What is the QAS?
The QAS (Question and Answer Service) is a service offered by the College Board for select administrations of the SAT. The service provides a copy of the exam questions, the student’s answers, and the correct answers, and is available only for the March, May, and October national SAT administrations; for all other national test dates, the test questions are not released.
What changed?
In the past, the College Board would mail a physical copy of the test booklet (a fresh copy—not the one students wrote in on test day). But in March 2019, the College Board stopped mailing physical booklets and instead began providing access to the test questions via students’ online College Board accounts. While the move makes sense in an increasingly digital world, it also makes it more difficult for future students to use released tests for full-length practice exams.
While these changes were unannounced and not stated explicitly on the College Board’s website, it does appear that students who register for their tests by mail may still be able to obtain a paper version of the QAS.
Why You Should Still Order the QAS
Though it costs $18 (fee waivers are available for qualified students), the QAS is well worth the additional expense. It is the only tool that allows students direct insight into their test-day performance, as it can reveal tendencies to make careless errors, pacing difficulties, struggles with specific question types, and uneven performance with problems of varied difficulty. Reviewing with a QAS exam can thus help students prepare for their next SAT more intelligently and efficiently.
