'Ambitious' redesign coming to SAT, College Board says

The organization that runs the SAT says it is planning to make "ambitious" changes to the college-admissions test.

The makeover would be the test's first overhaul since 2005, when the SAT added a writing section and raised the highest possible score to 2400, up from 1600.

So far, the College Board is offering few specifics on what changes might be coming to the test, which was taken by nearly 1.7 million high school students in 2012.

"An improved SAT will strongly focus on the core knowledge and skills that evidence shows are most important to prepare students for the rigors of college and career," College Board president David Coleman wrote in an announcement about the planned changes.

He called the plan an "ambitious endeavor" and said the board aims to revamp the test so it "mirrors the work that students will do in college."

The SAT has been the most well-known college admissions exam for decades, but has been taken over by a competing exam, the ACT, in recent years.

In 2012, 1,666,017 students took the ACT, compared with 1,664,479 for the SAT, according to data from the testing companies.

Coleman didn't say when test takers might experience the changes. He only said discussions about the redesign would begin in the coming months.