OVERVIEW: READING AND WRITING SECTION
The Reading and Writing section includes 54 questions, split between 2 modules. You have 32 minutes per module, giving you about 1 minute and 11 seconds per question.
Questions are grouped by similar skills and arranged from easiest to hardest.
What to Expect in the Questions
The Reading and Writing section of the digital PSAT assesses your college and career readiness in literacy.
You'll answer multiple-choice questions that require:
The passages come from literature, history/social studies, the humanities, and science. Each passage has one question, some of which include informational graphics.
These questions test your ability to:
- Understand and use high-utility words and phrases in context.
- Evaluate the structure and purpose of texts.
- Connect ideas between related texts.
These questions assess your skills in:
- Evaluating central ideas and details.
- Demonstrating command of evidence from texts, tables, bar graphs, and line graphs.
- Making inferences.
Standard English Conventions
These questions measure your ability to edit sentences, language usage, and punctuation according to standard English conventions.
These questions evaluate your ability to revise texts to achieve more effective expression and specific rhetorical goals.
OVERVIEW: MATH SECTION
The Math Test: Overview
The Math section of the PSAT has 44 questions, divided into 2 modules. You have 35 minutes per module, which gives you about 1 minute and 35 seconds per question. Questions progress from easiest to hardest in each module, and you can use a calculator throughout the test.
What to Expect in the Digital Math Section
This section measures your college and career readiness in math. It covers algebra, advanced math, problem-solving, data analysis, geometry, and trigonometry. The math section for the PSAT has multiple-choice and written response questions. The intention is to test your understanding and application of math concepts.
Approximately 30% of the questions are “word” problems set in real-world contexts, and some questions include informational graphics.
Questions here test your ability to solve and create linear equations inequalities, and systems of equations.
Topics include:
- Linear equations and functions
- Systems of linear equations
- Linear inequalities
Advanced Math
These questions focus on skills needed for higher-level math. Topics include:
- Equivalent expressions
- Nonlinear equations and systems
- Nonlinear functions
Problem-solving and Data Analysis
Questions measure your ability to reason quantitatively about ratios, rates, and data analysis. Topics include:
- Ratios and rates
- One- and two-variable data
- Probability and statistical inference
Geometry and Trigonometry
Questions cover areas such as area, volume, angles, triangles, and circles. Topics include:
- Area and volume
- Lines and angles
- Trigonometry