Test Day Experience

Find out what proctors and students experience in the digital testing room. Refer to the Test Coordinator Manual, Proctor Manual, and Test Day Toolkit for role specific test day instructions outside this overview.

Test Day Timing

If you are administering the digital SAT to a student with school-based accommodations, your timeline will vary. This is an approximate test day schedule for the Saturday administration:

• 7 a.m. local time: Staff arrive.
• 7:45 a.m.: Test center doors open to students.
• 8 a.m.: Test center doors close.
• 8:15–8:30 a.m.: Testing starts.
• 10:45–11 a.m.: Standard time testing ends.
• Noon–12:15 p.m.: Time and one-half testing ends.
• 1–1:15 p.m.: Double time testing ends.

What to Expect on Test Day

On test day, the proctor starts by signing in to Test Day Toolkit with their College Board professional account.

Preparing the Room

The proctor checks their room setup, distributes scratch paper, and writes instructions on the board.

Room Check-In

When students arrive at their testing room, the proctor uses Test Day Toolkit to verify their identity and check them in.

Students take their assigned seats and follow the instructions on the board, signing in to their College Board account and checking in to Bluebook™. During Bluebook check-in, students follow instructions and clear their desks. The app shares critical information about test security, test features, and other topics.

Getting Started

After checking students in to the room, the proctor reads a short script, checks desks, collects unauthorized devices, and provides students with a start code.

Testing

Students enter the start code and begin testing. They can view (or hide) a countdown clock, use an embedded calculator, and access other tools.

Bluebook times each student individually, so if student start times are slightly different, their break and end times will be too. When the first section ends, students are shown a break screen and told they can leave the room. When their break time ends, students click a button to start the next section.

The proctor doesn't time the test or dismiss students at break. Once testing starts, they can concentrate on maintaining test security and monitoring student progress on the Test Day Toolkit dashboard. Students with certain accommodations may have different timing for sections and breaks. The app will ensure each student receives the correct timing and breaks.

Learn more about how digital accommodations are supported.

Student Dismissal

When time runs out, Bluebook ends the test and submits answers automatically. Students who don't have an internet connection when the test ends need to sign in later to submit their answers.

Students must remain seated—and quiet—until their test is over. When a student's time is up, the proctor will make sure their answers were submitted, collect their scratch paper, return any items they collected, and dismiss the student. The dismissal process should be silent as some students will finish testing before others.