Get ready for the shorter ACT
The ACT now takes 2 hours 5 minutes for English, Math and Reading, and Science is optional. Ashore's ACT course is in the works. Until it opens, the score tools below are free, and we'll email you once when it's ready.
The enhanced ACT
- 1
English
50 questions · 35 min
Required - 2
Math
45 questions · 50 min
Required - 3
Reading
36 questions · 40 min
Required - 4
Science
40 questions · 40 min
Optional
Composite = (English + Math + Reading) ÷ 3, on a 1–36 scale
With Science: 2 hours 45 minutes, plus a STEM score
84 fewer required questions
131 questions in 2 hours 5 minutes. Before the change, everyone took all four sections: 215 questions in 2 hours 55 minutes.
Science is optional
It no longer counts toward the Composite. Add it for $5 and you also get a STEM score.
Scores still compare
Sections are still scored 1–36, and ACT says new and older section scores can be used interchangeably, including for superscoring.
What's on the enhanced ACT
Four sections in this order, each question with four answer choices. Wrong answers cost nothing, so answer everything.
EnglishRequired
- Questions
- 50
- Scored
- 40
- Time
- 35 min
- Per question
- 42 sec
MathRequired
- Questions
- 45
- Scored
- 41
- Time
- 50 min
- Per question
- 67 sec
ReadingRequired
- Questions
- 36
- Scored
- 27
- Time
- 40 min
- Per question
- 67 sec
ScienceOptional
- Questions
- 40
- Scored
- 34
- Time
- 40 min
- Per question
- 60 sec
| Section | Questions | Scored | Time | Per question | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 50 | 40 | 35 min | 42 sec | Required |
| Math | 45 | 41 | 50 min | 67 sec | Required |
| Reading | 36 | 27 | 40 min | 67 sec | Required |
| Science | 40 | 34 | 40 min | 60 sec | Optional |
The rest of each section is unscored try-out questions, and you can't tell which ones they are. A calculator is allowed on Math only; online testers get Desmos built in. Sources: ACT enhanced ACT FAQs, understanding your scores, calculator policy.
Everything that changed in 2025 and how it compares with the SAT.
Coming soon: how ACT prep will work
Take a starting check
Short sets in each section show which question types cost you the most points.
Pick your test date
Your plan counts down to it. Not taking Science? Leave it out and the plan skips it.
Do today's set
A lesson, the topics due for review and the questions you missed, with full-length timed practice tests along the way.
Free ACT tools
Use these now. No account needed.
- ACT score calculator
Questions right in each section to a 1–36 score and Composite, using ACT's 2025–26 conversion table.
- ACT superscore calculator
Your best English, Math and Reading from every test date, averaged the way ACT does it.
- ACT to SAT conversion
The official ACT and College Board concordance, both directions.
- SAT vs ACT
Length, time per question, Science, calculators and scoring side by side.
- The enhanced ACT
What changed in 2025 and what it means for your scores.
- ACT test dates 2026–27
Every national date, deadline, fee and score release.
- Average ACT scores
National averages, percentiles and ACT ranges at colleges.
ACT test dates for 2026–27
Next up: December 12, 2026. Late registration closes November 29, 2026.
Deadlines close at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. After the first deadline you can still register until the late deadline for $42 more. The scores column is ACT's first release for paper tests; online test scores take two to eight weeks. Sources: test dates and deadlines, online testing.
Be first in when ACT prep opens
One email when it's ready, nothing else. Until then, the calculators are free.
When ACT prep opens, it's part of the same plan as SAT and AP, at the same price. The score guarantee covers the SAT only.
Practice test 1
Example
27
Composite
(28 + 26 + 27) ÷ 3
- English28
- Math26
- Reading27
- ScienceOptional, not in the Composite25