Students applying to the University of California next year will not have to take the SAT or ACT and will not have letter grades factored into their admission applications, the university announced Wednesday.

Letter grades for this spring’s and summer’s high school courses also will not be counted for high school seniors who are already admitted to the UC system.

The UC made the decision in light of nationwide school closures, the cancellation of SAT and ACT tests this spring and several schools’ announcements that they will grade courses on a pass/fail basis, all due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement helps answer some high school students’ concerns about whether they will be able to satisfy course and test requirements to attend college.

“We want to help alleviate the tremendous disruption and anxiety that is already overwhelming prospective students due to COVID-19,” said John Perez, chair of the UC Board of Regents, in a statement. “By removing artificial barriers and decreasing stressors — including suspending the use of the SAT — for this unprecedented moment in time, we hope there will be less worry for our future students.”

The UC noted that the changes are temporary and will affect admission only for next school year.

The UC also said it will not revoke any student’s admission for this fall if a school or student misses the deadline to submit official transcripts, which is July 1.

Prospective students can still submit SAT and ACT scores for admission next year in order to qualify for scholarships or satisfy UC admission eligibility and some university graduation requirements.

But the UC says no student will be disadvantaged in their admission application for not submitting an SAT or ACT score.

The UC’s admission policy changes can be found at https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/response-covid-19.html.

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