Our free SAT Writing Practice Tests are each a selection of 10 to 12 questions, which will give you a cross-section of topics from the Writing section of the official SAT. You might think of them as little quizzes, which you can use to hone your skills. To get a more comprehensive idea of the concepts you need to review, try one of the Full-Length SAT Writing Practice Tests. These tests simulate the writing portion of the SAT, which gives you valuable text experience and can help you learn to pace yourself so you can be sure you’ll have enough time to finish the real test. The results pages for the longer-form tests offer tons of useful feedback, including detailed explanations of the answers and links to additional concept-specific practice opportunities. The results of the complete practice tests can also help you streamline your SAT study plan by revealing the topics on which you need to focus. Once you’ve had the chance to do some review, you can gauge your progress by taking another Full-Length SAT Writing Practice Test. Whether you need top SAT Writing tutors in New York, SAT Writing tutors in Chicago, or top SAT Writing tutors in Los Angeles, working with a pro may take your studies to the next level.

SAT Writing Section

What is the Writing Section of the SAT exam?

The SAT Writing Section tests your ability to understand and effectively respond to writing prompts and to demonstrate your knowledge of various grammatical and semantic rules, as well as conventions about how to construct the clearest sentences and paragraphs. On the exam, you will be expected both to identify present errors and suggest preferable alternative sentence and paragraph constructions to display your knowledge of the aforementioned rule types. Varsity Tutors offers resources like a free SAT prep book to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider an SAT Writing tutor.

What kinds of multiple-choice questions appear on the SAT Writing section?

In addition to the separate Essay portion of the SAT Writing section, three different question types appear on the SAT Writing section: Identifying Sentence Errors, Improving Sentences, and Improving Paragraphs. These do not appear in equal ratios, however: of the 49 questions, 25 will be Identifying Sentence Errors, 18 will be Improving Sentences, and 6 will be Improving Paragraphs.

Identifying Sentence Error questions consist of a sentence with four sections of its text underlined, as well as a “No Error” option. One of the four underlined portions of the sentence may contain a grammatical or usage error; it is your job to determine whether or not the sentence contains an error, and if it does, to select the answer choice that corresponds to the section of text that contains that error. There is never more than one error in a Identifying Sentence Error sentence, and you are not tested about how to fix the grammatical error that you identify—your job is to simply point out the part of the sentence that contains the error.

Improving Sentence questions present you with a sentence which is either completely or partially underlined. This sentence may or may not contain a grammatical or usage error. Of the five possible answer choices, the first one reproduces the underlined portion of the sentence exactly, while the other options each make one change to that section. It is your job to select the option that makes the sentence clear and grammatically correct. If a sentence contains no errors, you should select the option that reproduces the underlined section of the sentence exactly. Some Improving Sentence questions may reference a passage, but will direct you to at most one or two sentences for you to consider.

Improving Paragraph questions test your knowledge of how to best formulate paragraphs by providing you with a passage that has its sentences numbered and then asking you about proposed changes to that paragraph. Sentence order, sentence design, and proper sentence and paragraph transitions are all fair game in this portion of the Writing Section. Questions and their answers often refer to sentence numbers so that they do not have to quote entire sentences each time they refer to them. Certain Improving Paragraph questions may give you the option of leaving an indicated sentence or a certain part of the paragraph as it is written, but not all questions give you this option.

Which specific grammar concepts are covered on the SAT Writing Section?

Subject-verb agreement, proper tense usage, gerunds and infinitives, parallel sentence structure, subject-pronoun agreement, the use of appropriate prepositions, similar object comparisons, active vs. passive voice, and proper use of conjunctions are among the grammatical rules you should be familiar with in preparation for the exam. The Varsity Tutors Learning Tools free SAT Practice Tests contains questions that test each of these concepts.

How much is the SAT Writing Section worth on the SAT?

In total, the SAT Writing Section is worth 800 points, just like the other two sections: SAT Critical Reading and SAT Math. But this section is different in that it is not composed solely of multiple-choice questions, although these do constitute a majority of the section. Additionally, there is an essay, which is always the first section on any given SAT. The essay composes 30% of the overall total SAT Writing Section score, while the multiple-choice problems make up the remaining 70%.

