ACT

ACT, or American College Testing, is an exam that was first introduced in 1959 by a non-profit organization called ACT, Inc. It is used for university admissions in the United States. 

Over the years, the ACT exam has become widespread and standardized internationally, being accepted by all four-year universities in the United States and many universities outside the United States.

The ACT exam is designed for students in 10th, 11th, and/or 12th grade to provide the necessary data to higher education institutions that will lead them to success after high school. 

The ACT assesses the general development of high school students through multiple-choice tests covering English, Math, Reading Skills, Science, and optionally Writing. 

In other words, the scores from the ACT exam serve as an indicator of college preparedness, and scores on each of the test's sub-sections correspond to skills found in entry-level college courses in English, algebra, social sciences, humanities, and biology.

Structure of the enhanced ACT

The ACT changed in 2025, and the version you will sit is not the one described in most older guides. The headline difference is this: the Science section is now optional, and it no longer counts towards your Composite score.

Section	Questions	Time	Counts towards Composite?
English	50	35 minutes	Yes
Mathematics	45	50 minutes	Yes
Reading	36	40 minutes	Yes
Science (optional)	40	40 minutes	No
Writing (optional)	1 essay	40 minutes	No

If you take only the three sections that make up your Composite, that is 131 questions in 125 minutes. Adding Science brings it to 171 questions and 165 minutes, and the essay puts another 40 minutes on top of whatever you choose.

You also get to choose whether to take the test online or on paper.

Should you take the optional Science section?

This is the new decision the enhanced ACT hands you, and it is worth thinking about properly rather than defaulting either way.

Science does not affect your Composite. But if you sit it, your report carries a separate Science score and a STEM score, which is the average of your mathematics and science results. For a science or engineering application that is a signal worth having. If you are heading somewhere that will never look at it, skipping Science saves you 40 questions and 40 minutes of hard concentration on the day.

Before you decide, check the requirements of the universities actually on your list. Some still ask for Science, and that settles the question for you.

English

50 questions in 35 minutes. You are given short texts and essays with parts underlined, and for each one you choose the best revision — or decide that no change is needed.

The questions cover two things. The first is usage and mechanics: commas, apostrophes, colons, comma splices, misplaced and dangling modifiers. The second is rhetorical skill: style, strategy, transitions, and whether a sentence is organised clearly and concisely. Both are learnable in a way that vocabulary is not, which makes English one of the more improvable sections.

Mathematics

45 questions in 50 minutes, covering the mathematics you meet up to around year 11. You do not need to memorise obscure formulas or grind through long calculations; the test is built on foundational content rather than tricks.

Each question now has four answer choices rather than five. That is a small change with a real effect: on a question you genuinely cannot solve, a guess is now a one-in-four shot instead of one-in-five. Never leave a maths question blank.

Questions generally get harder as the numbers go up, so the ones at the end are where time disappears. Plan for that rather than being surprised by it.

Reading

36 questions in 40 minutes. You read passages of the kind you would meet in a first-year university course and answer questions that ask you to find the main idea, interpret detail, follow cause and effect, work out what a word means in its context, compare texts, and weigh the arguments and evidence a writer uses.

Note the direction of travel here: compared with the older ACT you get fewer questions and more time. That makes pace slightly less brutal than the reputation the section carries.

Science (optional)

40 questions in 40 minutes, drawing on biology, chemistry, physics and earth and space sciences.

The most useful thing to understand about this section is that it is not really a science knowledge test. You are given scientific scenarios — data presented in tables and graphs, summaries of experiments, and passages where scientists disagree — and asked to interpret them. What is being measured is whether you can read data, judge how evidence relates to a hypothesis, and draw a sound conclusion. Being strong at reading graphs matters more here than remembering your biology syllabus.

Writing (optional)

One essay in 40 minutes, taken at the end. You are given a complex issue along with three perspectives on it, and asked to develop your own position and analyse how it relates to at least one of those given. You can adopt one of the three perspectives or argue something different entirely — neither choice is penalised.

What changed with the enhanced ACT

	Older ACT	Enhanced ACT
Science	Compulsory, part of the Composite	Optional, outside the Composite
Composite score	Average of four tests	Average of English, maths and reading
English	75 questions in 45 minutes	50 questions in 35 minutes
Mathematics	60 questions in 60 minutes	45 questions in 50 minutes
Reading	40 questions in 35 minutes	36 questions in 40 minutes
Maths answer choices	5	4
Format	Paper	Online or paper, your choice

The practical warning is the same one that applies to any changed exam: if you are working from a prep book or a practice test made before 2025, you are rehearsing for a test that no longer exists. Check the date before you trust the material.

Scoring

Each multiple-choice test is scored from 1 to 36, and 36 is the highest score there is.

Your Composite score is the average of English, mathematics and reading. This is the number universities usually mean when they quote an ACT requirement, and it is where your preparation time has the most leverage.

If you take the optional sections you receive more than the Composite. Science gives you a separate Science score and a STEM score, the average of mathematics and science. Sitting the essay adds an English Language Arts score, which averages English, reading and writing, along with a set of writing subscores.

Calculators

A calculator may be used only on the mathematics test. Four-function, scientific and graphing calculators are all allowed, provided the model is not on ACT's prohibited list.

Two things to check before test day. Calculators with computer algebra system functionality are banned, though the non-CAS TI-Nspire is fine. And the TI-89 is the single most common reason students are dismissed from the ACT for a prohibited calculator — if that is the one sitting on your desk at home, sort out a replacement well in advance.

One reassurance from ACT itself: every problem on the test can be solved without a calculator. Bring one you know well rather than a powerful one you have never used.

Frequently asked questions

Is the ACT Science section still compulsory?

No. On the enhanced ACT, Science is an optional add-on and does not count towards your Composite score. You choose whether to sit it.

How is the ACT Composite score calculated now?

It is the average of your English, mathematics and reading scores. Science and writing no longer feed into it, even if you take them.

How long is the enhanced ACT?

The three sections that make up your Composite take 125 minutes: 35 minutes of English, 50 of mathematics and 40 of reading. Adding optional Science puts on another 40 minutes, and the optional essay a further 40.

What is the ACT score range?

Each multiple-choice test is scored from 1 to 36, and 36 is the highest score available.

Should I take the optional Science section?

It depends on where you are applying. Taking it gives you a separate Science score and a STEM score, which is worth having for science and engineering courses. Check the requirements of your universities first, because some still ask for it.

Can I use a calculator on the ACT?

Yes, but only on the mathematics test. Four-function, scientific and graphing calculators are allowed as long as the model is not on ACT's prohibited list. Calculators with computer algebra system functionality are banned, and the TI-89 is the single most common reason students are dismissed from the test. ACT notes that every problem can be solved without a calculator.

Can I take the ACT online instead of on paper?

Yes. The enhanced ACT lets you choose between online and paper testing, so you can sit it in whichever format suits you.