ACT Score Calculator (Enhanced ACT 2025-26): Raw to Scale Score With Official Tables, Composite + National Ranks (PDF)

Article 320 · USA

"ACT score calculator" is the search after a practice test, and in 2025 it became a harder question: the enhanced ACT changed the number of questions, dropped Science from the Composite and added unscored field-test questions, so the old tables and most online calculators give the wrong answer. This calculator uses the conversion tables printed in ACT's own 2025-26 "Preparing for the ACT Test" booklet and computes the Composite the new way. Below it: what changed, the class of 2025 averages, the national ranks for every score, and what a good score is. The printable has the four conversion tables and the national ranks on two pages.

Download the ACT conversion tables and worksheet (PDF) (the official raw-to-scale tables for English, Math, Reading and Science, the Composite rule, ACT's national ranks for every score, the 2025 averages and a scoring worksheet; two pages, free).

The calculator

Count the scored questions right in each section of ACT's official practice test (the scoring keys mark the field-test questions "Not Scored"). Leave Science blank if it was not taken.

ACT score calculator (enhanced ACT, official practice-test tables)

English scored questions right (0 to 40):

Math scored questions right (0 to 41):

Reading scored questions right (0 to 27):

Science scored questions right (0 to 34, optional):

The tables are from the practice test in ACT's 2025-26 booklet (form QU00002); every real test form has its own table that differs by a point here and there, which is ACT's own warning in the booklet. The ranks are ACT's national ranks for 2026-27, based on graduates of 2024 to 2026.

What changed in the enhanced ACT

	Old ACT (to 2024, paper to mid-2025)	Enhanced ACT (online from April 2025, paper from September 2025)
English	75 questions, 45 minutes	50 questions, 35 minutes (40 scored)
Math	60 questions, 60 minutes	45 questions, 50 minutes (41 scored)
Reading	40 questions, 35 minutes	36 questions, 40 minutes (27 scored)
Science	40 questions, 35 minutes, compulsory	40 questions, 40 minutes, optional (34 scored)
Composite	average of all four	average of English, Math and Reading
Length	2 hours 55 minutes	about 2 hours 5 minutes without Science, 2 hours 45 with
Unscored questions	none	a few field-test questions in each section, not counted
Writing	optional essay	optional essay, unchanged

The scored-question counts above are from the official practice test; the number and position of field-test questions vary by form, which is why a raw score must count only the questions the scoring key marks as scored. Scores are still 1 to 36 per section and the scale means the same as before, so a 30 in 2026 compares directly with a 30 in 2020.

The official conversion tables

English raw (of 40)	Scale	Math raw (of 41)	Scale	Reading raw (of 27)	Scale	Science raw (of 34)	Scale
40	36	41	36	27	36	34	36
39	35	40	36	26	35	33	35
38	35	39	35	25	34	32	34
37	33	38	34	24	32	31	33
36	31	37	34	23	30	30	32
35	29	36	33	22	28	29	31
34	28	35	32	21	26	28	30
33	27	34	31	20	25	27	29
32	26	33	30	19	24	26	28
31	25	32	29	18	23	25	27
30	24	31	29	17	22	24	26
29	23	30	28	16	21	23	25
28	22	29	27	15	20	22	25
27	22	28	27	14	18	21	24
26	21	27	26	13	17	20	23
25	20	26	25	12	16	19	23
24	20	25	24	11	15	18	22
23	19	24	23	10	14	17	21
22	18	23	22	9	13	16	20
21	17	22	21	8	12	15	19
20	16	21	20	7	12	14	18
19	15	20	19	6	11	13	18
18	15	19	19	5	10	12	17
17	14	18	18	4	9	11	16
16	13	17	17	3	7	10	15
15	13	16	17	2	5	9	14
14	12	15	17	1	3	8	12
13	11	14	16	0	1	7	12
12	11	13	16			6	11
11	10	12	15			5	10
10	10	11	15			4	9
9	10	10	15			3	7
8	9	9	14			2	6
7	8	8	14			1	3
6	7	7	13			0	1
5	7	6	13
4	6	5	12
3	5	4	11
2	3	3	9
1	2	2	7
0	1	1	5
		0	1

Two things the tables show: Reading is the steepest (each question is worth about a point and a half of scale score, so one careless error costs more there than anywhere), and Math's bottom is high (a raw 10 of 41 is still a 15) because the scale compresses the low end.

The Composite and the national ranks

Composite = (English + Math + Reading) ÷ 3, rounded to the nearest whole number, with a half rounding up: 27, 24 and 25 average 25.33 and give a 25; 27, 25 and 25 average 25.67 and give a 26. If Science is taken, STEM = (Math + Science) ÷ 2, rounded the same way, and Science is reported on its own.

