The College Board is designing a revamped SAT to better align the test with the Common Core Curriculum. There is also strong speculation the reformatting is being done to compete with the ACT which more and more students are taking.
The College Board is doing a two year roll-out. The new SAT will come out in March, 2016, so that the first seniors to take the college entrance exam will be those in the class of 2017. However, a newly designed PSAT will be available in October, 2015, to help prepare students in the class of 2017 to take the new test for college application.
The two year roll-out allows both college admissions and high schools to familiarize themselves with the changes and with how new scoring norms will affect admission standards.
Students in the class of 2017 will now have to decide to move toward the ACT which is a known and established or try the new SAT which could be an improved measurement. Many students will hedge their bets and opt to take both!
