By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated July 30, 2026
The Digital SAT begins with two Reading & Writing Modules. To prepare for Reading & Writing on the Digital SAT, students should start with a diagnostic test to find their strengths and weaknesses, then develop a plan based on the assessment.
Table of Contents
- 1. Start with a Diagnostic SAT
- 2. Identify Your Strengths & Weaknesses
- 3. Get Help Preparing for the SAT
- 4. Create a Schedule for Studying
- 5. Take Another Test
- 6. Reassess Your Strategy
- 7. Continue Studying
- 8. Take Many Practice Tests
- The 15 Math Topics on the Digital SAT
- How Often Each Topic Appears on the Digital SAT
- Common Mistakes in Preparing for Reading & Writing
- Diagnostic SAT with Assessment
1. Start with a Diagnostic SAT
Starting with a diagnostic SAT is the most important step for three reasons. First, it will introduce you to the format of the test. Second, it will give you your baseline score, so you know how much you need to improve to reach your target. Third, a good diagnostic test will inform you about which topics you need the most help with.
2. Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses From Your Diagnostic Test
There are 15 topics that are tested on the Digital SAT Reading & Writing Modules. The Digital SAT Reading & Writing Topics are listed below.
- Sentence Completions
- Punctuation
- Summary Notes
- Transitions
- Verb-Tense
- Function & Purpose
- Supporting & Undermining
- Graphs & Charts
- Text Completions
- Fact or Detail
- Main Idea & Structure
- Pronouns
- Dangling Modifiers
- Paired Passages
- Inference
3. Get Help to Prepare for the SAT
It is important to get professional help to prepare for the Reading & Writing section of the SAT. There are a lot of rules in English and a lot of ways questions can be asked in reading comprehension. However, the test is predictable. Since there are 15 topics on the SAT that Caddell Prep has categorized all of the College Board Digital SAT questions into, there are specific English rules and reading comprehension questions to prepare for. An expert will teach you what is necessary to improve on the SAT. Expert help can come in the form of live classes, tutoring, on-demand course, and/or books.
Reading & Writing Resources
Students who need to improve on sentence completions, should study vocabulary. Here are free SAT vocabulary flash cards and quizzes with the most important vocabulary words for the Digital SAT.
Students who need to improve on transitions should review the transition words that appear on the test and practice questions with filling in transition words.
4. Create a Schedule for Studying
Create time in your schedule for SAT prep. A detailed schedule can create a routine and accountability. If you proactively set aside time to study with a plan, then you’re more likely to actually study.
It’s a good idea to plan your test and studying at a time of the year when you don’t have a lot of other commitments, such as sports or AP exams.
5. Take Another Test
After studying concepts for the SAT and practicing test questions, take another test.
6. Reassess Your Strategy Based on Your Latest Assessment
At this point, some of your weaknesses may have become strengths or at least improved. Reassess the most important topics to study.
7. Continue Studying
Based on your new assessment, continue studying. Study the topics that will improve your SAT score the most.
8. Take More Practice Tests
Take more practice tests. This will get you used to the pacing of the test and prepare you for the real test. We have ten Digital SAT practice tests on our website for students to refine their SAT math skills.
After your tests continue to assess your strengths and weaknesses to determine your study plan. A tutor will be able to help you focus and work on areas that you may still be struggling with.
The 15 Reading & Writing Topics on the Digital SAT
The Reading & Writing module contains 15 different topics that typically appear in a specific order. The module starts with reading questions and ends with writing questions. The first questions in a module are sentence completions and the last reading questions are text completions, before the writing questions begin. The very last questions in the Reading & Writing module are summary notes questions.
The following list of questions shows the topic in order of prevalence on the Digital SAT.
i. Sentence Completions
Sentence completion questions are reading questions test students’ vocabulary and reasoning. The question consists of a paragraph with a blank, normally representing one missing word. Students need to get context clues from the paragraph to determine which answer choice best fits in the blank. These are typically the first questions on each of the Reading & Writing Modules.
ii. Punctuation
Punctuation questions are writing questions that test students’ understanding of commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, and apostrophes. Students must have a firm grasp on independent clauses and be able to identify them.
iii. Summary Notes
Punctuation questions are writing questions that test students’ understanding of commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, and apostrophes. Students must have a firm grasp on independent clauses and be able to identify them.
iv. Transitions
Transition questions are writing questions that typically ask the test-taker to choose the best transition to connect two sentences. Sometimes the question asks for the best transition word in an aside.
v. Verb-Tense
Verb-tense questions are writing questions that ask students to choose the best form of a verb to fill into a blank. The question tests subject-verb agreement and also students understanding of the five forms of a verb.
