When Is the PSAT? 2024 PSAT Test Dates

Are you a PSAT aspirant and wondering when is the PSAT test? Do you know when the deadline for PSAT registration is? Keep reading ahead to learn more about when the next PSAT exam will be held and other related details about it. 

What is PSAT? 

The Preliminary SAT is a practice and mock version of the SAT exam. It is commonly known as the PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). The PSAT is only offered once a year, and many students take it in both the 10th and 11th grades. If you score well on the PSAT in your junior year, you may be eligible for a National Merit Scholarship. Around $180 million in merit scholarships are offered each year to students. The PSAT is a two-hour, 45-minute test that assesses your reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. Unlike the SAT, the PSAT allows for a maximum score of 1520. 

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PSAT Exams
The PSAT/NMSQT stands for Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Here are the three types of PSAT exams:

• PSAT 8/9
  This test is given to eighth and ninth-grade students during the school year (there is no fixed date). The PSAT 8/9 is twenty minutes shorter than the PSAT, going for around 2 hours and 25 minutes. It has five fewer Reading, ten fewer Math, and four fewer Writing and Language questions than the PSAT exam. It is also graded on its scale, ranging from 240 to 1440.
  Whereas PSAT 10 is a 10-point scale.
• PSAT 10
  This is the same exam as the PSAT/NMSQT, but there is no “NMSQT.” In other words, your PSAT 10 score will not qualify you for National Merit Scholarships. It is scored on a scale of 320–1520. This exam takes 2 hours and 45 minutes, just like the PSAT/NMSQT. It has 47 Reading, 48 Math, and 44 Writing and Language questions. Unlike the PSAT for eleventh graders, the PSAT 10 is given in the spring of the sophomore year of college.
• PSAT/NMSQT
  PSAT/NMSQT is the same test as the PSAT 10, except that a sufficiently high score on the PSAT/NMSQT can qualify you for a National Merit Scholarship. It is given in the fall of junior year. The current PSAT/NMSQT has fifteen fewer questions than the SAT, with five fewer questions in reading, ten fewer in Math, and the same number in Writing and Language.

The PSAT currently takes only fifteen minutes shorter than the SAT to complete. In a nutshell, the PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT are essentially similar. The biggest distinctions are in time duration and scoring. The PSAT is graded on a scoring scale of 320–1520, whereas the SAT is graded on 400–1600. 

When is the next PSAT test? 

The PSAT is usually held in October. However, due to the covid-19 pandemic, a new date of January 2024 was issued for schools that could not administer the exam in October 2023. 

In October 2024, 10th and 11th students took the PSAT NMSQT. In the autumn of 2024, there are three PSAT exam dates:
Primary: Wednesday, October 13
Weekend: Saturday, October 16
Alternate: Thursday, October 26 

When are the PSAT 2024 Test Dates? 

The College Board also anticipates three PSAT dates in 2024:
Primary: October 12, 2024
Weekend: October 15, 2024
Alternate: October 26, 2024 

Key updates for 2024
Most test administration policies offered by the High schools for more flexibility in 2024-25 are being extended. In addition, to adhere to Covid-19, these policies have been raised this fall to make it easier to adhere to the local health guidelines. 

The following policies have been put in place to provide more flexibility: 

• Colleges can divide the candidates on various days for the PSAT/NMSQT exam by placing multiple test dates.
  1. Tests for the Primary and Alternate or
  2. Tests for Saturday and Alternate 
• You can divide your students across two administration days to help with space limits. Alternatively, you can order a few more test booklets for the Alternate if students miss the first exam date. There is no minimum number of students who can test on any administration date.
  ● On Tuesday, October 26, 2024, the PSAT/NMSQT Alternate was held. The test dates were chosen to give schools a variety of possibilities on different days of the week. Schools that intend to test their students on the Alternate solely should be informed that extra administrations will be available if they cannot test due to unanticipated circumstances.

How Long Does the PSAT take? 

You will have the summer to study for the PSAT because it is scheduled for the first day of the school year in October. Although you shouldn’t prepare as diligently for the PSAT as you would for the real SAT, you should consider it if you want to maybe achieve high enough scores to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship. 

How Long is the PSAT 2024? 

