ACT Test Enhancements: K-12 Educators

ACT Enhancements: Supporting Student Success
for K-12 Leaders

 

The ACT test enhancements were designed with today’s students in mind, supporting a streamlined testing experience that is more accessible and actionable. The updated format offers students greater flexibility while preserving the validity and reliability that K-12 leaders rely on for guiding students toward successful pathways in higher education.   

Starting in April 2025, the enhancements will apply to students who opt to take the national test online. The ACT will be shorter, and students can choose to take the test without the science section. These changes will extend to the national paper-pencil test format beginning in September 2025. The ACT Composite score will then be based on English, math, and reading, with science reported separately for students who choose to take it. This update enables colleges to make data-driven decisions with minimal disruption and empowers K-12 leaders to better prepare students for college and career success.  

Beginning in Spring 2026, schools and districts can leverage these enhancements when administering the ACT during a school day.  

Students Spoke, We Listened!

What We Heard How the ACT is Improving What This Means for the Testing Experience
"The test is too long, I need more time!”
  • Reducing the number of questions overall (44 fewer questions to be exact.)
  • Reducing the test length from up to 195 minutes to 125 minutes.
  • More time per question.
  • Reducing the number of math question answer choices from 5 to 4.
 A test that's more manageable so students can shine, while also maintaining the integrity and rigor of the ACT that colleges rely on and trust to aid in the admissions process and get students placed into the right courses.
"The science section scares me." Students can now choose to take the ACT with or without science. More choice and more flexibility, allowing students to tailor their experience to fit their needs. This gives them more control over their testing experience.
"I want to show off my science and math skills for my major." The score report will include a science score and a STEM score if students choose to take the science section. If a student is planning to take science courses in college, they still have the option of taking the ACT with science to showcase their skills and work toward their future goals.
"I don't want to test on a computer. I still want paper." The choice is still theirs! The ACT is available via paper/pencil or online.

Students can test the way they feel most comfortable and show off their best performance.

Note: If choosing to test online, these enhancements will be made available beginning with the April 2025 ACT test. These enhancements to the test will take effect, regardless of testing mode, beginning with the September 2025 ACT test.

Enhancements Timeline

April 2025

ACT National Online Only

September 2025

  • ACT National Paper & International
  • Updated Composite Score for All ACT Tests

Spring 2026

State & District Spring 2026 Testing

K-12 Webinar: Raising the Bar

Exploring ACT Enhancements

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the upcoming ACT enhancements to stay fully prepared and informed on how these changes will shape future testing experiences for national and state and district administrations. 

Reliable, Relevant, and Ready: Evidence Supporting the New ACT Test Enhancements

ACT's recent studies underscore the value of the ACT enhancements. Our evidence shows that the enhancements, made through a rigorous process of design, evaluation, data collection, and validation, improve examinees’ experience while maintaining the meaning of the test scores. These adjustments ensure that students are not only able to complete the test more comfortably but are also better supported to demonstrate their knowledge and skills effectively. Importantly, these changes did not affect test difficulty.

An overview of published research on the ACT enhancements is offered in Interpreting Scores on the Enhanced ACT: Guidance for K-12 and Higher Education Institutions. This resource explores key findings of the research publications below, reinforcing that ACT scores continue to be valid and trustworthy, and that they can be used interchangeably with scores from the legacy exam.

Initial Evidence Supporting Interpretations of Scores from the Enhanced ACT Test offers a longer discussion of evidence supporting the scores from the enhanced ACT. The report focuses on reliability, concurrent validity, predictive validity, and score comparability. The Enhanced ACT Linking Study Report focuses on analyses and findings from the June 2024 Linking Study, psychometric research conducted to link the enhanced ACT to the legacy version of the test so that the test section scores are reported on the same 1-36 scales and can be used interchangeably.

