3 of 37

ACT General Structure: the Four Sections

The ACT is about 3 hours long

10-15 minute Break

English

Math

Reading

Science

4 of 37

ACT Structure: Overview of the Sections

English Math Reading Science

Editing Text All Multiple Choice 10 Questions/each Finding Information Passage-based Long Text Passage Tables, Charts, & Graphs

No Increase in Difficulty Increase in Difficulty No Increase in Difficulty Increase in Difficulty

5 Passages 4 Passages 6 Passages

5 of 37

ACT Pacing in Each Section

English

75 Questions in

45 Minutes

36 Seconds Per Question

9 min/passage

Math

60 Questions in

60 Min

1 Minute Per Question

No Passages

Reading

40 Questions in

35 Minutes

53 Seconds per Question

9 minutes/passage

Science

40 Questions in

35 Minutes

53 Seconds per Question

6 minutes/passage

6 of 37

Tools for the Online Version

Review - button allows you to navigate between questions. This is useful if you need to check passages (deciding which Reading or Science passage to skip). It also shows you any unanswered or bookmarked questions, so you can easily jump to them.
Highlight - Click on a word and drag your mouse to highlight entire sections of text in either the question or the passages! Two color options are provided.
Bookmark - Button on top of page that allows you to bookmark a question so you can remember to review it later.

7 of 37

More Tools for the Online Version

Pointer & Answer Eliminator - When you click on the arrow, you are in Pointer mode, the default mode that allows your mouse to click normally. When you click on the X, you switch to Answer Eliminator mode. Here, your mouse click will cross out an answer choice. When not clicking on an answer choice, your mouse will still work like a normal pointer.
Desmos (Math only) - Built in graphing calculator. Click on the calculator to toggle Desmos on and off. In Desmos Mode, your mouse will work as a normal pointer.
Previous & Next - Takes you to the next or previous question.

8 of 37

How the ACT is Scored

ALL questions, regardless of difficulty, are worth the same.
Do not leave any questions blank! There is no penalty for wrong answers, so you should make random guesses on any questions you are unsure about or don’t have time to attempt.
Each question is worth 1 point. Your raw score is calculated by adding how many questions you got right in that section. This raw score is converted to a scaled score out of 36.
All 4 section scores are averaged and your composite scaled score is this average rounded UP (a 25.25 is reported as 25 and a 25.5 is reported as 26)

9 of 37

Multiple Attempts &

Superscores

There is a benefit to taking the ACT multiple times -- most colleges “superscore”! Superscoring means that instead of picking one of your tests to send to colleges, you can send scores that contain your highest section scores. Let's say you got a high Reading score on your first attempt. Then, you take the ACT again to raise your math score. When you retake the test, you can still keep your Reading score from the first attempt!

If you take the test multiple times, colleges that superscore ACT scores will consider your highest score for each section regardless of which ACT attempt it is from. Your highest section scores will be averaged to produce a new, superscored composite.

10 of 37

English Section

5 Passages; 15 questions /passage; 45 minutes total = 9 minutes per passage

Questions proceed in order of the passage, but they do not go in order of difficulty: easy, medium, and difficult questions are intermixed.

Most questions have you edit text. On TestNav, the portions to be edited will already be highlighted for you (see example at start/end)!

For these questions, one answer choice will be "No Change." That means you think the right answer is the one highlighted.

Some questions ask whether the text achieved a certain purpose, whether words/sentences should be added, or where words/sentences should be added.

11 of 37

English Section Example 1

Punctuation

12 of 37

English Section Pacing

75 questions in 45 minutes = 36 seconds per question on average. This seems fast, but students usually have the least problems with pacing on this section.

Many questions can be answered quickly, leaving extra time for the tougher ones. Don't waste time on difficult questions! Skip them or immediately guess.

If pacing is a problem (try the TestNav practice section), the best questions to skip are generally the 1-2 at the end of each passage. These questions require a holistic understanding of the passage, so they tend to take longer.

13 of 37

English Example 2: Time Wasters

14 of 37

English Section Tips: The Whole Entire Truth

Wordiness/Redundancy: Some questions have answer choices that are noticeably different lengths. These often test wordiness & redundancy, and usually the correct answer is the shortest one.
Same Punctuation. Did you know that a semicolon is a fancy period? Or that a single dash and a colon are basically the same?

