College Board Removes Essays from SAT Exam to ‘Reduce Demands on Students’

The College Board announced on Tuesday that it will eliminate the optional essay from the SAT, as well as discontinuing subject tests, to “reduce demands on students.” The organization stated: “As students and colleges adapt to new realities and changes to the college admissions process, College Board is making sure our programs adapt with them.”

“Important update: We will no longer offer SAT Subject Tests,” read a tweet by College Board. “We will also discontinue the optional SAT Essay after the June 2021 administration.”

The decision was made in response to the coronavirus, which has changed the landscape of college admissions across the country.

“As students and colleges adapt to new realities and changes to the college admissions process, College Board is making sure our programs adapt with them,” said College Board in a statement. “We’re making some changes to reduce demands on students.”

“We are no longer offering SAT Subject Tests™ in the U.S. Because SAT Subject Tests are used internationally for a wider variety of purposes, we’ll provide two more administrations, in May and June of 2021, for international students,” the statement added.

The College Board went on to say that students who are already registered for an upcoming Subject Test will automatically have their registration canceled and fees refunded. International students can still test up until June.

“We will also discontinue the optional SAT Essay after the June 2021 administration,” the statement added.

The College Board insisted that writing remains “essential” with regards to SAT testing, but that “there are other ways for students to demonstrate their mastery of essay writing.”

“Writing remains essential to college readiness and the SAT will continue to measure writing and editing skills, but there are other ways for students to demonstrate their mastery of essay writing, and the SAT will continue to measure writing throughout the test,” read the statement.

“The tasks on the SAT Reading and Writing and Language sections are among the most effective and predictive parts of the SAT,” College Board added.

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