New ACT Format and Scoring

How is the new ACT Scored? 

The ACT has changed to a new “enhanced” format this year, with fewer questions per section and more time per question. We are going to take a look at how the new test format, as well as experimental “field test” questions, can affect your eventual score. New composite scores are also averaged just from English, Math, and Reading, with Science left as a separate score!

Fewer Questions and Optional Science

The new ACT – officially called the “Enhanced” version of the test – has cut down on the number of questions in English, Math, and Reading, and has also designated the Science section as “optional.” If you want to know whether you should take the Science section, check out this table of individual college and university policies. Some require it, some consider it optional, and a few do not even consider it. When in doubt, at Mindfish we default to recommending that you take the ACT with Science.

Here’s the breakdown of how the number of questions has changed:

Field Test Questions – Problems That Secretly Don’t Count?!

On previous versions of the ACT, students would expect there to be four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science. At the end of their test day, they would find that the proctor asked them to complete an additional fifth section, made up of a mix of questions. These questions did not actually count towards ACT scores, but were used to help with the research and development process of problems for future tests.

The new enhanced ACT does not have this additional section, and instead is going to include “field test” questions in the midst of real ones. You might be doing question 9 on the Math section, for example, not suspecting that it actually will not count towards your score because it is an “experimental” item.

Based on official ACT statements and the exams administered so far, we expect field test items to be distributed in the four sections in the following way:

English: 10 questions out of 50 are not counted towards raw scores (one whole passage is unscored)

Math: 4 questions out of 45 are not counted (distributed evenly throughout the math section)

Reading: 9 questions out of 36 are not counted (one whole passage is unscored)

Science: 6 questions out of 40 are not counted (one whole passage is unscored)

This means that your score is calculated from even fewer problems than it first seemed! Your English section score is now determined by only 40 questions, Math 41, Reading 27, and Science 36.

Demystifying Superscoring

If you take the ACT multiple times, you might get your highest score in Reading on one test date, and then your highest Math score on another date. Many colleges and universities (about 70%) have longstanding policies of considering applicants’ best-ever section scores across multiple examinations to create a “superscore.” 

Relatively recently, the ACT company itself has begun providing its own superscores on score reports. With the new ACT, superscore reports provided on your official score report will not include science, and will provide you a superscored composite score that is the average of your English, Math, and Reading subscores, which are now called the “Core ACT.” 

Even though the ACT is separating science from the other three scores, colleges and universities make their own decisions about how they will consider ACT scores, and many will still be looking at good science scores as a positive aspect of applications. During the 2025-2026 season of transition for the ACT, it is especially important for students and parents to check the policies of the specific colleges they are interested in. Use this resource to see up-to-date superscore policies.

What Does All This Mean for Me?

Many students seeing all this information about the new ACT may wonder how it should affect their approach to the test. The simplest answer is that you should take advantage of the increased time per question, pay extra attention to double-checking your answers, and otherwise just treat the Enhanced ACT like any other standardized test. We don’t recommend that you try to figure out which questions are experimental: this is both risky and distracting! Assume every question is going to count and give it a fair shot. One thing that can certainly happen with the dramatically reduced number of scored questions, though, is that scores will have a lot more variability. The ACT may say that the test scores have the same meaning as ever, but every right or wrong answer simply counts more than ever, and that might mean that from one test to another, your section scores could change a lot based on whether you were having a good or bad day. 

And I Still Shouldn’t Take the Writing Test?

Our guidance on the optional essay (writing test) remains the same: there is no reason to take it. Very few colleges or universities ask for students to submit ACT writing scores.

If you still have any questions, or are uncertain which test to take, reach out to our admin team to figure out the best plan for you!