College Board Admits Printing Error In SAT, Some Questions Won't Count

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – The College Board said there was a printing error in the SAT exam taken last weekend by high school students in the Bay Area and across the country. As a result, part of their scores won't count.

While some students are relieved by the board's decision, others believe their scores will suffer.

17-year-old Ekam Grewal of Santa Clara said he'll be paying for their mistake. The test incorrectly stated he had 25 minutes. His proctor gave him the correct time of 20 minutes. Confusion across the country meant some students got the extra 5 minutes.

"If I had 5 more minutes on the exam, I would go back, check single question again. And the ones that I struggled on I would circle and redo. That would give me the extra 5 minutes to probably boost my score 50 points," Ekam told KPIX 5.

Over at Berkeley High, proctors had to figure out what to tell students.

"The students said, 'My book said 25, you're telling me 20,'" test proctor Benette Williams recalled. "So my supervisor said it's always been 20, it is going to be 20."

On Monday, the board apologized for the mistake and decided that the affected sections will be thrown out. "We will still be able to provide reliable scores," the board said in a statement.

Ekam doesn't agree. "I think for most students, especially in this area who are scoring pretty high, I think it would actually be a really unfair disadvantage," he said.

The board added that the test is designed to collect enough information for a valid score, even with an unscored section.