How is the SAT Writing Section graded?

For the Essay Section, two separate graders each read the essay and submit a score on a scale from 1 to 6, where 6 is the highest score an essay can receive, and 1 the lowest. Generally, these graders are grading each essay on how well it asserts and defends a particular position in response to the question asked, while providing specific and detailed examples to illustrate and support its argument; however, other factors are also taken into consideration when determining an essay’s score; these include use of proper grammar and correct spelling, as well as effective construction of a variety of sentence types.

The Writing Section’s multiple-choice questions are graded like the SAT’s other multiple-choice-based sections. Correct answers are tallied, and then incorrect answers are multiplied by ¼ and subtracted from the total. Answers left blank do not count against the overall score. These portion totals are then added together to make up the overall raw SAT Writing score, which is then combined with the Essay score and reported in terms of a 200-800 scale.

How many questions are on the SAT Writing Section? How much time do I have for each part of the SAT Writing Section?

In total, each SAT Writing section contains 49 multiple-choice questions and an essay prompt. You are given 35 minutes to complete the multiple-choice questions, which appear in two sections, one 25 minutes long, the other 10 minutes long. You are given 25 minutes to compose an essay in response to the essay prompt. So, in total, the entire SAT Writing section takes 60 minutes to complete.

There is a caveat, however, that may lead to you having to complete two writing sections on your SAT. For testing purposes, the College Board includes an additional ungraded experimental section on each one of its officially administered tests to gather data about the quality of new problems. This additional section is 25 minutes long, and tests Critical Reading, Writing, or Math. While you will notice that you complete two versions of a certain section, there is no way to tell which section is the “real” one that determines your score in that area, and which is the experimental section that does not affect your score. So, the best course of action is to treat every section as if it is affecting your score.

Do I get a break during the SAT Writing section?

While students are given breaks between certain sections of the SAT, they are not given breaks during any sections, and it is not recommended that you stop to rest during a section. The SAT is designed to be completed in a certain amount of time, without much extra time, and you don’t want to run the risk of not completing the section (and hence losing points) just because you stopped to take a break.

How much time should I spend on each multiple-choice question on the SAT Writing Section?

Given that there are 49 multiple-choice question in two separate sections (one 25 mins, the other 10 mins) on the SAT Writing section, you could easily do the math to find that you have less than a minute per question. This should be your rough guide for how to spend your time. In some cases, you will spend less time on a question, and in others, more time, but in general, you should be mindful of this limit.

Last, any one-size-fits-all time-allocation recommendations will not work in all situations, but they do provide a basic guideline for effectively using the limited time you have available.

Should I guess on the SAT Writing Section?

Guessing on the SAT Writing Section’s multiple-choice questions is advisable or inadvisable for the same reasons it would be for any other multiple-choice question on the exam. Incorrect multiple-choice answers receive a penalty of ¼ of a point which, in sum, can add up. In contrast, blank answers do not count towards your overall score, so they do not count against you at all whatsoever.

A good rule of thumb is to use your knowledge of grammar, proper sentence and paragraph construction, and other semantic rules to eliminate three of the five answer responses. If you can confidently do this, then you might want to guess between the remaining answers.

Studying for the SAT Writing Section: Essay

Should I read the whole quotation and question before writing my the SAT Writing essay?

Always read the entire essay prompt on the SAT before responding to it! Reading the entire question is always essential for formulating and asserting an effective position on some issue. Often, the questions are more complicated than they initially seem, and you want to make sure not to read your own questions into them (and then spend 25 minutes answering a question not asked). Rereading the question two or three times is a good idea that helps you be sure that you didn’t misread or misunderstand it.

Often, however, students spend too much time reading and rereading the quotation to mine it for ideas about what to write. Know that this essay is not about explicating the quotation included; the authors of the test include the quotation, instead, to give you food for thought. You should be using your own experiences, knowledge and ideas to fashion your essay, not just the content of the quotation.

How should I study for the SAT Writing section's essay writing portion?

