Redesigned Sat

March 2014 - The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings was published yesterday and American Universities came top. Oxford and Cambridge came in at numbers four and five respectively, surrounded on both sides by the Americans. This heralds increasing popularity for applications to U.S. universities from U.K. students who see not only excellent quality but also more variety in the courses offered.

On the same day the rankings were published the College Board announced changes to the most popular university entrance exam in the States, the SAT, to come into effect from spring 2016. These changes seem to bring the test more in line with the ACT, the other university entrance exam that has been less popular though now gaining popularity. The changes are significant, with the SAT vocabulary words axed, the essay portion optional, and questions moving away from multiple choice answers, to name but a few.

How will this effect applicants? According to the College Board it will create more opportunities for students and bring the test more in line with college readiness requirements. The debate about this continues. With more universities focusing on the students` applications, the tests have lost some of their momentum and these changes might be an effort to bring that back. The tests remain very important to university entrance decisions and students all over the world put a great deal of effort into being successful and raising their scores (the tests are taking twice or more).

One question arises from the changes that were announced yesterday: will the ACT continue to gain popularity against the SAT and if so, will it become more important? Currently some students opt to take only the SAT. How much longer will that last?