Is there an SAT in January?

No. There is no SAT in January or February, so the 2026-27 weekend SAT jumps from December 5, 2026 straight to March 6, 2027.

Why is there no SAT in January or February?

College Board does not schedule a weekend SAT in either month, and the same gap shows up every year.

The 2026-27 calendar has its fall dates (August 22, September 12, October 3, November 7 and December 5), then nothing until March 6. College Board's dates page does not give a reason, but the pattern holds into next year as well. The anticipated 2027-28 calendar runs December 4, 2027, then March 4, 2028. If your teen misses December, March is the next chance, every time.

The gap is the same for everyone. College Board states that its weekend dates and deadlines apply to all students, in the U.S. and internationally, so there is no January sitting elsewhere to fall back on.

There is one exception worth knowing. Some high schools give the SAT during the school day, and the spring School Day window for 2027 runs March 1 to April 30. Students do not register for that one themselves. The school or district handles it, so ask your teen's counselor whether their school offers it and on which day. If you want to see every date in one place, here is the full list of SAT dates for 2026.

If you are mapping out the spring now, our free SAT guide is a simple place to start planning backward from March.

My junior is busy until winter break. Which date should we aim for?

Aim for March 6, 2027, and start prep over winter break.

Carson hears this one a lot: a junior who is swamped in the fall, maybe with football season and band, and has no time to think about the SAT until December. His answer is direct. A busy fall is understandable, but "everyone has 16 hours in a day," and at some point the SAT has to move up the priority list. For a junior, the plan he recommends is to begin prep during winter break, while there is breathing room, and carry it through the start of the new year all the way to March.

If the spring schedule is just as packed, he suggests a second route: aim for June 5 instead and do very light prep spread over a longer stretch. Less time per week, more weeks. That trade works for plenty of students who cannot carve out big blocks.

What does not work is waiting for a quiet season that never comes. Starting junior year is on time, in Carson's words, but only if the student starts. Aiden, a junior who booked 1-on-1 sessions around his basketball schedule, went from 790 to 1010 in 8 weeks. For more on fitting sessions between practices and homework, see how busy students fit SAT prep in.

What if my senior needs a score this winter?

December 5, 2026 is the last SAT before the gap, and after it the next chance is March 6, 2027.

College Board itself labels the December 5 test "Last Test Before College Deadlines." Scores from that sitting are scheduled for release on December 18, 2026. A senior who misses the December registration deadline of November 20 still has until November 24 to register late, with an extra fee.

Whether a March score helps a senior depends entirely on the colleges. Some application and scholarship deadlines will have passed by then, and some colleges may still consider a later score. Check each college's policy on which test dates it accepts, and confirm it with the school's admissions office rather than relying on any summary, ours included. We cover the trade-offs in whether it is too late to test senior year.

Does a freshman need to plan around the gap?

No. For a ninth grader, the January and February gap does not matter yet.

Carson answered the same question for a freshman and laughed a little, because January and February are the two months with no SAT. The choices nearby are December or March. But his real advice for a freshman was to hold off on the SAT itself and come back as a sophomore. School coursework and plain growing up both push scores up on their own.

What he does recommend at that age: finish Algebra I, geometry and Algebra II on schedule, and build a reading habit, which he says helps on every standardized test. If the pressure is real, a light PSAT course can let a younger student get their feet wet without overloading them. The PSAT/NMSQT is scored 320 to 1520 and serves as the National Merit qualifying test in junior year. For the bigger picture on timing, see when your child should take the SAT.

The misconception: no test in January means January is a month off

January and February are the prep window for March, which makes them two of the most useful months of junior year.

Count backward from March 6, 2027. Eight weeks of prep starts on January 9. If your teen begins the day after Christmas, that is ten full weeks before test day. Kira went from 1270 to 1400 in 10 weeks; Alex went from 1310 to 1400 in the same span. Ten weeks is a real runway.

Two dates sit inside that window. Registration for March closes February 19, with late registration until February 23. And if your teen needs to borrow a testing device from College Board, the request has to go in at least 30 days before test day, which means around February 4 for the March SAT. Put both on the family calendar now.

The SAT is digital, taken in the Bluebook app, so the practice your teen does in January should happen in that same format. When you are ready to sketch a plan from winter break to test day, grab our free guide for parents and work from there.

Quick answers

What are the SAT dates for 2026-27?

The weekend dates are August 22, September 12, October 3, November 7 and December 5, 2026, then March 6, May 1 and June 5, 2027. Registration deadlines fall about two weeks before each test.

Is there an SAT in April?

There is no weekend SAT in April 2027. Some schools give SAT School Day during the spring window of March 1 to April 30, and the school handles registration for that.

When do December SAT scores come out?

College Board lists December 18, 2026 as the score release date for the December 5 SAT.

Is there a January SAT for international students?

No. College Board says its weekend test dates apply to all students, both U.S. and international, so the January and February gap is the same everywhere.

What are the SAT dates for 2027-28?

College Board's anticipated dates are August 28, September 18, October 9, November 6 and December 4, 2027, then March 4, May 6 and June 3, 2028. Again, nothing in January or February.

Sources

• SAT Suite Test Dates and Deadlines, College Board
• SAT Registration, College Board
• SAT Registration Dates and Deadlines, College Board