The clock is ticking. Your palms are sweating. Instead of flipping pages, you’re staring at a glowing screen. Welcome to the new era of digitized College Board exams.
For years, testing meant scrawling essays, flipping through test booklets, and frantically shading bubbles with a number two pencil. Now, in 2025, the College Board has abruptly transitioned to digital SAT and AP exams. Although the organization had been planning the implementation of digital exams for years, recent security concerns have accelerated the timeline from a “couple of years” to now. Alongside rumors suggesting that a past cheating scandal with paper exams may have played a role in expediting the change, the College Board attributes this shift to several successful pilot programs in schools nationwide.
With the shift already in motion, many students and educators are navigating logistical challenges of the new digital format. The primary platform, Bluebook, has elicited mixed reactions. “I feel like the features within digital exams are very inconvenient. Simple things like underlining can be done in seconds, but for digital exams, some of these features don’t even function properly. When I took the English part of the SAT, I had to constantly refer back to the text because I couldn’t underline anything,” says Kaitlyn Wu, a junior at Great Neck South High. Despite these usability issues, the transition to digital testing signals a broader shift toward efficiency and sustainability.
This shift isn’t just about modernizing exams—it’s driven by a combination of factors that make digital testing more beneficial in the long-term. According to Great Neck South High’s Director of Guidance and AP Coordinator, Dr. Jo-AnnEyre M. Cruz, digital exams are far more sustainable from a business standpoint.
“It’s so much more cost-effective. Shipping costs alone are substantial. With paper exams, they have to be delivered securely, stored, counted, and then sent back for grading. A digital system alleviates some of those issues.”
In other words, the benefits of logistical efficiency, cost-effectiveness, reduced administrative burdens, and improved accessibility features for students requiring accommodations suggest that digital testing may just be the all-in-one solution that streamlines the annual testing process.
Despite the purported benefits, students have voiced concerns about the new digital format. “I think a big overarching problem for me would be the internet connection because I had a friend who also took the SAT. Everyone noticed her computer shut down—her computer literally could not work—and then her time got cut short, and she ended up doing badly,” said Wu.
Victoria Wang, another junior at Great Neck South High, recalls a similar experience, saying, “I remember in the past there was a technical issue where, if you logged out and didn’t log back in, your SAT would automatically submit the problems you were working on. I would say computer errors happen a lot, but they end up looking like human error.” Gone are the days of cramped hands and eraser smudges—replaced instead by a fear of Wi-Fi glitches and the awkward navigation of a whole new set of digital features, all while a timer counts down every precious minute.
“Since this decision was expedited, the College Board itself seems to be scrambling to get everything in place,” Dr. Cruz acknowledged. “Communication has been slow, and many key features—like the annotation tool—weren’t initially available. But for the time being, they are working with programmers in making Bluebook better, and there are always updates.”
As this transition continues, hybrid exams serve as an interim solution. While many AP exams—such as AP English Language Composition and AP U.S. History—have fully shifted to a digital format, others remain hybrid due to their graphical and calculation-based components. Subjects like AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Micro/Macro Economics, AP Calculus, and AP Physics require students to use formulas and show their calculations—something that remains cumbersome in the new digital format. In these cases, the second section still relies on the traditional paper-based approach to problem-solving.
“[College Board] haven’t really figured out how to get the app to do something that you could write on in a way that would be formatted correctly,” Dr. Cruz explains. “So once they figure it out, the plan is to really make everything digital and even go away from the hybrid exams.” In the meantime, students are encouraged to explore the sample questions and familiarize themselves with the testing system, regardless of the available version.
At South High, administrators have been working to create a smooth testing process while addressing the challenges posed by the digital exam format. Dr. Cruz explained, “When we found out that we were going to be doing all APs digitally, we immediately had a meeting with our district technology department, and also the technology head here, Jen Scheinberg. We really met to discuss the best setting and what we need to be able to provide the students to take their exams.”
Wu said, “Despite there being a few flaws, I’m mostly in favor of digital exams, but I would feel more comfortable if [the College Board] made the necessary changes.”
Wang added, “I don’t know how hard it will be, but maybe if [the College Board] made the digital exams more stable or reliable, every time I take it, I wouldn’t have to worry about glitches and losing everything in the process.”
To ensure an optimal environment, the district began discussing significant investments like Wi-Fi routers for faster accessibility in the gyms where the tests will be held. Additionally, keyboards will be available for students to use during the actual tests, and they will be accessible to all department chairs to help their students become familiar with testing in the time from now until May.
“We also looked into making sure we have battery packs for students,” Dr. Cruz said. “We’re considering all the ways we can support students during the exam, including having standby iPads available if necessary and sending out reminders to ensure students have their iPads and that they’re charged. But we also have contingency plans in case they don’t.”
Furthermore, students will be required to use their school-issued iPads during the actual exams to allow for proper administrative monitoring—this is done by typing in a specific code to start the exam—and to facilitate troubleshooting if any technical issues arise while students are locked into the testing app.
Although this process may seem daunting, digital testing is not too foreign at the higher levels of education, particularly in college, where students regularly take electronic exams—whether for medical school, engineering, finance, law, and more. With features such as the built-in calculator and annotation tools, these digital exams enable high school students to apply their knowledge in an increasingly digital academic environment. As digital exams have gradually become the norm, students have grown more accustomed to the possibility of technical issues, accepting them as part of the experience. “I feel like having those what-if questions are inevitable when it comes to digital exams. So it’s like, what can you do? It’s an all or nothing situation,” said Wu.
While acknowledging the challenges of the transition, Dr. Cruz emphasized, “It is definitely a learning curve. We’re doing everything we can to ensure that we have all the information we’re getting from the College Board and that we have everything we need to make sure students are able to take their exams successfully, without any hiccups—hopefully.”
