Around half of the students registered to take a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in September and October won’t be able to do so because the pandemic has forced test centers to close.
SAT is the standardized test widely used for admission in US colleges.
On September 26, when the test is scheduled, 183,000 out of the approximately 334,000 students registered for the test will be unable to take it, said the College Board, the nonprofit that administers the SAT college admissions test.
While on October 3, the non-profit added, around 154,000 out of 363,000 students will be unable to take the test.
Local test centers make individual decisions about whether to administer the SAT. If your September SAT test center decides to close, a full refund will be applied to the payment method you used to register and you can register for another fall test date. https://t.co/Q76qzH2hbl
— The College Board (@CollegeBoard) September 18, 2020
Only 61 percent of the centers scheduled to have the test in September is currently open with a reduced capacity of 9 percent, the College Board said, and only 65 percent centers are open now for the October date, with a capacity of 27 percent.
August saw similar issues when close to half of the students registered for the test was unable to do so.
Colleges Urged to Extend Deadline
In light of the situation, the College Board has urged colleges to extend the deadlines for receiving the test scores and even consider the students for admission who couldn’t take the test due to the pandemic.
The organization has also appealed to the test canters to report closures as quickly as possible so that they can inform the students about it before the test day.
Students whose tests get canceled will receive a refund and can register for a future test date.