vi. Function & Purpose
Function & Purpose questions are reading questions that ask the test-taker what the function or purpose of a certain line in a paragraph serves. In other words, why did the author include that sentence? Sometimes it is to provide an example or to refute a common argument. Some function & purpose questions may ask what the purpose of the entire provided text is. In other words, why did the author write this text?
vii. Supporting & Undermining
Supporting & undermining questions are reading questions that ask test-takers to identify which answer choice would best support or undermine the claim presented in the provided text. Test-takers are required to understand the claim presented in a text and what the claim is based on in order to answer the question correctly.
viii. Graphs & Charts
Graphs & charts questions are reading questions that ask students to answer a question based on the text provided and the the included data.
ix. Text Completions
Text completions are reading questions that ask a test-taker to determine what the ending sentence or clause should be based on the previous text. These questions are typically the last reading questions in a module before the writing questions begin.
x. Fact or Detail
Fact or detail questions are reading questions that are straightforward and ask for a specific piece of information stated in the text.
xi. Main Idea & Structure
Main idea & structure questions are reading questions that either ask for the main idea of the text or the structure of the text.
xii. Pronouns
Pronouns questions are writing questions that ask students to fill in a blank with the appropriate pronoun. Students must analyze the text to determine the antecedent in order to identify the correct pronoun.
xiii. Dangling Modifiers
Modifiers questions are writing questions that ask students to fill in the blank with a long clause without creating a modifier error such as a dangling modifier or misplaced modifer. These questions can be identified by the answer choices which vary greatly among themselves.
xiv. Paired Passages
Paired passages questions are reading questions that include two related passages and a questions that normally asks the test-taker to make a comparison between the two texts.
xv. Inference
Inference questions are reading questions that ask the test-taker to make a logical inference based on the text provided.
How Often Is Each Reading & Writing Topic Tested on the Digital SAT?
There are 15 topics tested on the Digital SAT Reading & Writing modules, but some are more common than others. Below is a table that shows each question category and how often it appears on the test based on the ten full-length paper practice tests released by the College Board.
| Reading & Writing Category | Overall | Min % | Max % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sentence Completions | 16.5% | 15.2% | 19.7% |
| Punctuation | 13.6% | 10.6% | 18.2% |
| Summary Notes | 10.8% | 7.6% | 12.1% |
| Transitions | 9.7% | 6.1% | 12.1% |
| Verb-Tense | 8.2% | 4.5% | 10.6% |
| Function & Purpose | 8.0% | 4.5% | 10.6% |
| Supporting & Undermining | 7.3% | 6.1% | 9.1% |
| Graphs & Charts | 7.0% | 6.1% | 7.6% |
| Text Completions | 6.4% | 6.1% | 7.6% |
| Fact or Detail | 3.6% | 0.0% | 6.1% |
| Main Idea & Stucture | 3.5% | 1.5% | 6.1% |
| Pronouns | 1.7% | 0.0% | 4.5% |
| Modifiers | 1.5% | 0.0% | 3.0% |
| Paired Passages | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Inference | 0.8% | 0.0% | 3.0% |
Common Mistakes in Preparing for Reading & Writing on the Digital SAT
Common mistakes in preparing for the reading & writing part of the Digital SAT include not allowing for enough time to prepare, not studying often enough, and using outdated SAT materials.
Not Allocating Enough Time to Prepare
To improve 130-250 points on the SAT, students need approximately 80 hours of effective studying. If a student studies two hours per week, it would take 40 weeks to get to 80 hours. If a student studies 6 hours per week, it would take about 14 weeks to get to 80 hours. Students need to start preparing early in order to reach their goals.
Not Studying Often Enough
Another common mistake is not studying often enough. Students should study multiple times per week in order to retain the information. For tutoring, we recommend at least twice per week. This results in four days per week of studying because the students need to complete homework in between the session, so two days of tutoring and two days of homework.
Studying with Outdated Material
Studying with outdated material is another common mistake when preparing for the Reading & Writing modules on the Digital SAT. The passages on the Digital SAT are much shorter than the passages on previous versions of the SAT. Also, on the Digital SAT, there is only one question per passage. Additionally, there are new question types such as summary notes and text completions. Make sure to use the most recent version of a review book when studying for the test.
Diagnostic SAT with Assessment
The best way to find out what topics you need the most help with is to take a diagnostic SAT with an advanced assessment. Students can take a free practice SAT with Caddell Prep to get their accurate score based on the College Board scoring and an advanced assessment that shows exactly which Math topics they need the most help in to improve their scores the most.
Glyn Caddell
Glyn Caddell holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT and has been tutoring New York City students since 2008. He founded Caddell Prep in 2012 and is the author of Digital SAT Math Secrets: Lessons & Tricks to Quickly Improve to a Perfect 800 on the Math Test, which contains over 900 practice problems and is used in Caddell Prep’s SAT math classes. He is founding president of the Staten Island Technical High School alumni association and teaches every lesson on this site personally.