Preparing for the SAT is a challenging and overwhelming process for students. In this era of tough competition, every question is important from a student’s perspective, but are you aware of the fact that not every question on the SAT counts towards the total score? Such questions are called experimental questions.
In this blog, we will discuss everything you need to know regarding the experimental SAT questions.
What Are Experimental SAT Questions?
Experimental questions are unscored questions included in the SAT by the College Board. However, if they are not included in test scoring, you must be curious about their primary purpose.
Their purpose is to test new material for future exams. Such questions help test makers to actually gather data on how a large number of students perform and approach different types of questions. They analyse the response before they can officially include them in the future SAT exam. These questions help test makers to keep the future test fair and reliable for the students.
Where Do You Find Them on the SAT?
There is no separate section for the experimental questions. These questions are mixed in the test with the same wording and formats as other questions. For this reason, the right strategy to approach the SAT is to treat every question as if it counts. Remember that the objective of these questions is to analyze the response of students to different types of questions, whereas the content remains the same; all you need is a better understanding of concepts.
Do Experimental Questions Affect Your Score?
The answer is “No”. Experimental questions have no impact on your final SAT score. However, since you can’t identify them during the test, skipping or rushing through questions isn’t an option. Every answer still requires your best effort.
How Many Experimental Questions Are on the SAT?
The number of experimental questions can vary. On the new digital SAT, around 2–4 questions per section are considered experimental. That means some of the time you spend is essentially on unscored questions—but remember, you won’t know which ones they are.
Why Are Experimental Questions Important
- Test Quality & Fairness
- The College Board uses experimental questions to see how real students perform on them.
- This ensures that future SAT questions are clear, fair, and aligned with difficulty standards.
- The College Board uses experimental questions to see how real students perform on them.
- Calibrating Difficulty
- By testing these questions first, the test makers can accurately determine the difficulty level of questions.
- By testing these questions first, the test makers can accurately determine the difficulty level of questions.
- Updating the Test Bank
- The SAT needs thousands of validated questions for future exams.
- Pretesting ensures a steady supply of reliable, high-quality questions.
- The SAT needs thousands of validated questions for future exams.
- Maintaining Score Reliability
- Without experimental questions, the SAT wouldn’t have data to ensure scores remain a valid predictor of college readiness.
Why This Matters to You as a Student
- You can’t skip them → Since they’re mixed in with real questions, you must treat every question seriously.
- They protect test fairness → Everyone worldwide gets a balanced test, because questions have been tested beforehand.
- Indirect benefit → While they don’t affect your score, they help improve the SAT for future test-takers (and ensure colleges trust SAT scores)
How to Approach Experimental Questions
Since you can’t tell which questions are experimental, here are some strategies to keep in mind:
- Treat every question as important, as these questions are mixed, you can’t actually determine if they are unscored ones or not.
- Take enough practice tests to manage your time wisely during the test. Different types of questions may take more time, and more practice will help you manage your pace.
- Your concepts should be strong enough to approach all types of questions to avoid any panic during the test.
How The Princeton Review Can Help
At The Princeton Review, we know how overwhelming the SAT can feel—especially when you’re tackling questions that may not even count. That’s why our programs are built to prepare you for every question on the test, experimental or not.
Here’s how we help:
- Targeted Practice: The practice test papers mimic the actual SAT. These papers will help you strengthen your prep and avoid any surprises during your real SAT exam.
- Expert Strategies: Our highly experienced tutors will guide you with the best strategies to approach the prep and the exam. We help our students with all the essential skills to score the top scores.
- Personalized Coaching: The personalized coaching format is designed to help students with a prep that is tailored on the basis of their strengths and weaknesses.
- Score Improvement Guarantee: We guarantee score improvements with the help of our experts, and our proven methods will help you maximize your score, regardless of how many experimental questions appear.