ACT Test 2025: Registration, Exam Dates & Centres, Fees, Eligibility, Results

All sections of the ACT exam (English, Math, and Reading) are scored on a 1 to 36-point scale. The ACT composite score is the average of all three tests. Students taking the optional writing and science sections will receive their scores separately for these two sections. The writing and science scores do not affect the composite score.

Here are the average ACT scores by sections -

What is the validity of ACT Exam Scores?

The ACT total scores are valid for five years after the testing year in which you tested.

Also, Read:

• Advance Placement: Another exam by the College Board accepted by US and Canadian universities
• Understanding the Advanced Placement Program and its Benefits

ACT test results are typically released within two to three weeks of taking the test. If you took the ACT test along with the optional writing and/or science sections, your scores will be posted online as soon as they are ready, which is two weeks after your general scores are out. Applicants can access their ACT exam scores and results on their My ACT account. Applicants can also check if the ACT scores have reached the concerned colleges or not, based on the timeline. 

Tentative ACT Exam Result Dates in 2025 

As per the older patterns, below we have provided the tentative dates for the release of ACT exam results in 2025 for Indian and other non-US students. Hence, the tentative score reporting dates for the recent and upcoming ACT testing windows are:

There are two ways to prepare for the ACT: Self-Study and Coaching Classes. Both these options have unique benefits and none of the above can be considered better than the other. These two methods cannot be compared as they serve different audiences. The choice of method of study would depend upon the requirements and preferences of the exam takers.

Self-Study: If money is a consideration and one is quite confident of being able to prepare well without supervision, then self-study may be the better option to prepare for the ACT. You could save money on personal tuition and classes, but you need to keep in mind other factors too. To be able to study on your own effectively, you need a good resource of books and study material, along with motivation and self-discipline.

Coaching: If time is a constraint and you need professional guidance to ensure a competitive edge in exam preparation, then coaching classes are a better option. You will have access to a better resource of study material and will have a team of experts guiding you. Your time will be better managed as being regular in classes will become part of your routine. Moreover, being around other students preparing for the ACT will help you increase your motivation levels.

The ACT exam syllabus covers Reading, Mathematics, English, and Science as mandatory. This exam, however, has an optional writing section as well. Given below is an idea of how the syllabus of the ACT exam goes section-wise:

ACT English Section

The ACT English section tests the student's ability to understand the language basics and the ability to comprehend it too. These topics are broadly tested in ACT for the English section:

Usage/Mechanics

• Punctuation – These questions test your knowledge of internal and ‘end of sentence’ punctuation, with a focus on the relationship of punctuation to meaning.
• Grammar and Usage – These questions test your understanding of the agreement between pronoun-antecedent, subject-verb, and modifiers-word modified.
• Sentence Structure – These questions test your understanding of relationships between and among clauses, shifts in construction, and placement of modifiers.

Rhetorical Skills in ACT

• Strategy – These questions test how well you develop a topic by choosing appropriate expressions to an essay's purpose and audience; judging the effect of adding, deleting, or revising supporting material; and testing the relevance of statements in context.
• Organization – These questions test how well you organize ideas, as well as how you choose an effective opening, transitional, and closing sentence.
• Style – These questions test how well you choose appropriate words and images, manage sentence elements, maintain the level of style and tone, and avoid ambiguous pronouns.

ACT Mathematics Section

The following areas of Mathematics are tested in the ACT, thus students can prepare around the following topics:

Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra

• Pre-Algebra – These questions are based on operations like whole numbers, decimals, place value; square roots and approximations; fractions, and integers; the concept of exponents; scientific notation; linear equations in one variable; factors; ratio, proportion, and percentages; absolute value and ordering numbers by value; data collection, representation, and interpretation; counting techniques and probability, and understanding descriptive statistics.
• Elementary Algebra – These questions are based on the evaluation of algebraic expressions, properties of exponents and square roots, understanding algebraic operations, using variables to express functional relationships, and solution of quadratic equations.

Intermediate Algebra/Coordinate Geometry

• Intermediate Algebra – These questions are based on an understanding of rational and radical expressions, quadratic formulas, sequences and patterns, absolute value equations and inequalities, systems of equations, functions, modelling, quadratic inequalities, matrices, complex numbers, and roots of polynomials.
• Coordinate Geometry – These questions are based on graphing and the relation between equations and graphs, including lines, points, polynomials, other curves, and circles; graphing inequalities; parallel and perpendicular lines; slope; distance; conics and midpoints.

Plane Geometry/Trigonometry

• Plane Geometry – These questions are based on the properties and relations of plane figures, including relations and angles among perpendicular and parallel lines; properties of triangles, circles, rectangles, trapezoids, and parallelograms; transformations; the concept of proof and proof techniques; volume; and applications of geometry to three dimensions.
• Trigonometry – These questions are based on understanding values and properties of trigonometric functions; trigonometric relations in right triangles; graphing trigonometric functions; use of trigonometric identities; modelling using trigonometric functions; and solving trigonometric equations.

ACT Reading Section

The sections on passages that are required to be read and questions to be answered are modelled around the following topics in the ACT-

• Social Studies – These questions are based on passages in the areas of biography, anthropology, business, economics, psychology, history, archaeology, geography, political science, education, and sociology.
• Natural Sciences- These questions are based on passages in the areas of meteorology, astronomy, biology, botany, natural history, ecology, geology, physics, medicine, microbiology, anatomy, physiology, technology, chemistry, and zoology.

ACT Science Section

The following areas are tested for the Science section of the ACT:

• Data Representation – This section has Graphic and tabular material similar to those in science journals and texts. The questions associated with this format measure skills like graph reading, interpretation of the information presented in tables, and interpretation of scatterplots.
• Research Summaries - This section provides descriptions of experiments. The questions focus on the design of experiments and the explanation of results.
• Conflicting Viewpoints - This section presents several hypotheses or views that might be based on differing premises or incomplete data, and are inconsistent with one another. The questions focus on the analysis, understanding, and comparison of alternative hypotheses.

To get a detailed syllabus and pattern of the ACT Exam, click ACT Syllabus.

Check the most frequently asked questions about the ACT exam below.