Timeline for PSAT 2024-25 

• December 10, 2024
  The deadline for schools to submit SSD testing accommodations requests for February and March.
• January 7, 2024
  The deadline for schools outside the United States to buy exam materials for February and March.
• January 28, 2024
  The deadline for schools in the United States to order exam materials for February and March.
• February 15, 2024
  In February and March, test materials for school testing arrive.
• February 18, 2024
  The deadline for schools outside the United States to obtain April exam materials.
• February 21, 2024
  1. Testing will commence in February and March.
  2. The deadline for schools to submit SSD testing accommodations requests for April testing. 
• February 25, 2024
  The deadline for schools in the United States to order April exam materials.
• March 25, 2024
  Testing for February and March months.
• April 4, 2024
  For April, all schools will get exam materials.
• April 13, 2024
  Testing will begin in April.
• April 29, 2024
  April is the last month of testing.

When is the PSAT test estimated for 2024 and 2025 

You might be thinking and wondering when is the next PSAT. Here are some projections for when the PSAT will be held in 2024 and 2025, based on previous dates: 

Year	Regular Date	Alternative Date	Saturday Date
2024	Wednesday, October 9	Wednesday, October 23	Saturday, October 12
2025	Wednesday, October 8	Wednesday, October 22	Saturday, October 11

How to register for PSAT, and when is the deadline for PSAT registration? 

Step 1: Determine if the PSAT will be offered at your school: To begin, check if your high school will be administering the PSAT. The College Board’s school search tool is the quickest method to find this out. All you have to do is put in the name of your institution, city, state (if relevant), zip code, and country. Then, when you click “Search,” you will see an entry that includes your school’s name and address and its assessment and test dates. 

Step 2: Find out the deadline for PSAT registration and when the test is scheduled.
The major exam date, which is always a weekday in early or mid-October, is chosen by most high schools. Some schools may pick the Saturday PSAT date or an alternate exam day to accommodate unique schedules or religious observances. Consult your counselor or use the school search tool to determine when the PSAT will be administered at your school in 2024. 

Step 3: The next step is to enroll in the PSAT. PSAT sign-up procedures differ per school. Some colleges may need you to register and pay for the test. But, others may require you to register and pay for the test online. 

How Much Time Do You Have on the PSAT? 

You will be a sophomore or junior if you take the PSAT in 2024 or 2025. Depending on your current grade, you may have more or less time between the PSAT and the SAT. 

Sophomores 

The amount of time you have until the real SAT is determined by how early you take it! For example, after your sophomore year, you can elect to take the SAT in the spring or summer to familiarise yourself with the test structure. It will give you plenty of time to study for your weak areas before the exam. However, if you want to avoid a re-test and want to study over the summer, you might alternatively wait until your junior year to take the exam for the first time. Depending on when you want to start and how many times you want to take the exam, you may have up to a year between taking the PSAT and taking the SAT for the first time. In general, taking the SAT for the first time in your junior year is good. 

Juniors 

You will have less time before the SAT if you take the PSAT as a junior. However, taking the PSAT as a junior is helpful since you will absorb more information in school and better understand all the ideas assessed. 

How to prepare for the PSAT exam? 

As the PSAT test is usually scheduled for the start of the school year in October, you will have the whole summertime to study for it. If you want to be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, you should consider studying regularly with dedication. Take a practice exam to analyze how you perform, and then concentrate on strengthening your weak areas. One of the easiest ways to prepare for the PSAT is to pay attention in class and do some good extra reading at home. To perform well on this exam and the SAT, you will need to improve your logical thinking and reading comprehension abilities, and fundamental quantitative understanding. Learning these concepts naturally over time will also help you in the long run. If your preparation goes well and your practice tests show significant improvement, you can try taking the SAT in your junior year. 

How frequently may one take the PSAT?  

In high school, students may take the PSAT a maximum of three times. Nevertheless, you can only take the exam once a year. You can only register for one exam date per year, regardless of how many dates your institution offers. Although the test is typically taken in the eleventh grade, you could take it in the ninth or tenth grade to get more practice. Note that sophomores are not eligible for a National Merit Scholarship; only juniors who take the PSAT will be considered. The PSAT 8/9 or PSAT 10, which are two slightly simpler versions of the PSAT/NMSQT designed for eighth, ninth, and tenth graders, respectively, may be preferable for ninth graders who want to start their SAT preparation early.