Skip to main content
Arcade Academy
Get started
Open site navigation

College admissions, 5 sections

ACT exam guide

Study the enhanced ACT section by section, from the three core tests behind the composite to the optional science and writing components.

Follows the enhanced ACT format, from 5 Apr 2025

Create your accountOfficial exam information opens in a new tab

Overview

What ACT covers.

The ACT is a college admissions test administered by ACT. In its current enhanced form, first given in 2025, the core test is English, math, and reading: 131 questions in 2 hours and 5 minutes, and those three sections alone produce the 1 to 36 composite score. All three are multiple choice, there is no penalty for a wrong answer, and math questions now offer four answer choices rather than five.

The change that matters most for planning is that science is optional. Students who take it get 40 minutes for 40 questions and receive a separate 1 to 36 science score plus a STEM score that combines math and science; students who skip it still receive a full composite. The optional writing essay remains a separately reported 2 to 12 score. Because the enhanced format also trimmed question counts and gave students more time per question, older prep books, timing charts, and score conversion tables built for the legacy four-section ACT will not match what you see on test day.

Arcade Academy is an independent study workspace, not an ACT product. ACT publishes the authoritative statement of test structure, section options, registration, accommodations, and score reporting at act.org, and its policies on retesting and score reporting have changed more than once, so confirm the current rules there before you register or plan a retake.

At a glance

Sections
English, math, and reading are the core scored sections; science and the writing essay are optional
Questions
131 in the core sections: English 50, math 45, reading 36; the optional science section adds 40
Timing
2 hours 5 minutes for the core sections; optional science adds 40 minutes and the optional writing essay adds 40 minutes
Question style
Multiple choice throughout, with four answer choices on math and no penalty for a wrong answer
Delivery
Paper or online at test centers, and through school-day testing
Score range
1 to 36 per multiple-choice section; composite of 1 to 36 from English, math, and reading
Optional components
Science is scored 1 to 36 when taken and pairs with math for a STEM score; writing is scored 2 to 12
Governing body
ACT, Inc.
Who takes it
High school students applying to colleges and scholarship programs that accept or require ACT scores.

Scoring

Each multiple-choice section is reported on a 1 to 36 scale, and the composite is the average of the English, math, and reading scores rounded to the nearest whole number. Science, when taken, is reported as its own 1 to 36 score and combines with math for a STEM score rather than entering the composite. The optional writing essay is scored 2 to 12 and reported separately from the composite.

Exam structure

Sections

ACT covers 5 sections. Open one for its topics, published weighting, and section-specific study tips.

Study strategies

How to work through this exam.

These strategies follow from the exam's own structure. Adapt them to the time you actually have each week.

  • Verify that every practice test, timing chart, and score conversion table you use is built for the enhanced format, because legacy materials assume different question counts, different timing, and a composite that includes science.
  • Decide early whether you are taking the optional science section, then build your schedule around that choice instead of leaving it open and splitting your practice.
  • Treat pacing as its own skill and train it with timed single sections before full-length tests: English allows about 42 seconds per question, math and reading about 67 seconds, and science exactly 60.
  • Keep an error log tagged by reporting category, so you can tell whether your reading misses come from Key Ideas and Details or from Integration of Knowledge and Ideas and study accordingly.
  • Because the composite is the rounded average of three sections, each one carries a third of the weight, which usually makes raising your lowest section the highest-leverage work available.
  • Confirm current registration, retake, and score-reporting rules on act.org rather than relying on advice written for earlier versions of the test.

Common questions

ACT questions students ask.

How is the ACT composite calculated now that science is optional?

The composite is the average of the English, math, and reading scores, rounded to the nearest whole number and reported on a 1 to 36 scale. Science is not part of that calculation. Students who take science receive a separate 1 to 36 science score and a STEM score combining math and science, both reported alongside the composite.

Should I take the optional science section?

It depends on where you are applying. Some colleges and scholarship programs want the science score or the STEM score, and students headed for science-heavy majors may want to show it; others do not consider it. Check the published testing requirements for each school on your list, and confirm current rules with ACT, since section options and reporting policies have changed recently.

How does the ACT differ from the SAT?

The ACT gives three core sections plus an optional science section and an optional essay, moves faster per question, and reports a 1 to 36 composite. The SAT is digital and adaptive, has two sections, allows more time per question, and reports a 400 to 1600 total. Colleges that accept one generally accept the other, so most students take an official practice test of each and choose the format that fits their pace and content strengths.

Why do my prep books describe a different ACT?

Materials written for the legacy ACT describe four required sections with a composite that includes science, longer English, math, and reading sections, and five answer choices on math. The enhanced ACT that ACT began administering in 2025 changed all of those. Legacy practice is still useful for content, but its timing and score conversions no longer match the current test.

Can I retake the ACT, and will colleges superscore my results?

Students commonly retest, and ACT has offered superscoring, which combines your highest section scores across test dates. Both the availability of retesting options and how scores from different test formats are combined are set by ACT and have changed over time, so confirm the current policy on act.org. Whether a college uses a superscore at all is that college's decision, so check each school's published policy too.

Is Arcade Academy affiliated with ACT?

No. Arcade Academy is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by ACT. ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this site. Use official ACT publications as the authoritative source on the exam itself.

Before you build the schedule

Exam structures change. Confirm the current format, eligibility, and policies with ACT, Inc. before you commit to a study plan.

Official exam information opens in a new tab

Guide structure last checked against official sources on August 30, 2026.

Markdown version of this guide for citation, offline reading, and language models.

Study ACT with a plan you can keep.

Create your Arcade Academy workspace to pair this structure with spaced-repetition flashcards, resources, notes, and progress you can review.

Create your account