Overview

Section 59-18-325 of the Education Accountability Act mandates that all students in the eleventh grade for the first time “must be offered a college entrance assessment that is from a provider secured by the department…” The college entrance exams selected for this purpose are the SAT® and the ACT®. For selecting students for this administration, grade eleven students are defined as students in their third year of high school after their initial enrollment in the ninth grade.

The choice of which assessment to take must be determined at the student level, however, students are not required to take either the SAT or the ACT exams. Districts should send a letter and accompanying form to each parent or guardian of an eleventh grade student with information that their child may take the SAT or the ACT during a school day or optionally, not take either exam. The exams are offered at no cost to the parents. The accompanying form requests for parents to indicate which test the student will take or whether the student will not participate in the administration of the college entrance exams. The SCDE has prepared a form that districts may use for this purpose or districts may develop and provide their own form. The completed forms must be retained for two years by the district in the event that the district is audited.

Purpose

Legislation states the purposes of the college and career ready assessments are:

1. Assist students, parents, teachers, and guidance counselors in developing individual graduation plans and in selecting courses aligned with each student’s future ambitions;
2. Promote South Carolina’s Work Ready Communities initiative; and,
3. Meet federal and state accountability requirements.

This law indicates that students may use the results of these assessments to apply to college or to enter careers.  The results must be added as part of each student’s permanent record and maintained at the SCDE for at least ten years.

About the SAT and ACT Tests

The SAT and the ACT are timed, multiple-choice examinations which measure a high school student’s readiness for college and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. For additional information about the SAT, please visit the College Board website. For additional information about The ACT, please visit the ACT website.

Subjects Tested on the SAT

The digital SAT is composed of two sections: Reading and Writing and Math. Students have 64 minutes to complete the Reading and Writing section and 70 minutes to complete the Math section for a total of 2 hours and 14 minutes.

Each section is divided into 2 equal length modules, and there is a 10-minute break between the Reading and Writing section and the Math section. The first module of each section contains a broad mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. Based on how students perform on the first module, the second module of questions will either be more difficult or less difficult.

Most of the questions are multiple choice, though some of the math questions ask you to enter the answer rather than select it.

On all questions, there's no penalty for guessing: if you're not sure of the answer, it's better to guess than leave the response blank.

Subjects Tested on the ACT

The ACT contains multiple-choice tests in four areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. ACT’s writing test is optional and will not affect the composite scores.  South Carolina students taking the ACT School Day test are not offered the writing component. The English test has 75 items and takes 45 minutes. The mathematics test consists of 60 items taking 60 minutes. The Reading test has 35 items and requires 40 minutes; the science test has 35 items and takes 40 minutes.

Test Format

The ACT is offered online and on paper; districts may choose the format. The SAT has transitioned to an online only format going forward.

Accommodations

Section 59-18-325 of the EAA specifies the following:

A student with a disability, whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines, and agrees in writing, that taking either of these assessments would not be aligned with the student’s program of study and the student should not be administered either assessment, must not be administered either assessment.

For additional information on accommodations provided for students with disabilities (IEP or 504 Plans) and English Language Learners, please visit the following websites: Taking the SAT with Accommodations and ACT Test Accommodations and English Learner Supports.

SAT Test Dates

The College Board has established the following school-day (SATSD) test windows for the 2025-2026 school year.

Fall 2025 SAT Administrations

SAT Test Window: October 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025
 

Spring 2026 SAT Administrations

SAT Test Window: March 2, 2026 - April 30, 2026
 

ACT Test Dates

Districts may select an initial testing date, a make-up date, and an emergency date from the options given below. Districts do not have to choose a make-up date and/or emergency date.

ACT Fall 2025 Paper and Online Test Dates

Paper Test Dates	Online Test Dates including Accommodations	Accommodation Test Dates for Paper
September 30, 2025	September 30, 2025 October 1-3 & 6-10, 2025	September 30, 2025 October 1-3 & 6-10, 2025
October 14, 2025	October 14-17, 2025 October 20-24, 2025	October 14-17, 2025 October 20-24, 2025
October 28, 2025	October 28-31, 2025 November 3-7, 2025	October 28-31, 2025 November 3-7, 2025

ACT Spring 2026 Paper and Online Test Dates

Paper Test Dates	Online Test Dates including Accommodations	Accommodation Test Dates for Paper
February 24, 2026	February 24-27, 2026 March 2-6, 2026	February 24-27, 2026 March 2-6, 2026
March 10, 2026	March 10-13, 2026 March 16-20, 2026	March 10-13, 2026 March 16-20, 2026
March 24, 2026	March 24-27, 2026 March 30-31 & April 1-3, 2026	March 24-27, 2026 March 30-31 & April 1-3, 2026

Fall and spring administrations are completely separate; ACT will provide separate score reports, data files, and key dates.

Payment

For the 2025-2026 school year, the SCDE will pay the testing vendor directly for one exam for the school-day administration of either the ACT or the SAT for each student in grade 11 or grade 12.