You may have heard the ACT is changing in 2025, and registration is now open for the April, June, and July test dates (as of December 5). But before we get into what is changing, we want to get into when the change is happening, because we’ve heard a lot of confusion and misinformation going around.
Here’s everything you need to know:
When It’s Happening
It depends on where you are and what format you’re taking the test in. Depending on those factors, it could be as early as April 2025 or as late as September 2025:
Note: State and district testing (which typically take place on school days) will remain in current form until Spring 2026, and may still require the Science section beyond that time.
What this means:
For the April, June, and July tests in the US, you get to choose whether to take the ACT’s new version (on a computer) or current version (on paper). Starting in September, all ACT tests (both paper- and computer-based in the US and computer-based internationally) will be the new version.
So, if you’re currently prepping for the ACT and you like it the way it is, you have four more shots to take it in its current form:
February 8, 2025
April 5, 2025
June 14, 2025
July 12, 2025 (make sure you sign up for this one early because it fills up quickly and is not offered in New York)
If you’re excited about the new changes, you can take advantage of them as early as April 2025 (if you’re in the US). However, you will need to adjust to taking the test on a computer for spring/summer 2025.
What’s Changing
There are two major changes to be aware of:
The test will be shorter (more in terms of the number of questions than total testing time), giving you more time per question.
The Science section will become optional.
In addition to these new features, students in the US will continue to be able to choose between taking the test on computer or on paper, which has been the case since February 2024 (note: international ACT testing has been only computer-based since September 2018 and this will remain unchanged). With these three elements combined, ACT is positioning itself as the test of choice and flexibility.
Key elements of the new ACT
They are cutting 44 questions and 15 minutes of testing time across the three “core” sections (English, Math, and Reading).
English is getting the biggest “haircut” with 1/3 fewer questions.
In addition to cutting questions, the passages themselves will also be shorter on the English and Reading sections.
They are cutting more questions than time. For example, if you take the “core” plus the now-optional Science section, it’s not that much shorter a test in terms of total time, but it will give you a lot more time per question.
One big reason why test day will feel shorter: no more “Test 5” (experimental section), which they’ve historically used to test out new questions (but which didn’t count toward your score). Instead, individual “Field Test” questions will be mixed in with the regular test questions in each section. You won’t be able to identify them, but they still won’t count toward your score.
*10 of the 50 questions on English will be “field test items” that won’t count toward your score.
**4 of the 45 questions on Math will be “field test items” that won’t count toward your score.
***9 of the 36 questions on Reading will be “field test items” that won’t count toward your score.
****6 of the 40 questions on Science will be “field test items” that won’t count toward your score.
It’s important to note that fewer questions counting towards your score means that each question will matter more more. On the new ACT, much like the new SAT that debuted in the US this past year, there is less room for error:
English has 47% fewer questions that count (40 vs 75)
Math has 32% fewer questions that count (41 vs 60)
Reading has 33% fewer questions that count (27 vs 40)
Science has 15% fewer questions that count (36 vs 40)
Some minor changes, too… we’ll save those for later.
What’s Staying the Same
First and foremost, the content and structure of the test will stay the same, making this change much less disruptive than when the SAT went from paper to digital (which included a complete overhaul of content and structure).
This means that even if you’ve been preparing for the “old” ACT and have to switch to the “new” ACT, it’s not going to be a big deal. You’ll be answering essentially the same questions, just fewer of them. The biggest difference, other than Science being optional, is that you’ll have more time per question!
Other things that are staying the same:
The total score for each section will still be out of 36.
The test will still be linear (AKA non-adaptive).
US students will still have the option to take it on paper, even once it’s fully rolled out in Sept. 2025. International students will continue to test exclusively on computers as they have since 2018.
You’ll still have to take the test at a test center.
Accommodations for learning differences will still be honored.
Scoring Considerations
Starting in Sept. 2025 (according to our sources), the composite score will become the average of the three “Core” sections: English, Math, and Reading. Science will still be scored out of 36, but will be reported separately. It will not be included in the composite score or superscore.
There will be a period of time in which the old way of calculating a composite score (including Science) and the new way of calculating a composite score (not including Science) will coexist. Basically, if you opt-in to the new version of the test, you’ll receive the new composite score.
Old composite scores will not be retroactively recalculated to exclude the Science section.
From the ACT’s perspective, you will be able to superscore between the current and new forms of the test, even though the sections will all be shorter in the new version.
Ultimately, this is a decision that the universities will make when interpreting your scores, but we expect that any school that superscores will superscore between the two different versions of the ACT. Almost all schools (with the exception of Princeton) superscored between the old/new versions of the SAT, and the difference between those two versions of the test was much more significant than the difference between the old/new ACT.
What We Still Don’t Know (and Our Best Guesses)
If I get a high score on Science in February and then take the test without Science in April, will Science be included in my superscore?
From what we can tell, if you take any test without Science, your superscore as calculated by the ACT will not include any Science scores.
However, it really is up to the institution you’re applying to. The ACT calculates a superscore for you, but it's up to the college/university to decide whether/how to use that superscore in admissions decisions (some colleges have never superscored the ACT). So the superscore that the college actually calculates and considers may or may not include the Science section in this scenario, depending on the college’s policy.
Exact text from ACT's FAQs: “Starting in April 2025, students who choose to take the online ACT test will have their ACT Superscore calculated using the new method incorporating English, math, and reading. For everyone else, this change will happen in September 2025. We'll still show your highest scores for each subject with the test date, but the Composite score will be based on the new English, math, and reading calculation.”
Unfortunately, a high Science score won’t raise your composite score as calculated by ACT. But it’s possible that some colleges may recalculate your superscore as the average of any sections submitted (average of 3 sections if you don’t take Science; average of 4 sections if you do).
Will some Colleges require Science?
The ACT already has an optional section: Writing. A number of years ago, when ACT first made the Writing section optional, our advice to students was to prepare for the ACT Writing because many colleges still required it for admission even though it was “optional” in the eyes of the ACT. Is this going to be the same scenario for the ACT Science?
Our guess: probably not. The SAT doesn’t have a Science section, after all. However, if you are applying for a STEM program and submitting ACT scores, you’ll probably want to submit with Science. If not, the college might wonder why you didn’t submit test scores for the thing that is supposedly your area of strength/interest.
I want to take advantage of the new changes in April, even if it means I have to test on a computer. Will the available seats for computer-based tests be limited?
Based on our experience internationally, probably. Register early if you want to take advantage of these changes before September.
How exactly will the topic emphasis on the different sections change (if at all)?
The ACT hasn’t published any information about this so far, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on it.
They’ve said they’ll release a full length practice test in the new form in early 2025, so we should be able to use that to draw some conclusions, even if they don’t publicly announce exactly how the reporting categories are being “rebalanced”.
Debunking Myths
FALSE: “If I’ve been prepping for the ACT as it is, I need to try to finish by April.”
You can still take the test in its current form through the July 2025 test.
Even after that, the content of the test isn’t changing that much (unlike the SAT’s recent change), so all the prep work you’ve done up until now will still be relevant.
FALSE: “I’m not going to be able to take a paper test anymore.”
If you’re testing in the US, you will still have the option to take a paper test, even after the change is fully implemented in Sep 2025.