While it may seem difficult to study for an essay-based section, you can effectively prepare for the SAT Essay section by doing the following five things:

1.) Read up on the SAT Essay and learn about what makes it unique when compared to other standardized tests’ essay sections.

2.) Read over a few SAT Essay prompts and try out one or two by taking them in 25 minutes, just like the real exam section. Having a qualified, competent friend, teacher, or tutor read over this essay and provide you with feedback will help you figure out what you need to work on in particular.

3.) After you have a better sense of what you need to work on, you should then brainstorm examples you might draw on from your life. You might draw examples from books you have read, recent news stories you have seen, friends’ experiences that you have heard about, or other events you know about. Sometimes you can even draw examples from popular media like movies and music. Take a sample SAT Essay prompt and brainstorm ideas that you might use to respond to it or a similar question.

4.) Focus on honing your ability to write a strong, coherent, and relevant thesis statement. You can improve this skill by reading SAT Essay Prompts and quickly formulating a position that you could support in an essay, one that you could develop and pursue for at least two to three body paragraphs. Using too simplistic of a thesis statement and realizing that you have run out of material to discuss halfway through the SAT Essay on test day is a terrible position to be in. Reviewing the basic format of an SAT Essay might be helpful too, but if you have already been recently writing timed essays, this step may be superfluous.

5.) Complete at least two to three more full essays and focus on what kinds of examples you might need to develop an inventory of. Having a solid example tool box will be endlessly useful to you on test day, as you can use many different examples for different kinds of essays, and will not have to spend as much time trying to hurriedly come up with examples.

How should I use my time when writing the essay on the SAT Writing section?
You shouldn’t tackle any SAT question without thinking about how you are approaching it, and the same can be said for the SAT Essay. For this section, it’s crucial that you be aware of how you are using your time, and make efficient use of it. Like other timed writing assignments, the SAT Essay portion of the Writing Section requires you to quickly understand the question being asked of you, take a position, formulate your examples, outline, draft, and revise. You are given only twenty-five minutes in which to write your essay, so consider organizing your time like this:

Reading Question and Formulating a Position: 2-3 minutes

Brainstorming Reasons, Commentary and Paragraph Structure: 4 minutes

Drafting the Essay - 15-17 minutes

Revising and Editing - 2 minutes

Keep in mind that eyeing your watch every two seconds to ensure that you’re on track will not be of help to you, and will, in fact, hurt your progress on the essay. But having a general sense of how you should be progressing will prevent you from leaving the essay section with little more than a well-developed outline.

Can I use a prewritten essay on the SAT Writing section?

No, you cannot use a prewritten essay on the SAT; however, arriving with a fresh example bank ready and waiting in your short-term memory is just as good. Also, if you’ve been practicing responding to SAT prompts, then it should be a piece of cake to tackle a new one, because you can tackle each prompt in the same way: by reading the prompt, taking a position, briefly outlining that position with examples, drafting your essay from your outline, and finally, revising and editing your essay.

How is the SAT Writing section's essay section graded?

The essay composes 30% of the overall total SAT Writing Section score, while the remaining multiple choice sections make up the remaining 70%. Each essay is given a score between 1 and 6 by two independent graders. Each SAT essay is graded on how effectively it asserts a position in a thesis statement in response to the question asked, and how well it supports that thesis statement with details and examples. Other aspects of the essay including spelling, grammar, and sentence variety are also taken into consideration when determining an essay’s grade. In addition to the SAT Writing practice tests and SAT Writing tutoring, you may also want to consider taking some of our SAT Writing flash cards.

Studying for the SAT Writing Section: Multiple-Choice Questions

How should I study for the Improving Sentences, Identifying Sentence Errors and Improving Paragraphs portions of the SAT Writing Section?

Use the following tips to study effectively for the SAT Writing section’s multiple-choice questions:

1.) Refamiliarize yourself with English grammar, style, and usage conventions, as all of the SAT Writing section’s multiple-choice questions test your understanding of grammar, style, and usage rules in some way. Focusing on the rules and conventions that you don’t completely understand or that underlie problems you often miss is the most efficient way to raise your SAT Writing score. However, thinking about the grammar rules should only be part of the study process.

