How to Raise Your SAT Score: What to Focus On at Every Score Range

The fastest way to raise your SAT score is to stop practising everything and fix what's actually costing you points, which depends on where you're starting. Below about 1100, it's usually foundations. Between 1100 and 1450, it's a mix of a few skills and avoidable mistakes. Above 1450, it's precision on the hardest Module 2 questions.

Step one at any score: diagnose

Take a full practice test in Bluebook and review every miss with an error log: concept gap, misread, careless, time, or guess. The pattern tells you more than the score does. Our diagnostic guide walks through it.

Starting below about 1100

What usually costs points: core math skills (linear equations, percentages, reading graphs), punctuation rules, and running out of time.

• Rebuild linear equations and systems first; they're the largest Math domain (see linear equations and systems).
• Learn the boundary rules in SAT grammar rules: they're a set of quick, learnable points.
• Answer every question; there's no penalty for wrong answers.
• Use Khan Academy's digital SAT courses for any topic you've never been taught.

From about 1100 to 1300

What usually costs points: a handful of specific skills, plus misreads and careless errors on questions you know how to do.

• Pick two or three skills per section from your error log and drill them in the question bank until accuracy is above 80%.
• Add one habit for careless errors, like underlining what the question asks before you solve.
• Learn the main Desmos shortcuts; they turn many algebra questions into quick checks.
• Get transitions to under 45 seconds each (see transitions).

From about 1300 to 1450

What usually costs points: the harder questions in Module 2, especially Advanced Math, inference and evidence questions, and vocabulary.

• Practise "hard" difficulty questions from the question bank in your weakest domains.
• Use timed modules every week; at this level pacing in Module 2 matters.
• Build a personal word list from missed vocabulary questions (see Words in Context).
• Treat every guessed-right question as a miss in your log.

Above about 1450

What usually costs points: one or two slips per section, often on questions you understand.

• Accuracy over speed: slow down on Module 1 to make sure you get the harder Module 2.
• Review every hard question you got right but took too long on.
• Check every Math answer in Desmos when time allows, and reread the question before submitting.
• Full practice tests matter more now: they reveal fatigue and focus lapses late in each section.

What helps at every level

• Short, frequent practice: several sessions a week beat one long one (see research-backed study techniques).
• Redo old mistakes: spaced review is where the gains stick.
• A practice test every three to four weeks to check that the plan is working.
• A realistic target: set it from your colleges' ranges, not from a number online (see what is a good SAT score).