The ACT changed in 2025 more than at any time in its history, and most of what is written about "what is on the ACT" describes the old test. ACT's own 2025-26 guide for students and its FAQ on the enhanced test are the source for this page: every section, count, time and reporting category below is theirs.
Download the ACT sections sheet (PDF) (the sections with counts and times, the reporting categories and their shares, the composite rule, the test-day timeline and a preparation planner; two pages, free).
The sections
| Section | Questions | Minutes | Reporting categories (share of the section) |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 50 (40 scored) | 35 | Production of Writing 38-43%; Knowledge of Language 18-23%; Conventions of Standard English 38-43% |
| Mathematics | 45 (41 scored) | 50 | Preparing for Higher Math 80% (Number and Quantity 10-12%, Algebra 17-20%, Functions 17-20%, Geometry 17-20%, Statistics and Probability 12-15%); Integrating Essential Skills 20% |
| Reading | 36 (27 scored) | 40 | Key Ideas and Details 44-52%; Craft and Structure 26-33%; Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 19-26% |
| Science (optional) | 40 (34 scored) | 40 | Interpretation of Data 38-50%; Scientific Investigation 18-32%; Evaluation of Models, Inferences and Experimental Results 24-38% |
| Writing (optional) | 1 essay | 40 | An argumentative essay on a given issue |
The scored counts are from ACT's own table: each section carries a few unscored items. English, math and reading must be taken in one sitting; science and writing are added at registration. Total time for the composite sections is 125 minutes with 131 questions, against 175 minutes and 175 questions on the legacy test, which is where the extra time per question comes from.
What each section asks
English. Passages with underlined parts and questions about them. Production of Writing is purpose, focus and organisation (does this sentence belong, where should it go, is the paragraph's opening effective); Knowledge of Language is precise and concise word choice and consistent style and tone; Conventions of Standard English is grammar, usage, punctuation and sentence structure, the largest group of errors a student can learn to see.
Mathematics. Preparing for Higher Math is the mathematics of Algebra 1 through Algebra 2 and some precalculus: real and complex numbers, exponents, vectors and matrices (number and quantity); linear, polynomial, radical and exponential equations and systems (algebra); function notation, graphs and transformations including logarithmic and piecewise functions (functions); congruence, similarity, area, volume, trigonometric ratios and conics (geometry); centre and spread, data collection, bivariate relationships and probability (statistics and probability). Integrating Essential Skills is the middle-school and early high-school mathematics applied in multi-step problems. Every question now has four choices; a permitted calculator may be used throughout.
Reading. Passages (shorter on the enhanced test) in literary narrative, social science, humanities and natural science, including a pair. Key Ideas and Details is main ideas, details, sequence and inference; Craft and Structure is word meaning in context, the author's purpose and point of view and text structure; Integration of Knowledge and Ideas is argument, evidence and the comparison of texts.
Science (optional). Not a content test: passages of data, experiments and conflicting viewpoints, with questions on interpreting data (38 to 50 percent), scientific investigation (18 to 32) and evaluating models, inferences and results (24 to 38). Research summaries are about half the passages, data representation about a third, conflicting viewpoints about a fifth. A student who takes it gets a science score and a STEM score on every report.
Writing (optional). One essay in 40 minutes on an issue with three perspectives, scored for ideas and analysis, development and support, organisation, and language use.
The composite and the scores
Each section is scored 1 to 36 and the composite, since September 2025, is the average of English, math and reading rounded to the nearest whole number; science, if taken, is reported separately with the STEM score, and writing on its own scale. ACT's FAQ states that removing science from the composite changed average composites very little across five sets of historical data, and that colleges use the new composite as they used the old. Superscores, from April 2025 for online testers and September 2025 for all, also use only English, math and reading. The ACT score calculator turns raw scores into scale scores with the official tables.
Dates and formats
The enhanced ACT is the only form of the national test since September 2025, on paper or online at test centres; state and district school-day testing moved to it in spring 2026 (with science decided by the contract). National test dates run roughly monthly from September to July; report time is 8 am and the composite sections finish around 11 am.
How to prepare
- ACT's free guide has a full practice test with the enhanced structure; take it timed first.
- English conventions and math categories are where a short list of rules and topics moves the score; work from the reporting categories above and the practice test's wrong answers.
- Reading at the new pace: the passages are shorter but there are 36 questions in 40 minutes; practise reading the questions first.
- Decide on science and writing by the colleges applied to; a student who takes science prepares for data interpretation, not for biology.
- Two more timed practices, the last on a Saturday morning, and nothing new in the final days.
The PSAT/NMSQT two years earlier is the SAT suite's equivalent (what math is on the PSAT, average PSAT scores); the two tests are accepted equally by colleges, and ACT's own concordance maps one to the other.
Download the ACT sections sheet (PDF) (the sections, the categories, the composite rule, the timeline and the planner; two pages, free).
Where to get help
A 1-on-1 online class with a tutor who holds a master's degree and teaches the US curriculum from Grade 1 number work to AP Calculus, chemistry and physics, at 7 am before school, after 4 pm and on weekend mornings, US time, for US$10 to $13 an hour: the report read together in the free 30-minute first class, the domain or the skill the score is really pointing at found, and the term spent on exactly that, with the method written out the way the school marks it. How online tutoring from India to the USA works, or the 1-on-1 online tutoring page.
Sources: ACT, Preparing for the ACT Test 2025-2026 (the sections with questions, scored questions and minutes; the reporting categories and their percentages for English, mathematics, reading and science; four-answer math questions; the test-day dismissal times; the writing section); ACT, K-12 Frequently Asked Questions for the Enhanced ACT (science and writing optional; the composite from English, math and reading from September 2025; science and STEM scores reported; superscoring from April and September 2025; online since December 2023 and paper from September 2025; state and district rollout in spring 2026 with science at contract level; the composite comparison across historical data); ACT, Section Test Timings for Accommodations (2026): 35, 50, 40, 40 and 40 minutes at standard time. Fetched 11 November 2026.
Questions parents ask
1What is on the ACT?
2How long is the ACT?
3Is science still on the ACT?
4What math is on the ACT?
5What changed in the enhanced ACT?
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