The College Board announced on Tuesday that it would remove the optional writing section of the SAT college entrance exam, which it administers, and that it would stop administering subject tests in the United States as part of a simplification process that was accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The council said it would continue to develop a version of the SAT test that could be administered digitally, something it tried and failed to do quickly last year after the pandemic closed test centers and forced the organization to cancel many test administrations. The board did not give a deadline for when a digital version of the SAT could be introduced.
“The pandemic has accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to simplify our work and reduce demands on students,” the organization said in a statement.
The board said the advanced placement tests, which he also administers, are now available to more low-income and black students, making SAT subject testing unnecessary. And he said that there are now many ways for high school students to show their writing skills, making the SAT writing section, which was already optional, less necessary.