Therefore, if BOTH a semicolon and a period are answer choices with NOTHING else different between the choices, it CANNOT be either one of them! This applies to single dashes and colons too.

15 of 37

English: Wordiness & Redundancy example

16 of 37

English: Same Punctuation Example

17 of 37

Math Section Info

60 questions in 60 minutes (first 50 are the most important)
Questions can be very direct or be word problems
Shapes are sometimes shown but are often only described - Draw them!
The ACT does NOT provide a formula sheet. Some formulas may be given within questions.
The ACT Math is broad. You will see advanced topics like logarithms, matrices, ellipses, law of cosines, and combinatorics. However, the majority of questions center around algebra, functions, numbers and quantities, geometry, and probability/statistics (Math 1-3).

18 of 37

Math Section Examples

Direct, Drawn Geometry, Undrawn Geometry

19 of 37

Math Section Examples

Long Word Problems & Short Word Problems

20 of 37

Math Sections

Calculators

The computer version of the ACT has a built-in graphing calculator called Desmos.
You are free to use your own calculator as long as it is on ACT's list of allowable calculators. For example, NSPIRE calculators that say "CAS" are NOT allowed. Make sure to Google the approved list to make sure it is allowed.
You should use Desmos even if you bring your own calculator. It makes graphing very simple, which makes finding intercepts and vertices much easier.

21 of 37

Math Section Pacing

The questions in the math section increase in difficulty.
The last 10 questions are VERY difficult, and most students answer only 2 or 3 of them correctly even if 10 minutes is used.
ALL questions are worth the same amount of points! If you miss 5 questions by rushing in order to have time for the last 10, and you only get 1 or 2 extra questions correct, then you’ve lost points!
For most students, your score will improve if you pretend the last 10 questions don't exist. Use your time on the first 50 questions, trying to be accurate on earlier, easier questions.

22 of 37

Math Tips: Working Backwards

Working backwards is a commonly-used technique, but you should apply it efficiently, so that you don't waste time checking all 5 answers. This strategy is often called “Plug and Chug.”
The ACT Math section gives its numerical answer choices in ascending order (least to greatest).
Therefore, it is often best to start by checking "C" first. If you check "C" and your answer is too large, there is no need to check "D" and "E" because they are even larger! If your answer is too small, there is no need to check "A" and "B" because they are even smaller! Using this strategy, you only need to check 1-3 answer choices instead of all five of them.

23 of 37

Math Section Other Tips

Working Backwards Efficiently Example

We can work backwards by noticing that 15 miles takes 150 minutes, and they ask for the number of minutes it takes to run 1 mile. We can multiply each answer choice by 15 to see which one gets us to 150 minutes

We start with "C" and find that 12.5 x 15 = 187.5

Since this is TOO LARGE, we don't need to even check "D" and "E" because they will be even larger, so now we work backwards to "B" and "A." We see that 10x15 = 150, so "B" is the answer!

24 of 37

Reading Section Info

Passages proceed Literary Narrative (story) → Social Sciences (history) → Humanities (arts) → Natural Sciences (science)
You can work on the passages in any order. You can start with the genre that you find easiest.
On the online version, questions about specific portions of the text will HIGHLIGHT the text for you.
Questions are presented one-by-one on the computer test.
One passage (chosen at random) will be a double passage that features questions about each passage separately and a few questions comparing the two. Read passage one first and answer the questions for it; then, read the second passage and answer the questions about passage two. Finally, answer the questions comparing both.

25 of 37

Reading Section Pacing

3-passage approach

To reach the end of the Reading section, you have 9 minutes per passage: not a lot of time. However, you can give yourself more time per passage at the expense of full completion with the P3 strategy:

In the P3 strategy, you work through 3 passages and randomly guess on the 4th, giving you about 12 minutes per passage. This extra time usually leads to an improvement in accuracy, allowing students to score higher than if they rushed all 4 passages.

To use this strategy, peek at all 4 passages first to decide which you will skip. If you generally dislike one of the four genres of passages, the decision can be more easily made.

26 of 37

Reading Section Pacing

3.5 passage approach

P3.5 - With this strategy, read 3 passages and use 5 minutes for a quick attack of the 4th passage. This allows for 10 minutes per passage for the main 3 passages and 5 minutes for the 4th, giving you a little extra time per passage.

