This past spring, the ACT began a staggered roll-out of what it calls the “Enhanced ACT,” a revised version of the test with several structural changes. The updated format first appeared in April 2025 for students taking the ACT digitally, and beginning this September, it will be the default version of the test for all students, whether they test on paper or on a computer. In today’s post, we’ll discuss those changes and how students should navigate them.
First things first: students should not avoid this new version of the ACT. The changes are largely cosmetic – this is not a complete overhaul. There will be no new content, and they will not be changing their testing methods.
Students who know the old version of the ACT – or the Classic ACT, as they like to refer to it – will find the material on the Enhanced ACT very familiar. Better yet, all of the changes to the test are designed to be more favorable to students. Students have nothing to worry about with this new version of the test.
Changes to the ACT: The What
Largely in response to the College Board’s recent overhaul of the SAT, the ACT is attempting to make its test more enticing to high schoolers by shortening it, relaxing its time constraints, and eliminating one of its most intimidating sections from scoring. We’ll start with that last one first.
Science will now be optional
The most consequential of these “enhancements” is that the Science section will be optional for test takers. It will also no longer be included in the calculation of students’ Composite scores, even for those who opt to take that section of the test. Whereas previously the Science section was mandatory, and a student’s score on that section factored in evenly to his or her Composite score, it will now become entirely optional, and students’ Composite scores will only be calculated from their English, Math, and Reading scores.
Classic ACT Composite score calculation:
Enhanced ACT Composite score calculation:
Students who opt to take the Science section will still get a score on that section of the test, but it will be reported separately.
Fewer Questions, More Time
The ACT will also be slightly reducing the number of questions on its English, Math, and Reading sections and adjusting the timing parameters on those sections to allow for relatively more time per question. The tables below show the specifications of each of the sections of the Classic ACT and the Enhanced ACT.
On the sections that will “count” towards students’ Composite scores, the ACT will be allowing students roughly 6 more seconds per question on the English and Math sections and 14 more seconds per question on the Reading section, which has historically been one of the hardest sections for students to complete in the time allotted. This might not seem significant at first blush (an extra 6 seconds per question?) but when aggregated over the length of an entire section, it will make a difference for many students, especially those whose natural test-taking pace leaves them rushing to finish the final handful of questions. Speaking from experience, that describes a large percentage of ACT test takers.
The notorious “5th section” of the test, which the ACT has traditionally used to test new questions, will be removed. The ACT will now include new “field test” questions – that DO NOT count towards students’ scores – into the 4 multiple choice sections.
Content and Format
In terms of the skills and concepts it tests, the Enhanced ACT will look and feel almost identical to the Classic version of the test. There will only be a few minor changes to the test’s format and content. Here’s an enumeration of each of those changes on each of the 4 multiple choice sections:
English
- Each question will now contain a “stem question.” That’s a fancy way of saying an actual, written question. Currently, many of the questions on the English section didn’t actually have a written question. On those items, the implied question is “which of the following answer choices is the most grammatically acceptable way to write the underlined portion?” On the new/enhanced version of the ACT, those items will contain a written question to that effect.
- All of the passages will be shorter, either slightly or significantly so. The ACT still plans to test five passages on the English section, but they will now have either 5 or 10 questions as opposed to the 15 questions per passage on the Classic ACT.
- An argumentative essay will be added, as well as questions dealing with argumentation, though this is not true of the one Enhanced ACT practice tests that have been made available to the public.
Math
- Each question will have only 4 answer choices, down from 5 answer choices on the Classic version of the test.
- There will be fewer advanced math questions and fewer long word problems (though we remain skeptical about this).
Reading
- Some passages will, purportedly, be marginally shorter – though the official ACT practice tests thus far made available to the public are the same length as they were on the Classic ACT. Even if the ACT does marginally shorten its Reading passages, they will still be significantly longer than SAT passages, which are only a couple sentences long.
- Each passage will now have only 9 questions, down from 10 on the Classic ACT.
Science
- There will be at least one passage on each test that deals with Engineering and Design.
- There will be more questions that test outside scientific knowledge.
Changes to the ACT: The When and How
This past spring – for the April, June, and July 2025 test administrations – ACT used a staggered roll-out of their Enhanced test: students taking the computer-based version received the Enhanced ACT, while those testing on paper continued with the Classic ACT. This slow-roll approach gave test-takers time to adjust to the idea of the new format while allowing ACT to identify and address any potential issues before implementing the change for all students in all testing formats.
On the September 6th ACT, these changes will take effect for the paper-pencil version of the test as well. At that point, all ACTs – except for those offered during school-day testing in October (only applicable to a small minority of test takers at certain high schools) – will be the Enhanced version of the test. Here’s a helpful graphic that illustrates the timeline of this rollout:
Will colleges and universities accept these changes?
That’s a very important question in all of this. After all, if these changes make colleges believe that the ACT is somehow a less accurate indicator of students’ college-readiness than the SAT, then that spells trouble for the survival of this test. Thus far, that does not seem to be the case: colleges have, by and large, been mum on the topic of the Enhanced ACT. At this late stage (the school year about to begin, with many high school juniors already actively preparing for the ACT) we are taking this as a sign that – at least for the class of 2027 – colleges are fine with the Enhanced ACT and will continue to regard it as on par with the SAT as an assessment of students’ academic prowess. After all, they have done this time and time again with the myriad changes to the SAT over the years. Why would these minor changes to the ACT be any different?