2.) Start practicing each type of question that appears on the SAT Writing section. Don’t rush through these, though! When you miss a question, figure out where you went wrong, or what point you misunderstood. If you don’t spend enough time analyzing the questions you miss, your studying will not be as effective.

Varsity Tutors offers free SAT Writing Practice Tests for you to use in preparing for the SAT's Writing section. Our free SAT Writing Practice Tests are written by teachers, professors, content specialists, and tutors. Explanations are given for each question, so if you miss a question, you can find out where you went wrong. Varsity Tutors also offers free SAT Writing Diagnostic Tests, free SAT Writing Flashcards, and free SAT Writing Questions of the Day, as well as other free SAT Writing resources.

3.) Eventually, take a complete 25-minute SAT Writing Section and then check your overall score. Identify which kinds of questions you tend to get wrong and focus on improving your performance in those particular areas (i.e. those particular grammar rules or question types). This is the best way to improve your score. See if you can confidently explain not only why the correct answer is correct in any given problem, but also why incorrect answers are incorrect.

4.) Make sure to take at least two or three full practice tests before taking the actual exam. This way you can develop a tolerance for the somewhat exhausting task of completing the whole test in one sitting.
e essay section with little more than a well-developed outline.

Can I use a prewritten essay on the SAT Writing section?

No, you cannot use a prewritten essay on the SAT; however, arriving with a fresh example bank ready and waiting in your short-term memory is just as good. Also, if you’ve been practicing responding to SAT prompts, then it should be a piece of cake to tackle a new one, because you can tackle each prompt in the same way: by reading the prompt, taking a position, briefly outlining that position with examples, drafting your essay from your outline, and finally, revising and editing your essay.

How is the SAT Writing section's essay section graded?

The essay composes 30% of the overall total SAT Writing Section score, while the remaining multiple choice sections make up the remaining 70%. Each essay is given a score between 1 and 6 by two independent graders. Each SAT essay is graded on how effectively it asserts a position in a thesis statement in response to the question asked, and how well it supports that thesis statement with details and examples. Other aspects of the essay including spelling, grammar, and sentence variety are also taken into consideration when determining an essay’s grade.

Studying for the SAT Writing Section: Multiple-Choice Questions

How should I study for the Improving Sentences, Identifying Sentence Errors and Improving Paragraphs portions of the SAT Writing Section?

Use the following tips to study effectively for the SAT Writing section’s multiple-choice questions:

1.) Refamiliarize yourself with English grammar, style, and usage conventions, as all of the SAT Writing section’s multiple-choice questions test your understanding of grammar, style, and usage rules in some way. Focusing on the rules and conventions that you don’t completely understand or that underlie problems you often miss is the most efficient way to raise your SAT Writing score. However, thinking about the grammar rules should only be part of the study process.

2.) Start practicing each type of question that appears on the SAT Writing section. Don’t rush through these, though! When you miss a question, figure out where you went wrong, or what point you misunderstood. If you don’t spend enough time analyzing the questions you miss, your studying will not be as effective.

Varsity Tutors offers free SAT Writing Practice Tests for you to use in preparing for the SAT's Writing section. Our free SAT Writing Practice Tests are written by teachers, professors, content specialists, and tutors. Explanations are given for each question, so if you miss a question, you can find out where you went wrong. Varsity Tutors also offers free SAT Writing Diagnostic Tests, free SAT Writing Flashcards, and free SAT Writing Questions of the Day, as well as other free SAT Writing resources.

3.) Eventually, take a complete 25-minute SAT Writing Section and then check your overall score. Identify which kinds of questions you tend to get wrong and focus on improving your performance in those particular areas (i.e. those particular grammar rules or question types). This is the best way to improve your score. See if you can confidently explain not only why the correct answer is correct in any given problem, but also why incorrect answers are incorrect.

4.) Make sure to take at least two or three full practice tests before taking the actual exam. This way you can develop a tolerance for the somewhat exhausting task of completing the whole test in one sitting.