SAT Scores Rise for Class of 2026 Despite Test Participation
The mean SAT score for the high school class of 2026 increased 16 points to 1045, with gains across all demographic groups, even as overall test
SAT scores are up across the board for the high school class of 2026. The mean total score reached 1045, a 16-point increase from the previous graduating class, with average scores rising in both the reading and writing and the math sections.
More than 1.95 million students in the class of 2026 took the SAT. This marks a 2.5% participation decrease from the class of 2025, representing the first drop since the pandemic-affected class of 2021. Despite this decline, the high school class of 2026 outperformed the previous year’s graduates, and scores rose for all student demographic groups.
Benchmark achievement and equity progress
About 42% of test-takers met or exceeded college and career readiness benchmarks for both the reading and writing and math sections. This benchmark achievement showed notable progress among key student groups.
More than 82% of Black and Latino students met this standard, an increase of two points from last year. Over 81% of students from small towns and rural communities also succeeded. This included almost 80% of first-generation students.
Participation shifts and test format changes
The SAT participation dip coincides with the debut of a new digital format. In 2024, the College Board introduced a shorter, online version of the test lasting just over two hours. A research brief published in July found the shorter reading passages in this updated SAT did not meaningfully affect students’ performance on the reading and writing questions.
The digital format features many brief passages, a significant change from the previous paper-based test.
| Format | Section | Passage Count | Passage Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital SAT | Reading & Writing | 54 passages | 25 to 150 words each |
| Previous Paper SAT | Evidence-Based Reading & Writing | 9 passages | 400 to 750 words each |
Students are allowed to bring their own non-computer algebra system calculator for the math section.
Broader assessment context
Performance on the College Board’s PSAT-related assessments for younger students increased slightly in 2025-26, halting three consecutive years of score declines. The SAT Suite of assessments reached more than 6 million students during the school year, though this was a modest 2.5% decrease overall.
More than four million students took a PSAT-related assessment. The breakdown is as follows:
| Assessment | Number of Test-Takers (2025-26) |
|---|---|
| PSAT/NMSQT® | Approximately 3 million |
| PSAT™ 10 | 378,000 |
| PSAT™8/9 | 1.09 million |
Separately, more than 1.3 million students in the class of 2026 earned SAT scores that aligned with or exceeded their high school GPA. ACT plans to release its class of 2026 data next month.