The one caveat in this case – the thing we need to keep in mind for the classes of 2028 and beyond – is that the express purpose of all of the proposed changes to the ACT is to make the test easier and more palatable to students. The test does not offset any of these changes with elements that make the test more challenging. When the College Board recently overhauled the SAT to make it more palatable to students, it also significantly increased the difficulty of many of the questions. Additionally, the College Board made the test adaptive and instituted a fancy new scoring protocol (Item Response Theory) to ensure that this shorter, leaner test would still be able to assess students’ college-readiness with the same accuracy as the larger and denser (some might say “bloated”) paper-pencil SAT of years’ past. None of these counterweights – or anything resembling them – are included in the Enhanced ACT.
That said, the removal of Science from the composite score could be a point of contention for some universities, particularly those that place an emphasis on STEM readiness. Unfortunately, as of this writing, a vast majority of 4-year American colleges do not have a stated policy about the submission of ACT Science scores. Some high-profile institutions (many Ivies among them) have announced that a Science score will, truly, be optional, and a few institutions (as of this writing, Pomona College, Boston College, RIT, Duke, and Michigan State) have announced that they will be requiring or recommending applicants who submit ACT scores to include their Science section scores as well. Unfortunately, too, as we’ve learned over the past few years from many newly test-optional colleges, it remains uncertain whether institutions with highly competitive admissions processes will genuinely treat the Science section as optional or subtly prefer applicants who submit strong Science scores.
Changes to “official” superscores
Students also need to be mindful of the fact that once they take the Enhanced ACT, the Science score will no longer be reported as part of their official superscore by the ACT. This won’t be an issue for most students, who will be able to self-report their scores to colleges. And for colleges that require applicants to send their official score reports, those colleges will also see students’ best Science scores and will be able to recalculate students’ superscores accordingly. Still, rising seniors and their parents should be aware of this to avoid unnecessary shock and panic when they see their new superscore after they take their first Enhanced ACT.
Recommendations for the class of 2027
At FCP, we do not think students should actively avoid this new test. We of course understand the trepidation that comes with wholesale overhauls to the SAT and ACT. But the Enhanced ACT isn’t a wholesale overhaul – it’s a cosmetic makeover that will be favorable to students in almost every respect. Rather than avoid the Enhanced ACT, we think students should embrace the relaxed timing parameters and shortened sections of what is, at heart, a more straightforward and simpler standardized test than the SAT. Yes, there is still uncertainty about just how optional the Science section will be for students applying to competitive colleges. Which is why we are recommending, with few exceptions, that all our ACT students plan to take that section of the test.
As for prep materials, students need not worry, as the content and style of the test aren’t changing at all. Though it is true that there are only a handful of Enhanced ACT practice tests, we do believe that there are enough of them for students to use as mock tests as they gear up for test day. There are also very simple ways to make Classic ACTs into makeshift Enhanced ACTs – all that’s required is a bit of arithmetic to adjust the timing parameters. And those Classic ACTs provide a wealth of accurate, official practice material that students can use to build their ACT test-taking skills.
As ever, we recommend that students starting out on their test prep journey take SAT and ACT diagnostic tests (or, better yet, our SAT/ACT Diagnostic Comparison Test), determine which test they’re naturally better-suited to, and then prep for that test without reservations.
Recommendations for the class of 2028 and beyond
Students in the classes of 2028 and beyond should have even less trepidation about the Enhanced ACT, as they will benefit from a growing library of official Enhanced ACT practice tests, as well as from the test having been administered for more than a year. That experience will have enabled ACT to resolve any early issues and refine the format, ensuring a consistent and reliable testing experience.
Students in these classes should also continue to track universities’ policies on the ACT Science section. A vast majority of schools have yet to make any official policy decisions about submission of the ACT Science section. Be mindful, too, that submission policies may differ across schools within the same university. For example, the nursing school or engineering at a prestigious university may require applicants to submit ACT Science scores even if the larger university doesn’t.
It will also be a good idea to monitor trends in any admission data that shed light on how universities view applicants who submit ACT Science scores from those who don’t. We may find that many schools who say the ACT Science score is optional actually exhibit a preference for applicants who submit those scores. Over the past few years, many competitive test-optional universities have exhibited a preference for students who submit strong SAT or ACT scores. We would not be surprised to find the same to be true at many “ACT Science-optional” schools.
Key Takeaways
The ACT’s changes, while not revolutionary, mark the biggest shift in decades. With fewer questions, more time per item, and the optional Science section, many students may find this version slightly more forgiving.
As we’ve long maintained, we do not think students have any reason to fret about the Enhanced ACT. The fundamental content of the test remains largely the same, and with a shorter test and slightly more relaxed timing parameters, we think that students will find this test much more agreeable than the Classic ACT.
The biggest unknown is how colleges will respond to the Science section becoming optional. Until there’s clear consensus, we strongly recommend students take the Science section to avoid limiting their options.
As always, the best approach is to prepare early, take multiple official practice tests, and make informed decisions based on personal strengths and target colleges’ policies. If you have any questions, First Choice Prep is here to help navigate the evolving testing landscape.
Leave a Reply