and Ideas (about 26%, 12-14 scored questions) of exam
    Choosing evidence that actually bears on a claim: findings that would support or weaken a hypothesis, quotations that illustrate a claim about a literary work, and data from tables, bar graphs, and line graphs that complete or support a statement.
    5 topics
    1. 5.1Textual evidence: findings that support or weaken a claim
    2. 5.2Reading tables, bar graphs, and line graphs
    3. 5.3Matching data to a claim
    4. 5.4Evidence traps: accurate but irrelevant, and misread data
    5. 5.5Quotations that illustrate a claim about a literary work

  6. Unit 6

    Standard English Conventions I: Boundaries

    Part of Standard English Conventions (about 26%, 11-15 scored questions) of exam
    Punctuation that makes sentences conventionally complete: independent and dependent clauses, run-ons, comma splices, and fragments, semicolons and colons, the jobs a comma may and may not do, paired punctuation for supplementary elements, and the high-frequency cases where no punctuation belongs.
    6 topics
    1. 6.1Independent and dependent clauses
    2. 6.2Run-ons, comma splices, and fragments
    3. 6.3Periods, semicolons, and colons
    4. 6.4Commas: series, introductions, and coordinate adjectives
    5. 6.5Supplementary elements: appositives, parentheses, and dashes
    6. 6.6When no punctuation is needed

  7. Unit 7

    Standard English Conventions II: Form, Structure, and Sense

    Part of Standard English Conventions (about 26%, 11-15 scored questions) of exam
    Usage rules the section tests by name: subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement, verb tense and aspect, finite verbs versus gerunds, participles, and infinitives, placement of a modifier next to the subject it describes, and plural and possessive forms of nouns and pronouns.
    6 topics
    1. 7.1Subject-verb agreement
    2. 7.2Pronoun-antecedent agreement
    3. 7.3Verb tense and aspect
    4. 7.4Verb finiteness: finite verbs, gerunds, participles, and infinitives
    5. 7.5Subject-modifier placement
    6. 7.6Genitives and plurals

  8. Unit 8

    Expression of Ideas: Transitions and Rhetorical Synthesis

    Expression of Ideas (about 20%, 8-12 scored questions) of exam
    Revising text for effectiveness: choosing the transition that names the real logical relationship between ideas, and using bulleted research notes to write the one sentence that accomplishes a stated rhetorical goal.
    4 topics
    1. 8.1Transitions: the six relationship families
    2. 8.2Choosing the transition the sentences demand
    3. 8.3Rhetorical synthesis: reading the goal first
    4. 8.4Synthesis by goal type

The exam, part by part

2 parts, 1 h 4 min in all.

  • Module 1 (routing module)

    Questions
    27
    Time
    32 min
    Weight
    50%

    No calculator

    Format details

    A fixed, broad mix of easy, medium, and hard questions: 25 scored plus 2 unscored pretest questions that look identical. Every item is one passage (25 to 150 words, or a pair of short texts) with one four-option question. Questions run in domain order: Craft and Structure, Information and Ideas, Standard English Conventions, Expression of Ideas. Within each domain except Conventions, items are grouped by question type and ordered easiest to hardest; Conventions items are ordered easiest to hardest regardless of rule. Students may move freely and change answers within the module, but cannot return to it once time expires.

  • Module 2 (adaptive module)

    Questions
    27
    Time
    32 min
    Weight
    50%

    No calculator

    Format details

    Same length, timing, format, and domain order as Module 1 (25 scored plus 2 pretest questions), but its average difficulty is set by Module 1 performance: a student receives either a higher-difficulty or a lower-difficulty second module. Only the higher-difficulty route can reach the top of the 200-800 scale, so Module 1 accuracy matters most.

How the 1 to 5 score is set

The section score runs from 200 to 800 in 10-point steps and is half of the 400-1600 SAT total. It is computed with item response theory from the 50 operational questions across both modules (the 4 pretest questions never count): which questions you answered correctly, how difficult those questions are, and whether your response pattern looks like guessing. Two students with the same number correct can therefore receive different scores. Each question is scored right or wrong with no penalty for a wrong answer, so every question should be answered. Official score reports also show performance in each of the four content domains. There is no published raw-to-scaled conversion table for the digital test.

What you bring and get

No reference sheet and no calculator: the section is entirely reading and editing. The test is taken in the Bluebook app, which provides highlights and notes (annotate the passage), an option eliminator (cross out choices), mark for review, a question menu for jumping between questions in the module, a line reader, zoom, and a countdown timer for each module. Scratch paper is provided at the test center. Informational graphics (tables, bar graphs, line graphs) never require calculation.

Skills the exam scores

  • CIDCentral Ideas and Details

    Identify the main idea of a text and interpret the key details that support it. Typical stems ask for the main idea or what the text most strongly suggests about a detail.

  • COE-TCommand of Evidence: Textual

    Choose the fact, finding, detail, or quotation (often from a literary work) that best supports, illustrates, or weakens a stated claim or hypothesis.

  • COE-QCommand of Evidence: Quantitative

    Use data from a table, bar graph, or line graph to support or complete a claim, reading axes, units, and categories precisely without calculation.

  • INFInferences

    Draw the conclusion that the text logically requires, usually by choosing the most logical completion of the final sentence.

  • WICWords in Context

    Choose the most logical and precise high-utility academic word or phrase for a blank, or determine what a word most nearly means as used in a text.

  • TSPText Structure and Purpose

    Determine the main purpose of a text, describe its overall structure, or state the function of an underlined sentence or portion.

  • CTCCross-Text Connections

    Relate two short texts on the same topic, usually by predicting how the author of one would respond to a claim or finding in the other.

  • SYNRhetorical Synthesis

    Use bulleted research notes to write the sentence that accomplishes a stated goal, such as emphasizing a difference, introducing a study, or explaining a term to an unfamiliar audience.

  • TRNTransitions

    Choose the transition word or phrase that names the actual logical relationship between ideas: contrast, cause and effect, addition, sequence, example, or restatement.

  • BNDBoundaries

    Punctuate so that sentences are conventionally complete: end marks between sentences, and commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes within them, including knowing when no punctuation belongs.

  • FSSForm, Structure, and Sense

    Edit for conventional usage: subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement, verb finiteness, verb tense and aspect, subject-modifier placement, and plural and possessive forms.