Starting in April 2025, students who take the online version of the ACT will notice a few changes. This shouldn’t be cause for alarm, though, as the content of the English, math, and reading sections will remain mostly unchanged. The most noticeable difference will be the absence of the science section, which will become optional. In addition to making for a shorter test overall, the changes mean fewer questions on each part and more time per question.

Timeline of the Changes

The transition to the new test will happen at the national level somewhat gradually over the course of 2025. Starting in April, the enhanced version of the test will be offered as an online-only option. In the meantime, the paper version of the test will remain unchanged. In September, however, the new test will be available in both formats. It is important to note that for 2025 the enhanced ACT (digital and paper) will only be given through national test sites and will not be offered at school day testing. Schools and districts will offer the new ACT starting in Spring 2026. Let’s take a more in-depth look at what will change and what will stay the same.

What’s Different

• The science section will be optional.
• The composite score will only include English, math, and reading.
• The science score will be reported separately for students who choose to take it.
• The overall length of the test will be shorter – 125 vs. 195 minutes.
• The overall number of questions will be reduced (44 fewer).
• The time for each question will be increased (by 6 to 14 seconds, depending on section).
• The number of options will be reduced for the math questions – 4 vs. 5 options.
• The field test items will be integrated, rather than appearing in a separate section.

What’s Staying the Same

• Students will have the option to take a paper test (with changes reflected in September 2025).
• The basic skills and knowledge being tested will remain unchanged.
• The test is linear and not adaptive, meaning that all students get the same questions in the same order, regardless of their performance on individual questions.
• Superscoring can still be provided.

Preparing for the New Test

A full-length practice test and other preparation materials are expected to appear in early 2025. However, because the content of the test won’t be changing much, the current test prep materials will still be useful study aids. For instance, while the reading passages will be shorter and be followed by fewer questions, the reading skills required and the types of questions asked will be the same. There has been talk of adding an argumentative essay to the reading section and reducing the number of advanced math problems, but we will have to wait for the full-length test for more details.

Our Recommendations

For the time being, we recommend that students who are signed up for the ACT in early 2025 continue to prepare for the test as usual. We expect that most colleges will still be interested in seeing a science score, especially for students who are planning to major in STEM subjects.

Further Information

We will continue to update 5 Points Prep families with any new information about the changes. The ACT website is also a useful resource that includes a helpful FAQ. If you have any other questions or concerns about preparing for the ACT, whether it’s the old version or the new, please get in touch with us by emailing info@5pointsprep.com. To learn more about the variety of ACT prep courses that we offer at 5 Points Prep, the schedule is available here. If you’re ready to sign up for ACT prep with us, you can find the sign up form here.