Overview

In this overview, you will learn

• How the Digital SAT and its Reading and Writing section are structured.
• The two domains of Writing questions, and which lessons cover them.
• How to use this course, take an official practice test, and plan your studying.

The Digital SAT (DSAT) is a computer-based test that takes 2 hours and 14 minutes. It is made up of two sections—a Reading and Writing (RW) section and a Math section. Each section is made up of two modules.

The first of these modules includes a mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. Your performance on these questions will determine the difficulty level of the next module. In other words, if you perform well on the first module, you will receive a harder second module. If you perform poorly, the second module will be easier.

To get a high score on the DSAT, you need to perform well enough on the first module to get the hard second module.

Reading and Writing (RW) Modules

Each Reading and Writing (RW) module consists of 27 questions.

Each question is based on a short passage from an academic discipline such as psychology, biology, economics, or literature. The questions in the RW section are all multiple-choice, with one answer that is best.

Within each RW module, the first 13–17 questions test reading skills, such as your ability to use the correct vocabulary word or find the main point of a passage.

After these reading questions, there are 10–14 writing questions. These questions are the focus of this course.

All Digital SAT Writing questions belong to one of two categories called "domains". The domains are as follows:

1. Expression of Ideas. This domain includes two question types:

• Transitions questions (Lesson 1 & Lesson 2): These questions require you to fill a blank with a transition word or phrase (e.g., "however", "therefore", or "as a result").
• Rhetorical Synthesis questions (Lesson 3): These questions present you with 4–6 bullet points and ask you to use them to achieve a particular goal (e.g., to summarize a scientific study or emphasize the difference between two works of art).

1. Standard English Conventions (Lessons 4-20): These questions test widely accepted punctuation and grammar rules.

Question Difficulty

All Digital SAT questions have one of three official difficulty levels: "easy," "medium," or "hard." As you progress through Standard English Conventions questions, the difficulty level of the questions typically increases.

The same pattern occurs across Transitions and Rhetorical Synthesis questions. In other words, the first few rhetorical synthesis questions are likely to be easy; the next few are likely to be medium; and the final few are likely to be hard.

Within each question type, difficulty steps up through three plateaus — easy, then medium, then hard. The second module starts at the medium plateau.

This course covers all the writing concepts tested on the Digital SAT. Lessons typically begin with an overview that explains what they cover and how they connect with previous lessons.

Each lesson provides strategy notes and accompanying test-style questions with detailed explanations. Some lessons include practice exercises designed to test your understanding of the concepts.

Each lesson ends with an End of Lesson Quiz. These quizzes have test-style questions and detailed explanations for every answer choice.

Getting Started

Before you begin, consider taking an official College Board Digital SAT (or PSAT) practice test — see the next section for how.

Your results will tell you what your strengths and weaknesses are. The "Understanding Your Results" section below will help you figure out which lessons will be most helpful to you.

If your time is limited, you may want to build a study plan using the lessons that cover your weakest areas. If time permits, you can proceed through all of the lessons from start to finish.

The best way to start preparing for the DSAT is to take one of the official College Board Digital SAT (or PSAT) practice tests. As of 2026, I recommend starting with either SAT Practice Test 4 or PSAT10/NMSQT Practice Test 1.

To take practice tests, you will first need to create a student account on the College Board website, if you don't already have one.

Next, open the College Board's Bluebook app. You can use the "Test Preview" option inside Bluebook to get familiar with the format of the DSAT and learn keyboard shortcuts you can use during the exam.

Then select "Full-Length Practice" inside the Bluebook app. As of 2026, you'll find 8 official Digital SAT practice tests, 2 official PSAT 8/9 tests, and 2 official PSAT/NMSQT (PSAT 10) tests.

After you've finished your practice test, you can log in to your account on the College Board website to see your results.

You can find explanations for all the questions you got wrong on a practice test by logging into your College Board account. Explanations for Standard English Conventions questions will always include the phrase "The convention being tested is…" followed by the grammar or punctuation rule tested.

The table below maps the conventions tested on the SAT to the corresponding lessons in this course. Use it to identify which topics to review based on the mistakes you made. You may want to start with any background lessons listed before doing the main lesson—these provide foundational knowledge that makes the main lesson easier to understand.

Where you focus should depend on your timeline and where you're starting from. I've put together study plans for four common situations—from total beginners to students chasing a perfect score.

See the study plans for your situation →

A few habits make a bigger difference than any single study session—from spaced repetition to reading widely and resisting the urge to peek at explanations.

See my top SAT study tips →