Students affected by SAT glitch will get a chance to retake exam Saturday

“We deeply and sincerely apologize to the students who were not able to complete their tests, or had their test time interrupted, for the difficulty and frustration this has caused them and their families,” the statement said.

The College Board said more than 268,000 students worldwide took the March 8 exam. The organization estimates the glitch affected 12.8% (8,855) of international test takers and 0.6% (1,231) of those in the U.S. The agency said several thousand students in the Americas may have been affected if their proctor asked them to reboot their devices in an attempt to fix the mistake.

The College Board said students whose tests were submitted early will get a refund and a voucher to take the test in the future. They can either keep their scores or cancel them and retake the test Saturday if there is a testing site available in their area. The College Board said it won’t send students’ scores to colleges unless they request it.

Although most accredited U.S. colleges and universities have historically required either SAT or ACT scores as part of a prospective student’s application, some have gone “test optional” in recent years. Several private metro Atlanta colleges and universities have test-optional admissions, including Agnes Scott College, Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, Morehouse College, Oglethorpe University and Spelman College.

The University System of Georgia temporarily waived SAT and ACT admissions requirements in 2021 due during the COVID-19 pandemic. The USG extended the waiver for 23 of the system’s 26 public colleges and universities for the 2025-26 school year.