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What Are Content Domains?

As you practice, you may read a lot about domains. The domains represent content areas that are measured on the SAT Suite of Assessments. Mastering these content areas indicates that you're on track to college and career readiness.

Here's more information about the domains you'll see on the Reading and Writing section.

Table 1. Reading and Writing Domains and Skills
Domain	Description	Specific Skills Tested
Information and Ideas	Measures comprehension, analysis, and reasoning skills and knowledge as well as the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, and integrate information and ideas from texts and informational graphics (tables, bar graphs, and line graphs).	Central Ideas and Details Inferences Command of Evidence
Craft and Structure	Measures the comprehension, vocabulary, analysis, synthesis, and reasoning skills and knowledge needed to understand and use high-utility words and phrases in context, evaluate texts rhetorically, and make connections between topically related texts.	Words in Context Text Structure in Purpose Cross-Text Connection
Expression of Ideas	Measures the ability to revise texts to improve the effectiveness of written expression and to meet specific rhetorical goals.	Rhetorical Synthesis Transitions
Standard English Conventions	Measures the ability to edit text to conform to core conventions of Standard English sentence structure, usage, and punctuation.	Boundaries Form, Structure, and Sense

Here's more information about the domains you'll see on the Math section.

Table 2. Math Domains and Skills
Domain	Description	Specific Skills Tested
Algebra	Measures the ability to analyze, fluently solve, and create linear equations and inequalities as well as analyze and fluently solve equations and systems of equations using multiple techniques.	Linear equations in one variable Linear functions Linear equations in two variables Systems of two linear equations in two variables Linear inequalities in one or two variables
Advanced Math	Measures skills and knowledge central for progression to more advanced math courses, including demonstrating an understanding of absolute value, quadratic, exponential, polynomial, rational, radical, and other nonlinear equations.	Nonlinear functions Nonlinear equations in one variable Systems of equations in two variables Equivalent expressions
Problem-Solving and Data Analysis	Measures the ability to apply quantitative reasoning about ratios, rates, and proportional relationships; understand and apply unit rate; and analyze and interpret one- and two-variable data.	Ratios, rates, proportional relationships, and units Percentages One-variable data: Distributions and measures of center and spread Two-variable data: Models and scatterplots Probability and conditional probability Inference from sample statistics and margin of error Evaluating statistical claims: Observational studies and experiments
Geometry and Trigonometry	Measures the ability to solve problems that focus on area and volume formulas; lines, angles, and triangles; right triangles and trigonometry; and circles.	Area and volume Lines, angles, and triangles Right triangles and trigonometry Circles

How can content domains help you practice?

Understanding your performance on each of the domains can help you identify your strengths and challenge areas. After you take a practice test in Bluebook, you'll see progress bars representing your performance in each domain on your practice score report. Depending which practice test you took, the breakdown of those progress bars will vary slightly.

Content domain progress bars showing an example student performance in both the Reading and Writing Test and the Math Test. Easy, medium and hard difficulty levels are represented.

In the table below, you'll learn what these bars mean and how they correspond to the difficulty levels you can choose from in the Student Question Bank. Your progress level refers to the number of bars (out of 7) that you've already reached for any particular domain. These bars will be filled in on your practice score report based on the difficulty level of the questions you demonstrated proficiency in for each domain. While you don't need to "fill in" every progress bar to do well on the test, it's useful to have a snapshot of your strengths and challenge areas so you know which domains you'd like to review. Keep reading for some ideas to help you figure out what to do with this information.

Table 3. How to interpret progess bars on your practice score report
Difficulty Level	Description	Progress Bar Range for PSAT 8/9	Progress Bar Range for PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10	Progress Bar Range for SAT
Easy	You're still learning the skills associated with this domain, and that's okay! With a little more skill review in Khan Academy, you'll be able to build your knowledge here.	1	1–2	1–3
Medium	You have a solid understanding of the basic skills associated with this domain, but more complex skills might be a bit challenging. Spend some time pushing yourself out of your comfort zone in this domain with questions at a medium or hard difficulty level in the Student Question Bank.	2–3	3–4	4–5
Hard	You're well on your way to mastering this domain. Focus your practice on fine-tuning any points of confusion and building your confidence.	4–7	5–7	6–7

When you're building your study plan, it's best to practice skills in each domain regardless of your current skill level, but what if you're trying to prioritize? In that case, use the progress bars to help you determine your current skill level, and focus first on the domains where you'd most like to see improvement.

If you're currently at the same skill level in multiple domains, the information provided in your progress score report can still help you out. Above the progress bar for each domain, you'll see the percentage of questions on the test that relate to that domain, as well as a rough estimate of the number of questions in that domain that appear on the test. We recommend focusing on the domains that appear most frequently on the test to maximize your potential score improvement.