To choose the passage you’ll do in 5 minutes, check the number of questions each passage has that directly link to highlighted text. The more the better! These questions can be answered without fully reading the passage.

Since the online version presents questions one at a time, checking for these questions may be slow. Consider guessing on any main idea or author's purpose questions.

27 of 37

Types of Questions to Look for

When Using P3.5

28 of 37

Science Section Info

The 6 science passages are divided into 2 Data passages, 3 Research passages, and 1 Conflicting Viewpoint passage.

Data Passages: Mostly graphs, charts, and figures that often do not have you compare between figures. These are straightforward and do not feature large chunks of text.

Research Passages: Usually about 50% graphs, charts, and figures and 50% text. Often, these will have you make comparisons between figures and model from predictions.

Conflicting Viewpoints: Mostly text that will feature multiple students or scientists discussing their own hypothesis about a topic.. You will be tasked with dissecting and differentiating their arguments.

29 of 37

Example of Conflicting

Viewpoint Passage

30 of 37

Science Section Pacing

The passages increase in difficulty, and the questions within each passage also increase in difficulty. Here’s where you can guess if running out time.

The last question of each passage - This last question of each passage tends to be the most difficult. You could guess on these for some or all of the passages–these are the ones you are most likely to get wrong anyway.
An entire passage - it could be beneficial to guess on an entire passage. Sometimes there’s a passage that is harder than the rest, and you can usually tell by looking at it. Don’t hesitate to guess on this passage and return to it if time permits.
Don’t waste time – Guess on hard and time-consuming questions so you have time to answer questions that you’re more likely to get correct.

31 of 37

Science Section Tips for Success

Part 1

The SCIENCE is like a reading section that tests your ability to interpret and analyze the data inside charts, tables, and graphs.

The amount of outside science knowledge you need to know is limited, but you’ll benefit from reviewing the basics with an emphasis on experimental design and the scientific method. Make sure you know the difference between constants and variables, why we use controls, and independent vs dependent variables.

32 of 37

Science Section Tips for Success

Part 2

Treat it like a scavenger hunt! Questions will require you to jump around the passage moving from one clue to the next. When a question presents the clues that will ultimately lead you to the answer, follow them in the passage one by one.
Skim and highlight the questions - Many of the passages feature multiple charts, figures, tables, studies, etc, and questions will often tell you exactly which one to look at. Before you begin, scan the questions and highlight which, if any, figure or study the questions wants you to look at. Try to answer all of the questions from one figure or study before moving on to the next one, and save comparison questions for last. This will reduce the amount of times you need to shift your attention to a totally new set of data.

33 of 37

The ACT Is Changing Next Year

Starting April 2025, the online version of the ACT will be changing to a new format! In September, 2025, the paper version is changing to match the new format.

The Science section will become optional and will be graded separately from the rest. Colleges have not announced whether they will require the Science section. We will know more next year.
Each section will have fewer total questions, so the overall time commitment of the ACT will drop.
Each section will allow more time per question. Pacing will become less of an issue!

34 of 37

Test Day Tips

March 11th is the day!

Good breakfast = mental energy
You NEED a good night's sleep to be able to focus on the test!
Don't be adventurous! Stick to what your body is used to.
Your brain needs sugar to stay focused for hours. Make sure your breakfast includes carbs and protein.
Bring a sugary snack for your break. Bananas, granola bars, even candy bars are all great choices.
You get ONE bathroom break. Don't drink too much water and coffee! Hydrate the night before. Nothing ruins focus more than not being able to go to the bathroom.

35 of 37

Test Day Tips: March 11th is the ACT

Anxiety from Unknowns

Some test anxiety stems from unknowns. Make sure you have all materials ready WELL IN ADVANCE and not the morning of.

Have all of your items ready to go the night before - snacks, drinks, and breakfast planned.

Make sure you know exactly where and when to report.

36 of 37

Study Resources

For Paper Test: Official ACT Prep Guide by Wiley (book displayed above)
For Computer Test: Wiley Online - each Official ACT Prep Guide book comes with an online code that allows you access to Wiley Online.
TestNav's Practice Test - Good for determining your pace and seeing what the online environment you will take your test in looks like
Google - Since ACT releases several of their tests every year, a simple Google search can find full scanned copies of actual old ACTs. These are great practice!

1 of 37

2 of 37