ACT's national ranks (2026-27, graduates of 2024 to 2026) give the percentage of test takers at or below each score:

Composite	Rank	Composite	Rank	Composite	Rank
36	100	27	89	18	52
35	99	26	86	17	47
34	99	25	83	16	41
33	98	24	80	15	34
32	97	23	77	14	28
31	96	22	72	13	20
30	94	21	68	12	13
29	93	20	63	11	6
28	91	19	58	10 or below	2 or less

The class of 2025

From ACT's graduating-class report: almost 1.4 million graduates (about 36 percent of the US class) took the ACT at least once, 81 percent of them through school-day testing. The national averages were Composite 19.4, English 18.9, Math 18.4, Reading 20.0, Science 19.6; 30 percent met at least three of ACT's college-readiness benchmarks (English 18, Math 22, Reading 22, Science 23). Students who test only on a state school day average lower (17.8 in 2025) than those who choose to test (23.0), which pulls the national mean down and is worth remembering when reading a percentile.

What a good ACT score is

Score	Rank	What it means
34 to 36	99	the top 1 percent; the middle range at the most selective colleges is about 33 to 35
30 to 33	94 to 98	competitive at selective universities and for most merit scholarships
27 to 29	89 to 93	strong at state flagships
24 to 26	80 to 86	above the middle at most public universities
21 to 23	68 to 77	at or above the benchmarks; competitive at many colleges
19 to 20	58 to 63	the national average
under 19	below 58	below average; the benchmarks are not met

As with the SAT, the figure that matters is the middle 50 percent of admitted students at the colleges on the list, published in each college's Common Data Set; "good" is relative to that.

Practice: eight questions

36 English, 35 Math, 22 Reading scored questions right: the three scale scores and the Composite?
The same student scores 28 of 34 in Science: Science and STEM scores?
Scale scores 27, 24 and 25: the Composite? And 27, 25, 25?
What is the national rank of a 24 Composite?
How many scored questions are in each section of the official practice test?
Why must a raw score count only the scored questions?
Which section loses the most scale points per wrong answer?
Does a Science score change the Composite on the enhanced ACT?

Answers: 1) 31, 32, 28; (31 + 32 + 28) ÷ 3 = 30.33, Composite 30. 2) Science 30; STEM (32 + 30) ÷ 2 = 31. 3) 25.33 rounds to 25; 25.67 rounds to 26. 4) 80. 5) 40, 41, 27 and 34. 6) The field-test questions are not in the conversion table; counting them gives a raw score the table was not built for. 7) Reading (27 scored questions over 36 scale points). 8) No; it gives a Science score and a STEM score only.

Download the ACT conversion tables and worksheet (PDF)

Where to get help

A 1-on-1 online ACT class with a tutor who holds a master's degree in mathematics, US after-school hours: the enhanced format practised with the real timing, Math from the question categories where the points go, Reading at the pace the 27 scored questions demand, and Science if the colleges on the list want it. The recording and notes after every class, the same tutor every week, US$10 to $13 an hour. The ACT page has the course; the free 30-minute first class is a real lesson, usually on a practice section the student brings.

Questions parents ask

1How is the ACT score calculated?

Each section's raw score (questions right, no penalty for wrong answers) is converted to a scale score from 1 to 36 with a table that differs slightly by test form. The Composite is the average of the English, Math and Reading scale scores, rounded to the nearest whole number (halves round up). Since the enhanced ACT of 2025, Science is optional and does not count in the Composite; if taken, it gives a Science score and a STEM score (the average of Math and Science).

2What changed in the enhanced ACT?

From April 2025 online and September 2025 on paper: the test is about an hour shorter (English 50 questions in 35 minutes, Math 45 in 50, Reading 36 in 40, Science 40 in 40 if taken), Science is optional, the Composite averages English, Math and Reading only, and each section contains a few unscored field-test questions, so the raw score counts only the scored ones (40 English, 41 Math, 27 Reading, 34 Science on the official practice test).

3What is a good ACT score?

The class of 2025 averaged 19.4. On ACT's national ranks, a 21 is the 68th percentile, a 24 the 80th, a 27 the 89th, a 30 the 94th, a 33 the 98th and a 34 or higher the 99th. For most state universities 22 to 27 is competitive; for selective colleges the middle half of admitted students is usually 31 to 35.

4How many questions can I miss and still get a 30?

On the official practice test's tables, a 30 or better needs about 36 of 40 scored English questions (four wrong gives a 31; five wrong drops to 29), 33 of 41 Math (eight wrong) and 23 of 27 Reading (four wrong); each form's table differs a little. A 36 Composite allows almost no errors: 40 English, 40 or 41 Math and 27 Reading.

5Does the Science section still matter?

It no longer affects the Composite, but a Science score and a STEM score are reported when it is taken, some colleges and scholarship programmes ask for it, and state school-day testing may include it. Students applying for science or engineering programmes are usually advised to take it.

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →

written by

Shobha

Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha

Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.

About the team →