ACT

The ACT is a university admissions exam in the United States, so if that is where you are applying, this is a test to get to know. The name is short for American College Testing, and a non-profit organisation called ACT, Inc. first ran it in 1959, which means you are sitting an exam with a long track record behind it. 

It has travelled a long way since then. Every four-year university in the United States accepts it, and so do many universities outside the country. That reach is why it is worth understanding properly.

You would normally sit it in 10th, 11th or 12th grade. Universities use it to get one common measure of what you can already do, and that is how they judge how ready you are for what comes after high school. 

The questions are multiple choice. They cover English, maths, reading and science, plus a writing paper you can add if you want it. 

So what does your score actually tell a university? Whether you are ready for first year work. Each section lines up with skills you would use in entry-level college courses in English, algebra, social sciences, humanities and biology. That is the whole job of the number.

Structure of the enhanced ACT

The ACT changed in 2025, so the version you will sit is not the one most older guides describe. The headline difference is this: the Science section is now optional, and it no longer counts towards your Composite score. Your Composite is the single headline number on your report. More on how it is built further down.

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

Take only the three sections that make up your Composite and you are facing 131 questions in 125 minutes. Add Science and it becomes 171 questions in 165 minutes. The essay puts another 40 minutes on top of whatever you choose.

You also choose whether to sit the test online or on paper. Decide early, and do your practice in the format you will actually face on the day.

Should you take the optional Science section?

This is the new decision the enhanced ACT hands you. Think it through rather than defaulting either way.

Science does not affect your Composite. But sit it and your report carries two extra numbers: a separate Science score and a STEM score. The STEM score is the average of your maths and science results. It is a quick read on how strong you are on the technical side. For a science or engineering application, that is a signal worth having. If you are applying 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. If yours do, the decision is already made for you.

English

50 questions in 35 minutes. You get short texts and essays with parts underlined. For each underlined part you pick the best revision, or decide that it is fine as it stands.

Two kinds of question come up. The first is usage and mechanics, which means the rules: commas, apostrophes, colons, comma splices, misplaced and dangling modifiers. The second is rhetorical skill, which means the choices a writer makes: style, strategy, transitions, and whether a sentence is organised clearly and concisely.

Both are learnable in a way that vocabulary is not. That makes English one of the more improvable sections.

Mathematics

45 questions in 50 minutes, covering the maths 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, not tricks.

Each question now has four answer choices rather than five. Small change, real effect. On a question you genuinely cannot solve, a guess is now a one in four shot instead of one in five. So never leave a maths question blank.

Questions generally get harder as you move through them, so the ones at the end are where your time disappears. Plan for that instead of being surprised by it.

Reading

36 questions in 40 minutes. The passages are the kind you would meet in a first year university course.

The questions ask you to find the main idea, interpret detail and follow cause and effect. You also work out what a word means in its context, compare texts, and weigh up the arguments and evidence a writer uses.

Notice the direction of travel here. Compared with the older ACT you get fewer questions and more time. The pace is less brutal than this section's reputation suggests.

Science (optional)

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

The most useful thing to know is that this is not really a test of what science you have memorised. You are handed scientific scenarios. Data in tables and graphs, summaries of experiments, passages where scientists disagree. Your job is to interpret them.

What it measures is whether you can read data, judge how evidence sits against a hypothesis, and reach a sound conclusion. A hypothesis is the explanation a scientist is testing. Being quick with graphs will do more for you here than remembering your biology syllabus.

Writing (optional)

One essay in 40 minutes, taken at the end. You are given a complex issue and three perspectives on it. You then develop your own position and analyse how it relates to at least one of those three.

You can adopt one of the three perspectives or argue something different entirely. Neither route is penalised, so choose the one you can argue best.

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 one that applies to any exam that has changed. 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 top of the scale.

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

Sit the optional sections and you get more than the Composite. Science gives you a separate Science score and a STEM score, the average of mathematics and science. Add the essay and you also pick up an English Language Arts score, which averages your English, reading and writing results, along with a set of writing subscores. A subscore just breaks your result into smaller parts, so you can see where you were strong and where you were not.

Calculators

You may use a calculator only on the mathematics test. Four-function, scientific and graphing calculators are all allowed, as long as your model is not on ACT's prohibited list.

Two things to check before test day. First, calculators with computer algebra system functionality are banned. That is the feature, usually shortened to CAS, that lets a calculator do algebra for you rather than just arithmetic. The non-CAS TI-Nspire is fine.

Second, the TI-89. It is the single most common reason students are dismissed from the ACT for a prohibited calculator. If that is the calculator 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. So 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. Optional Science adds 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 you can get.

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. You can bring a four-function, scientific or graphing calculator, as long as your model is not on ACT's prohibited list. Leave behind anything with computer algebra system functionality, usually shortened to CAS, which is the feature that lets a calculator do your algebra for you rather than just your arithmetic. The TI-89 deserves a special mention, because it is the single most common reason students are dismissed from the test. ACT says every problem can be solved without a calculator anyway.

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.