Every college or university in the United States requires standardized entrance exams as a part of the application process, and the ACT is one of them. ACT is a paper-based standardized test operated by the ACT, a nonprofit establishment founded in 1959. The number of people taking the ACT has gradually increased since its inception. On average, 2.03 million students take the test annually. Most universities accept both SAT & ACT and treat it equally.

The ACT can be attempted by all candidates, irrespective of age. A student in Class 6,7,8,9 can also take the ACT in addition to high school students.

The ACT is a multiple-choice questionnaire covering these sections: 

• English
• Math
• Reading
• Science
• Writing (optional) 

Please note that there is no negative marking on the ACT.

English Section: The first section (45-minutes) covers three aspects of English in its 75 question test. The test consists of five passages with sections underlined on one side of the page and options to correct the highlighted part on the other. The questions focus on usage and mechanics of the subject like punctuation, rhetorical skill testing of transitions, organization, strategy, and style and grammatically and stylistically constructing sentence questions.

Math Section: It is the second 60-minute questionnaire section comprising 60 questions and it’s difficulty level spikes as the student progresses further. Though the distribution of questions changes from test to test, the approximate distribution is :

•       14 questions on pre-algebra,
•       10 questions on elementary algebra,
•       9 questions on intermediate algebra, 
•       14 questions on plane geometry, 
•       9 questions on coordinate geometry, and
•       4 questions on elementary trigonometry. 

This is the only section which has five options instead of the usual four in its multiple-choice. Also, calculators are permitted only in this section but have austere requirements than its competitor SAT. Standard graphing calculators TI – 83 and TI- 84 of CX version and adding machines which make sound are allowed though it is required to disable the noise. 

Reading Section: Time allotted for this section is 35 minutes and it includes 40 questions in four sections. Three of these sections contain long prose passages and the fourth section contains two shorter prose passages. Students are commonly asked to explain the meaning from the text as to what it states and determine the reasoning behind its implicit meaning. Natural science, Humanities, Social Sciences and Literary are the four major areas on which the passages are based on.

Science Section: The final section is 35 minutes long and has 40 questions. This section contains seven passages. The format of this section includes three data representations with five questions each, three research summary with six questions each and one conflicting viewpoints passage with seven questions. Passages are based on Earth Sciences, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, which are often supplemented with diagrams, tables, charts and graphs. This section tests the knowledge of the theory behind hypothesis and data analysis.

Optional Writing Section: Writing is an optional exam which evaluates planning and short essay expertise of an individual. Some colleges exempt the students from the Writing Section, while for some it’s a requirement. This optional 40-minute section is always taken by students at the end of the test. Though there are no particular essay structures to be followed, it is to be written in response to the prompts which are usually social in nature. The students are supposed to scrutinize it from three perspectives and explain how their belief relates to those views. As the essay does not impact the composite score, it is given a separate score. The essay is judged by two trained readers who give a subscore from 1 to 6 each on the following categories – Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, Language Use and Conventions. The essays are to be only written in No. 2 pencil. Students are advised to check their college requirements as there are some universities which require writing options for admission evaluation, while some don’t.

How is the ACT scored?

The range of subject scores is from 1 to 36 (all integers) and a composite number which is the rounded whole number of all the sections. English, Math, and Reading also include subscores of 1 to 18 but these scores do not sum up subject scores. Likewise, students who take the optional writing test will receive a score anywhere from 2 – 12. This is a change from the usual 1 – 36 score but their composite score of the test isn’t affected. 

Each question is worth a point and no mark is deducted for an incorrect answer. Students are also allowed to retake this test to improve their scores. 

Approx. Registration Fee 

With the optional writing section – $46 + $57.50 = $103.5 =  ~7,485 INR

Without the writing section – $62.50 + $57.50 = $120 =  ~8,680 INR

Availability of the test:

US and Canada: 7 times a year 

Other countries: 5 times a year 

Duration: 3 Hours and 35 minutes 

Registration for the test should be done one month before the test and can be done on the website www.act.org. If you have any additional questions regarding the ACT or its elements, get in touch with your personal counselor at UniRely.