The ACT Just Changed.
Here Is Everything That Is Different.
Read this before you register or buy a prep book
If you registered for the ACT before April 2025, or if your prep materials are more than a year old, you may be preparing for a test that no longer exists. From April 2025, the ACT rolled out its biggest changes in years. The test is shorter, the Science section became optional, and the way your composite score is calculated changed. Here is exactly what happened and what it means for you.
“The most widely misunderstood change is not that the test got shorter. It is that Science no longer affects your composite score.”
The three changes that matter
The test is significantly shorter
The ACT dropped from 215 questions to 171. The total testing time went from around three hours to approximately two hours. Each section kept the same structure but trimmed the question count. English is now 50 questions in 35 minutes. Mathematics is 45 questions in 50 minutes. Reading is 36 questions in 40 minutes. You still face the same skills under pressure, but there is less of it, which most students find easier to manage.
Science is now optional
This is the most significant structural change. The Science section still exists, but it is no longer part of the default test. Students choose at registration whether to add it. If you skip it, your test finishes after Reading. If you include it, you get 40 additional questions in 40 minutes after the Reading section.
Digital and paper are both available
Since April 2025, students can choose to take the ACT online or on paper. Both formats cover the same content. Digital testing launched online in April 2025 and expanded to all Saturday test centres by September 2025. Unlike the digital SAT, the ACT does not adapt between sections based on your performance. The format is the same for everyone.
How the new scoring works
The composite score is now the average of three sections only: English, Mathematics, and Reading. Science does not affect it. The composite still runs from 1 to 36.
If you take the optional Science section, you receive a separate Science score and a STEM score, which is the average of your Mathematics and Science results. Some universities and scholarship programmes look at the STEM score specifically, particularly for engineering, computing, and science programmes. Most general admissions processes only ask for the composite.
What this means in practice
A student who previously scored 28 on English, 26 on Mathematics, 27 on Reading, and 22 on Science would have had a composite dragged down by that Science result. Under the new rules, the composite is now based on the first three sections only. That same student now has a composite of 27. The Science score sits separately and only appears if the student chose to take it.
Should you take the Science section or skip it?
For most students applying to arts, humanities, social sciences, or business programmes, skipping Science is a reasonable choice. It adds 40 minutes of testing for a score that plays no role in your composite.
For students applying to STEM programmes, particularly at universities that look at subject-specific scores, the STEM score can matter. Some competitive engineering and science programmes will ask for it directly. Check the specific requirements of every university on your list before you decide.
How to decide whether to take ACT Science
- Check each university on your list. If any programme asks for a STEM or Science score, take it.
- If all your programmes are non-STEM, skipping Science saves you 40 minutes and removes a source of anxiety.
- If you are unsure, register with Science. You can always decide on the day not to complete it.
- Do not skip Science just because it is optional. Decide based on where you are applying.
- If you are applying to engineering, medicine, computing, or science programmes at selective universities, include it.
The bigger picture: ACT versus SAT in 2025
The SAT has grown in popularity. More US students now sit the SAT than the ACT, and the gap is widening, partly because of the digital SAT launch in 2024 and partly because the Ivy League's reinstatements brought standardised testing back into focus.
None of this means the ACT is a weaker choice. Every major US university accepts both tests equally. What matters is which format suits you.
Where the ACT plays to different strengths
- Science section: tests data reading and interpretation, not scientific knowledge
- Mathematics: covers more advanced topics including trigonometry
- English: focuses heavily on grammar and editing accuracy
A practical rule
Take a timed practice test for both the ACT and the SAT before you commit to either. Most students find that one format feels noticeably more comfortable than the other after about 90 minutes of real practice. That instinct is usually worth following. Both tests are accepted equally, so the best test for you is the one where your preparation translates into your highest score.
If your prep materials predate 2025, check the question counts
Old ACT materials show 60 Mathematics questions and a three-hour test. The real test is now 45 questions and two hours. Drilling on the old format builds timing habits that actively hurt you on the real day. Use older materials for content practice only. For any timed simulation, use the current format.
Go deeper
Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth. SAT Scores Are Back.
The Ivy League reversed its test-optional policies. Here is the full timeline and what it means if selective US universities are on your list.
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About the author
Sadia
Co-founder, WizardTeacher · Marketing and student experience
Sadia is co-founder of WizardTeacher and heads marketing, operations, and student experience. Her articles draw on official exam board documentation, student feedback data, and extensive research into how students prepare and improve under test conditions.