The digital SAT's format has a genuinely different scoring mechanic than the paper test it replaced -- and confusion about exactly how that mechanic works is common enough that it's worth a closer, more precise look than a format overview has room for.
What College Board actually confirms
Per College Board's own explanation, each section -- Reading & Writing, then Math -- is split into two modules, and "the questions you're given in the second module depend on how you performed on the first module." The difficulty mix in Module 2 runs, on average, either higher or lower than Module 1's mix, depending on that performance. College Board is explicit that this doesn't disadvantage anyone: your final score reflects your answers across both modules, not a penalty for landing on the easier version. What College Board's own materials don't publish is the exact performance threshold that determines which Module 2 a given student receives -- that specific mechanic isn't public.
What test-prep firms estimate the threshold actually is
Because the exact cutoff isn't official, test-prep companies that have studied real score patterns publish their own estimates instead. A commonly cited figure: getting roughly two-thirds of Module 1 questions correct routes a student to the harder Module 2 ("Module 2B"); falling short of that routes to the easier version ("Module 2A"). Because harder questions are generally weighted to contribute more to the final scaled score, reaching the harder module raises a student's realistic score ceiling for that section. Treat this two-thirds figure as an informed outside estimate, not a College Board-confirmed number -- useful for understanding roughly how the mechanic behaves, not a precise target to calculate your way toward on test day.
The Enhanced ACT is officially confirmed to not be adaptive at all
This is where the two tests genuinely diverge, and it's confirmed directly rather than estimated: ACT's own materials state that "the ACT test remains a linear assessment and will not be adaptive" with its 2026 enhancements, and separately confirm that even where the ACT is administered digitally, it is not a computer-adaptive test. Every ACT test-taker sees the same questions in the same order, regardless of how they're performing as they go -- there's no Module 1-to-Module 2 branching, no harder or easier version handed out based on earlier answers. If you're choosing between the two tests partly based on how adaptive scoring feels to you as a test-taker, that's a real, confirmed difference, not a marketing distinction. See the fuller SAT-vs-ACT comparison for how this fits into the rest of the decision.
What this means for you
- Don't treat Module 1 as a warm-up you can coast through. Whatever the exact threshold turns out to be, your performance on it is what determines your access to the higher-scoring Module 2 track.
- Don't try to calculate your way to a precise two-thirds target on test day. That figure is a test-prep estimate, not a College Board-published rule -- aim to do your genuine best on Module 1 rather than chasing an unconfirmed number.
- If you specifically want a test that doesn't change difficulty based on your performance, the Enhanced ACT is confirmed to work that way -- the digital SAT is confirmed not to.
- This is one piece of a bigger format picture -- see the full Digital SAT format breakdown for timing, sections, and what else changed for 2026-27.