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When finishing the PSAT, exhausted students have the option of taking their test booklet with them. Many students do this. Later, they can look at the questions that were most challenging and come up with strategies to learn the subject matter behind those questions. When students receive their scores, they can further consider whether they were correct in identifying the questions on which they were sure and those on which they guessed.
On Friday, the College Board notified those who organize PSAT administrations that those who take the test on Saturdays (a relatively small share of those who take the PSAT) will no longer be able to take their test booklets with them.
No reason was given for the change. On discussion lists of admissions officers and high school counselors, the move was criticized. Some saw the College Board as trying to get schools to give the PSAT on Wednesdays (a move resisted by some who prefer not to use up school days for testing). Many others speculated that the College Board was trying to preserve the ability to reuse test questions, even though many believe that the reuse of questions makes it easier for those who are trying to cheat on the PSAT and the SAT.
Zach Goldberg, a spokesman for the College Board, in an email suggested that the change was related to security concerns. "This policy change was made to protect the integrity of future exam administrations," he said.
Goldberg added, "We know some have expressed concerns and want to assure educators that the decision was made with care, consideration, and with their feedback in mind. Saturday was selected because the majority of schools who administer the test on a Saturday told us they don’t use the question-level details or want to store their test books. Saturday school-users accounted for 2 percent of our online question-level data users in the K-12 score reporting portal. Additionally, when compared to the primary and alternate test dates, the overall number of Saturday test takers is substantially lower."
