Multiple ACT Scores

Perspectives on Multiple Scores

Approaches for Forming Composite Scores Using Multiple Sets of ACT Scores

Students, educators, and other people frequently ask us how colleges and universities should respond when they get ACT scores from applicants who have taken the ACT more than once.

We believe postsecondary institutions (and scholarship-awarding organizations) are in the best position to meet their unique needs and priorities by deciding for themselves how to consider multiple score reports.

We also believe it’s important for everyone to have the same information about composite scores, section scores, retesting, superscoring, and best practices.

What is the ACT Composite score?

The ACT Composite score is the average of a student’s performance in each of the required test sections. Historically, that meant a student who completed the English, math, reading, and science sections received a Composite score. And a student can have multiple Composite Scores based on the number of times the student completes the required sections.

We introduced the enhanced ACT in April 2025. For students who take the enhanced test, the Composite score is an average of their English, math, and reading section scores. That change to how Composite scores are calculated will take effect for all ACT testers starting September 2025.

What is a Superscore?

For the ACT Test, a superscore is the average of a student’s highest score on the English, math, and reading sections across all the ACT tests the student has taken.

Remember! This is a change introduced in April 2025 for students who have taken the enhanced ACT. This “English, math, reading” calculation goes into effect for all students who take an ACT test in or after September 2025.

ACT’s Position on Superscoring

View "How to Best Predict your Applicant's Performance at Your College" (PDF)

In the past, ACT discouraged the use of superscoring. We changed our position after a 2018 study showed that superscores were just as predictive (actually slightly more predictive) of the grades a first-year college student would earn as other scoring methods (recent, average, highest administration).

FAQs

...it’s not part of the Composite score?

Students who take the science test will continue to receive a science section score on the same scale of 1–36 and a STEM score, which is the average of the student’s scores on math and science tests taken during the same administration.

Students who take the optional writing test get six additional scores that they can share with institutions of higher education and scholarship-awarding institutions:

  • An overall writing score on a scale of 2–12
  • An English Language Arts (ELA) score on a scale of 1–36 (This is determined by the student’s scores on the English, reading, and writing tests taken during the same administration)
  • Four domain scores related to writing competencies (Ideas and Analysis; Development and Support; Organization; and Language Use and Conventions) on a scale of 2–12 
...for students who have multiple sets of test scores?

Survey results demonstrate that there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Some institutions use a student's most recent Composite score to inform admission, placement, and scholarship decisions. Others look at select section scores a student has earned. And still other institutions have different policies.

Each approach has its advantages. The student’s most recent Composite score is most closely aligned to a student’s current level of achievement. The single highest Composite score, on the other hand, allows for the fact that students don’t always perform at their best. If, for example, a student had a poor night's sleep, suffered a sudden attack of nerves, or was preoccupied with a personal problem, the student's most recent test score may reflect the student’s skills and knowledge less accurately than higher scores the student previously earned. Use of the combined highest composite score might be explained similarly.

We believe postsecondary institutions (and scholarship-awarding organizations) are in the best position to decide how to consider multiple score reports, based on their unique needs and priorities. We also believe institutions should take two additional factors into consideration:

  1. Consistency. Concerns of fairness arise if one score-use policy is applied to some groups of applicants and a different score-use policy is applied to other groups of applicants 
  2. Concordance. For institutions that receive both ACT and SAT scores from applicants, the 2018 ACT-SAT concordance should be used to convert SAT scores to ACT scores and vice versa.

Students who have taken additional relevant coursework since they last tested may wish to retest, since they have reason to suppose they will do better next time. Students who believe their previous scores do not accurately reflect their achievement may also wish to retest. If, for example, they were ill or otherwise indisposed when tested, or if they were unfamiliar with testing procedures, it is reasonable to expect that they may do better on retesting.