Since the College Board announced its switch to a digital test, ACT Inc. has been trying its best to evolve to keep up with its competitor. While ACT recently began offering a digital version of the ACT to students who prefer testing on a computer, it hasn’t gained much traction. Students we’ve spoken to who have tried the digital ACT have noted that they prefer the paper test since its digital counterpart doesn’t offer some essential tools–like those offered in College Board’s Bluebook testing app–such as, the ability to markup reading passages and access to Desmos (an advanced graphing calculator application).

In a continued effort to offer choice and flexibility to students–and to compete with the College Board as the preferred college admissions test–ACT has announced that they will be making more changes. What are the two fundamental changes ACT is touting? The Science section will become optional, and the test will be shorter.

What is changing?

• The Science section will become optional
• The Composite score will be the average of the English, Reading, and Math scores
• The test will be shorter (2 hours compared to 3)
• Shorter passages on the English and Reading sections
• Fewer questions in each section (44 in all), meaning more time to answer each question!

ACT has announced that these changes will roll out beginning with national online testing spring 2025 and then for school-day testing spring of 2026.

We are always excited when the College Board and ACT announce innovative changes to their tests, but it always leaves us with more questions! We look forward to learning more about these changes so we can help students navigate the complex, competitive world of admission testing and guide them to find the best choice to maximize their test scores!

Read the full ACT article here.