SAT Score Services: Question-and-Answer Service (QAS) vs. Student Answer Service (SAS). What’s the difference? How do you order them? How can it help you improve on the SAT?
When working with high school students looking to improve their SAT scores, it’s common to hear them wish they had a copy of the test booklet from the day they took the SAT. Did you know that this is an option for certain students on certain test dates? Today, we’ll take a look at the score verification services the SAT offers. There are two types of score services offered by College Board and the SAT. They’re called Student Answer Services, or SAS for short, and Question-and-Answer Service, or QAS for short. What’s the difference between each of the services, and what does each service include? Furthermore, how can you take advantage of these resources during your SAT prep journey? After all, the goal is to improve on the SAT! Read on to learn the answers to these questions and more.
What Both QAS and SAS Include
With either the Question-and-Answer Service (QAS) or the Student Answer Service (SAS), you can expect to receive a report that provides you details on the number of questions you answered correctly, incorrectly, or omitted on the SAT, as well as information on the different types of questions. Students are able to order student answer verification services at the time when they are registering for the SAT or up to five months after their SAT test date has passed. Depending on what test date they select and what test location they visit to take the SAT, they have the possibility of ordering either the Question-and-Answer Service or the Student Answer Service.
Question-and-Answer Service (QAS)
The Question-and-Answer Service is an excellent resource for students who have taken the SAT, and it’s the better of the two available score verification options. What makes the Question-and-Answer Service so attractive and useful? It allows students who have taken the SAT to look over their actual test booklet! That’s incredible. Think of how useful this resource can be: instead of wondering which questions you missed, you’ll be able to retrace your steps through missed questions and seek to understand your mistakes inside and out. The Question-and-Answer Service, however, is not available every SAT test date. Here is the information about the Question-and-Answer Service that the College Board provides on their web site:
The Question-and-Answer Service includes:
- A booklet copy of the SAT questions and a report including your answers for the specific testing administration
- The correct answers and additional scoring instructions
- Information about the type and difficulty of test questions
*If you are testing in October or March with school-based accommodations and wish to receive the QAS, call the SSD office at least two weeks in advance of test day to see if arrangements can be made.
The Question-and-Answer Service is not available for makeup test administrations, alternate date testing, or U.S. military personnel testing under the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) program.
Order Student Answer Service if Question-and-Answer Service is unavailable.
If you’re taking the SAT in October, March, or May, it’s extremely wise for you to order the Question-and-Answer service. Doing so can provide you (and your SAT prep tutor) an invaluable resource toward understanding what went wrong and what went right on the day of the test. By analyzing your missed questions inside and out, you’ll be going a long way toward ensuring you don’t repeat similar mistakes the next time you take the SAT.
Student Answer Services (SAS)
Student Answer Services is the less desirable of the two score verification options offered by the College Board to students who have taken the SAT, but it can still be a useful resource for understanding your performance on the test. The Student Answer Services report is a computer-generated document that contains information on the number of questions you missed on the SAT and what type of questions they are. You do NOT get to review the actual content of the questions you missed, however. Still, it can be a valuable resource. Perhaps you’re missing a lot of questions in the category labeled Expression of Ideas, or maybe you struggle with Command of Evidence. You’ll know if you order the SAS report. Do you start strong but then miss a string of questions toward the end of the Calculator Math section? You’ll know after a quick glance at the SAS report. Was the second-to-last reading passage the toughest one for you? The SAS report will offer you that insight. Remember, if the QAS service is available, it contains more information… but if it’s not, order the SAS service and bring it in to your tutor for review. Together, we’ll be able to come up with an SAT prep plan designed to address your specific weaknesses. Once you’ve achieved an understanding onf the types of questions you’ve missed, you’ll be less likely to repeat your mistakes in the future! Here’s the info about SAS from College Board:
With the Student Answer Service, you’ll get a computer-generated report containing:
- Questions answered correctly, incorrectly, or omitted
- Information about the type of test questions and level of difficulty for each question
Actual test questions and answers are not included.
Ordering Info
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Up to five months after your test date: If you didn’t order Student Answer Service with your registration, there are three ways you can order. You can order online by signing into your College Board account and selecting Order Verification within My Scores.
Useful, right?
If you’re a high school student looking to improve your SAT score, consider ordering score verification services from the College Board. Armed with either the Question-and-Answer Service, which provides you a copy of your test booklet, or the Student Answer Service, which provides you with a report of missed questions and the type of questions you missed, you’ll be sure to make significant improvements to your SAT score! Working with a top tutor, there’s no limit to how many points you can gain.
Hopefully this article has been helpful. Good luck on the SAT, and please let us know in the comments section if you’re looking for SAT and ACT prep. We’re here to help 🙂
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