Does the SAT Still Include an Essay Section and What to Expect
I remember sitting in a testing center back in 2015, staring at a blank essay prompt for fifty minutes. The SAT essay felt like this strange, awkward requirement that nobody really wanted to defend but everyone had to endure. Fast forward to today, and I’m telling students something completely different: that essay section is gone. Completely gone. And honestly, the story of why it disappeared is more interesting than most people realize.
The Short Answer: No Essay Anymore
Let me be direct about this because I know that’s what you’re here for. The SAT essay section was discontinued in 2021. The College Board made this decision in January 2021, and by the time the pandemic had reshaped testing landscapes everywhere, the essay was already on its way out. If you’re taking the SAT now in 2024 or beyond, you won’t encounter an essay prompt at all. The test has shifted entirely to multiple-choice and grid-in questions across Reading and Writing, and Math.
This wasn’t some sudden whim. The essay had been losing ground for years. Colleges weren’t requiring it as much. Students weren’t thrilled about it. Even the College Board seemed to acknowledge that the essay wasn’t delivering what they’d hoped it would when they introduced it back in 2005.
Why Did It Actually Disappear?
The College Board’s official reasoning centered on a few key points. First, fewer colleges were actually requiring the essay for admissions. By 2020, most institutions had made it optional or stopped asking for it altogether. Second, there were persistent concerns about fairness and access. Students who could afford essay prep tutoring had advantages that others didn’t. Third, the essay section was expensive to score and administer, and the data suggested it wasn’t adding much predictive value for college success anyway.
But here’s what I think was really happening underneath all that: the essay was becoming a symbol of something broken in standardized testing. It felt performative. Students weren’t writing authentic essays; they were writing what they thought the College Board wanted to see. The five-paragraph structure, the formulaic approach, the artificial time constraint–it all felt disconnected from actual writing.
I’ve watched how edtech is transforming education in real time, and part of that transformation includes rethinking what we actually measure. The essay on the SAT was measuring test-taking stamina and formula adherence, not genuine writing ability. That’s a crucial distinction.
What the SAT Looks Like Now
The current SAT structure is cleaner, in my opinion. You’ve got two main sections: Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and Math. The Reading and Writing section includes reading comprehension passages and grammar questions. The Math section covers algebra, advanced math, problem-solving, data analysis, geometry, and trigonometry. Total test time is about two hours and fifty minutes without the essay.
The removal of the essay actually made the test shorter and more manageable. That matters more than people think. A shorter test means less fatigue, which can mean more accurate performance. It also means the College Board could focus on what they believe the SAT should measure: readiness for college-level coursework in specific academic domains.
The Shift in Writing Assessment
Here’s something that caught my attention: the College Board didn’t eliminate writing assessment entirely. They integrated it into the Reading and Writing section. You’re still demonstrating writing knowledge and language skills, but through multiple-choice questions about grammar, syntax, and rhetorical choices. It’s different from the essay, absolutely, but it’s not like they decided writing doesn’t matter.
This actually aligns with how colleges are increasingly thinking about writing assessment. Many institutions now use placement tests or writing samples submitted separately rather than relying on standardized test essays. Some are using online essay writing platforms and portfolios to evaluate student writing over time, which gives a much richer picture than a single timed essay ever could.
If you’re trying to develop tips to become a better academic writer, the absence of the SAT essay doesn’t mean you should ignore writing altogether. In fact, it means you should focus on writing in context–in your classes, in your applications, in actual communication situations. That’s where real writing happens.
What This Means for Test Preparation
The elimination of the essay has changed how students should approach SAT prep. You’re not spending weeks practicing essay structure and time management for that section. Instead, you can focus more deeply on Reading comprehension strategies, grammar patterns, and math problem-solving.
Here’s a practical breakdown of what to expect:
- Reading and Writing section: 64 minutes for approximately 52 questions
- Math section: 80 minutes for approximately 58 questions
- Total testing time: 144 minutes (2 hours 24 minutes)
- No essay section whatsoever
- Questions are presented in shorter passages and focused modules
The shorter passages in the Reading section actually require a different skill set than the longer passages did years ago. You need to read efficiently and extract key information quickly. It’s less about deep literary analysis and more about information retrieval and reasoning.
Comparing SAT and ACT Essay Policies
I should mention that the ACT also discontinued its essay section, though on a slightly different timeline. The ACT essay was optional starting in 2015 and was completely discontinued in 2021, the same year as the SAT. So if you were comparing these two tests, neither one has an essay component anymore. That’s actually significant because it shows a broader trend in standardized testing away from timed essay writing.
| Test Component | SAT (Current) | ACT (Current) |
|---|---|---|
| Essay Section | No | No |
| Reading/English | Yes (64 min) | Yes (75 min) |
| Math | Yes (80 min) | Yes (60 min) |
| Science | No | Yes (35 min) |
| Total Time | ~144 minutes | ~170 minutes |
What Colleges Actually Want Now
Here’s something worth sitting with: colleges have actually become more interested in writing samples outside of standardized tests. Many institutions now ask for supplemental essays as part of the application. These essays are longer, less time-pressured, and give admissions officers a better sense of who you actually are as a writer and thinker.
The University of California system, for example, requires personal insight questions that function as essays. Harvard, Stanford, and most other selective institutions have their own supplemental prompts. These are where your writing really matters in the admissions process. The SAT essay was never going to compete with that anyway.
The Bigger Picture
I think what happened with the SAT essay reflects something larger about how we’re rethinking assessment in education. We’re moving away from one-size-fits-all measures and toward more nuanced, contextual evaluation. That’s not perfect either, but it’s different. It acknowledges that a fifty-minute essay written under artificial constraints doesn’t tell us much about someone’s actual writing ability or intellectual capacity.
The students I work with now don’t seem particularly bothered by the essay’s absence. If anything, they’re relieved. They can focus their energy on the sections that actually exist, and they can put their real writing effort into their college applications where it actually matters.
Final Thoughts
So to circle back to the original question: no, the SAT doesn’t include an essay section anymore. It hasn’t since 2021. If you’re preparing for the test, don’t waste time looking for essay prep materials or strategies. Focus on the Reading and Writing section’s grammar and comprehension questions, and dedicate serious time to math problem-solving.
But also recognize that this doesn’t mean writing doesn’t matter. It just means the SAT isn’t where your writing gets evaluated anymore. That responsibility has shifted to your actual coursework, your college application essays, and the supplemental prompts that individual institutions require. In some ways, that’s more honest. Your writing matters most when it’s authentic and purposeful, not when you’re racing against a clock to fill a template.