Upcoming Change for the ACT: What You Should Know

Last year, the ACT announced new changes to the ACT Test. These changes are sweeping, some of the most significant that the ACT has had in recent memory. It comes on the heels of recent changes to the SAT to make the test more accessible for modern students.

These updates can be confusing and overwhelming. In this blog, we’ll briefly answer questions about the ACT and help you understand what you need to know for the upcoming 2025 test season.

What is the ACT?

The ACT is a standardized test that was first offered in 1959. It evaluates students on four areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. Questions can test students for their knowledge of language, algebra, data interpretation, and more. Sections tend to increase in difficulty as students progress and are graded between 1 (low) and 36 (high). 

In the words of ACT Inc., which manages the test, the exam “reflects what students have learned throughout high school and provides colleges and universities with excellent information for recruiting, advising, placement, and retention.” It is accepted by colleges nationwide, though used particularly in the Midwest.

What’s changing?

The ACT is undergoing several major changes over the next few months meant to simplify the test-taking process.

Most prominently are changes to questions and sections. While in past years, the ACT had four sections—English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science—-with an optional Writing section, the test will begin moving to a format where Science and Writing are both optional.

Students will also notice significant reductions to exam length. As the ACT itself notes, tests will include shorter passages in the reading and English sections and fewer questions overall—44 fewer questions. The math section will also reduce from having five options per question to only four.

The result is that students can spend more time on each question while also benefiting from a shorter test overall, with exam length reduced from about three hours to just two.

Why are these changes happening?

The goal of these changes, per ACT, Inc. is to provide students with flexibility..

As the organization’s chief executive Janet Godwin wrote in a blog, changes to the ability to take ACT plus science, ACT plus writing, or ACT plus science and writing means “students can focus on their strengths and showcase their abilities in the best possible way.”

This means that students who are particularly skilled in science or plan to major in a STEM field can pursue the science test while a student focused on the humanities can skip the section in favor of writing or vice versa.

It also helps the test-taking process more manageable by responding to the needs of test-takers. 

“This change is designed to make the testing experience more manageable for students, enabling them to perform at their best without the fatigue that often accompanies longer exams,” Godwin writes.

When do these changes take effect?

Students will start seeing changes as early as this spring. Beginning in April, the ACT will integrate these changes into online tests, with rollout to pencil-and-paper tests in September 2025.

The full rollout will be complete by Spring 2026 for all schools and districts.

Will this change how the ACT is scored?

The ACT will continue to be graded on the scale it has always been graded on—1 through 36, with a composite score that reflects the average of all required sections.

With the Science section moving to optional, however, the new ACT composite score will be calculated using English, Math, and Reading. 

Composite scores for all ACT tests will be updated by September 2025. Tests taken prior to the rollout of the new composite score will not change.

Is the ACT still valuable?

Yes! The ACT remains one of the two most important standardized tests for students looking at colleges. It can have a large impact on admissions and financial aid and scholarships.

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In this blog, we reviewed some of the major changes coming to the ACT. If you are interested in more information, you can look at the ACT site or schedule a meeting with one of our Class 101 college advisors here.