Changes are coming to ACT!
Updated July 24th
Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, now that the Digital PSAT and SAT are old news, here comes ACT with changes of its own!
NOTE: THESE CHANGES WILL NOT AFFECT RISING SENIORS AT ALL! See below for recommendations for all classes.
Our hot take:
- Students will appreciate – strike that – love that the ACT is shorter and has more time per question.
- In the near term, selective colleges will require Science. Plan to still take Science.
- So much uncertainty! See below for our top questions, but we’re buckling up for a bumpy ride with ACT starting in spring 2025.
Here’s the short summary on what’s changing and when.
What’s Changing?
- Significantly more time per question.
- English and Math questions get 12% and 17% more time, respectively.
- Reading and Science questions get 28% and 27% more time, respectively.
- Shorter passages —> less text to process.
- Science is optional.
- Shorter overall timing for the test, especially if the student opts out of the Science section —> now shorter than the Digital SAT timing!
- Experimental questions (formerly Section 5) will now be part of the regular sections: reduces overall testing time AND improves data.
- Composite scores will now be calculated ONLY on the English, Math, and Reading scores.
What’s NOT Changing?
- Scoring will remain the same: each section ranges from 1 – 36 and the composite is an average of those sections.
- For now, students can still choose between paper and digital formats.
- Writing is still optional.
- Students will still NOT be able to use their own device for digital testing.
When is this happening?
- The changes above will be introduced first in April 2025 in the digital format ONLY.
- The changes will be incorporated into PAPER beginning in September 2025.
- The changes will be incorporated into School Day testing in “Spring 2026.”
Our current recommendations by class year:
- Seniors (Class of 2025) – No impact here. You can continue to test in the current format throughout your senior year.
- Juniors (Class of 2026)
- Still consider the ACT by taking a practice test of both SAT and ACT. Evaluate the impact of uncertainty of being able to re-test at the beginning of your senior year and the availability of practice materials for that.
- Plan to take Science.
- Do NOT take the digital version of the ACT. Until or unless we know a lot more, the formatting of the digital ACT works against most students.
- Sophomores (Class of 2027)
- Wait and see. We will learn a lot between now and when you need to start making choices on which test to take.
Questions. We have questions!
- Practice materials! Given what seems to be a required increase in individual question difficulty to maintain any kind of scoring parity, will any old practice materials be usable? And more, when will ACT release new practice materials so we can all see what’s up?
If you’d like to see how these changes might or might not mean anything for you, please let us know. We love helping families develop a testing plan. Always at no charge.
From the Author SAT vs. ACT Tests