Google Adds SAT Prep and Score Coaching to Gemini

Google just gave Gemini a new “study mode” that’s going to get a lot of attention from students — and a lot of side-eye from the test prep industry.

The company announced that Gemini can now generate full SAT practice tests for free, along with coaching to help students improve their scores. Since the SAT follows a predictable structure, you don’t even need some elaborate prompt to get started — you can simply say something like, “I want to take a practice SAT test,” and Gemini will build one for you with a more interactive interface than a typical chatbot response. Google says the experience includes clickable buttons, graphs, score breakdowns, and the ability to review past answers.

Of course, the big concern with using AI to study is accuracy. A practice test isn’t very helpful if the model confidently gets something wrong. Google says it worked with education companies like The Princeton Review to make sure the AI-generated exams look and feel like what students will actually see on test day. And if you get stuck, there’s an “Explain answer” button built right into each question, so students can quickly understand why something was marked right or wrong instead of just moving on confused.

It’s also hard to miss what this could do to the SAT prep business. Test prep courses and books can cost hundreds of dollars, and private tutoring can run into the thousands — which adds up to a multi-billion dollar industry. Students have already been using AI chatbots as unofficial tutors (hallucinations and all), so giving Gemini an official SAT prep feature could accelerate the shift even more.

Google says the SAT is just the starting point, and that it plans to support other standardized tests down the line. But the message is already clear: AI isn’t just helping students finish homework faster — it’s moving directly into the expensive world of test prep, and doing it for free.

This analysis is based on reporting from Ars Technica.

Image courtesy of Unsplash.

This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.