This research allows students, educators, and institutions to confidently use scores from the enhanced ACT, knowing they are comparable to legacy ACT scores

K-12 Resources

K-12 Educator's Guide to the ACT Enhancements (PDF)
Counselor Toolkit
 
Provide Access to the ACT through District Testing

K-12 FAQs

...their Composite score?​

No. All Composite scores from all ACT programs (National, International, State & District, paper, online) will move to the new calculated Composite score starting in September 2025. This provides students and higher education with a consistent change over to the new calculation for all tests from that point forward.​  
​  
Allowing students to choose to take the ACT with or without science does not impact the Composite score distributions across the population of applicants.​  

If a student elects to take the science section, we will provide their science section score and STEM score on all reports; this includes sending those scores to institutions of higher education and other programs that have used these scores in the past.​ 

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...co-exist for a period of time?

Yes. When we release the enhanced ACT for National Online testing in April, June, and July 2025, those students’ scores will be reported using a new English, math, and reading calculated Composite (this will begin the choice for students to test with or without science). There will still be paper National, State & District, and International ACT test events (through the summer of 2025) that will have an English, math, reading, science calculated Composite from concurrent test events.​ 

​Additionally, we will not be retroactively recalculating student Composite scores for students who tested prior to the Composite score conversion.​ 

​Since ACT research has shown that the Composite scores using current and the new calculation are comparable, and ACT research scientists will continue to validate this through the changeover period, colleges and universities can continue to use the Composite for their required purposes (admissions, scholarship eligibility, placement, etc.). 

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Our content teams are currently working on proposals for new PreACT blueprints that will align with the enhanced ACT. We are hoping to roll out the new blueprints in Spring 2026 (along with the change to the new Composite score at that time) for PreACT 9 Secure and PreACT Secure when the State and District ACT changes roll out. The PreACT 8/9 and PreACT changes will happen starting in Fall 2026. ​ 

Science, for now, is staying part of the PreACT test battery for all customers. If schools or districts wish to take PreACT with or without science to mimic what they are offering for the ACT, they just won't complete the science section. It won't affect scores, since Composite will be calculated based on English, math and reading only. They just won't get a Science or STEM score and it will show up as " - - " on their score reports.​ 

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ACT has posted out a practice test in the online format for those preparing for April, June, or July of 2025. The full-length practice tests are available the bottom of that page and come in both timed and untimed formats. Students can use these to experience the structural changes as it relates to the enhancements, and to see how ACT has adjusted the number of items and the length of individual items. ACT will be releasing answer sheets in the new year to go along with these tests. Students can take these practice tests as many times as they would like.

ACT will continue to develop additional practice materials, including those used for students opting to do paper testing (a new Preparing for the ACT guide), and working with our partners to update materials for purchase as quickly as possible.

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...moreso the structure and length?

The ACT test will continue to feature multiple-choice items in the English, math, reading and science sections, and an open-ended prompt-based essay in writing.  The standards and skills measured by the enhanced blueprint will remain comparable to those measured in the current ACT.  Reporting categories will maintain the same meaning but may be rebalanced proportionally to accommodate stakeholder feedback.  By in large, the content of practice materials that are currently available will provide students with experience on the content of questions that ACT will continue to ask.​ 

​The structure of some of the items will change (English and math are most affected).  In addition, the balance of items that align to the reporting categories in each subject is shifting, therefore, there may be more or fewer items that test specific topics.  ​ 

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Test Number of Questions Timing (Standard Time) Reporting Categories
English 50 35

Production of Writing (38-43%)

Knowledge of Language (18-23%)

Conventions of Standard English (38-43%)

Field test, embedded (20%)
Mathematics 45 50

Preparing for higher math (80%)

  • Number & Quantity (10-12%)
  • Algebra (17-20%)
  • Functions (17-20%)
  • Geometry (17-20%)
  • Statistics & Probability (12-15%)

Integrating essential skills (20%)

Modeling (>=20%)

Field test, embedded (9%)
Reading 36 40

Key ideas and details (44-52%)

Craft and structure (26-33%)

Integration of knowledge and ideas (19-26%)

Field test, embedded (25%)
Science 40 40

Interpretation of data (36-47%)

Scientific investigation (17-31%)

Evaluation of Models, inferences, and experimental results (22-36%)

Field test, embedded (15%)

Reporting Category Tables: Comparison of Legacy and Enhanced ACT Test →

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