The ACT is set to undergo transformative changes beginning in 2025. The forthcoming changes to the ACT’s format are intended to create a more manageable and flexible testing experience by reducing the number of test questions, lengthening the time allocations for each section, and making the Science section optional, all while maintaining the ACT’s effectiveness in assessing college readiness.

Starting in April 2025, the “enhanced” ACT will be available in a digital format only, but starting in September 2025, all digital and paper versions in both the US and abroad will adopt the new ACT structure. By spring 2026, the updated format will be fully implemented for school-day testing as well.

The new format of the ACT reduces the overall number of questions from 215 to 171 and shortens the test duration from 175 minutes (not including breaks or the optional essay) to approximately 125 minutes (not including breaks or the optional Science and essay sections). This new design provides students with more time per question across all sections, somewhat reducing the intense time pressure associated with the current test format.

English
In the English section, the number of questions will decrease from 75 to 50, and the time limit will be adjusted to 35 minutes (offering a 17% increase in time per question). The passages will also be shorter, an argumentative essay will be added, and all questions will have question stems with clear instructions.

Math
The Math section will now feature 45 questions instead of 60, with a time limit of 50 minutes (offering an 11% increase in time per question). Additionally, the answer choices for Math questions will be reduced from five to four, streamlining the decision-making process. The new ACT will also re-balance the math content tested and reduce the number of questions requiring context (and hence a longer reading time). The Reading section will also see changes, with 36 questions instead of 40, shorter passages, and an extended time limit of 40 minutes, offering approximately 27% more time per question.

Science
Perhaps the biggest change is that the Science section, currently a required component of the ACT, will become optional. For students who choose to include it, the Science section will consist of 40 questions and a time limit of 40 minutes (offering 13% more time per question). The revised Science section will place more emphasis on questions requiring outside knowledge, and it will include at least one passage related to engineering and design. On the new ACT, the Science score will not factor into the composite score but will be reported separately, much like the Writing score is. Starting in September 2025, the Composite score will just be the average of a student’s English, Math, and Reading scores.

Experimental Questions
Another key change is that experimental questions, which will be indistinguishable from scored questions, will be embedded across all sections of the ACT. These questions, which do not affect a student’s score, will be used to evaluate potential content for future tests. The English section will have 10 experimental questions (out of 50 questions total); the Math section will have 4 experimental questions (out of 45 questions total); the Reading section will have 9 experimental questions (out of 36 questions total); and the optional Science section will include 6 experimental questions (out of 40 questions total). The experimental questions will be seamlessly integrated into the overall test design, so students won’t know which questions are scored and which are experimental.

The presence of such a high number of experimental questions may lead to more volatility in scores, since fewer questions on all sections are being used to determine the scaled scores. For example, just 30 questions will be used to generate the scaled English score on the new ACT as compared to 75 questions on the current (“legacy”) version of the ACT; on the Reading section, 27 questions will determine the scaled score on the new version as compared to 40 questions on the current version.

Prep Strategies
With these changes, students will need to reassess their preparation strategies. Preparing with practice tests that reflect the updated structure—such as those available in The 2025-2026 Official ACT Prep Guide, scheduled for publication in May 2025—and consulting with test preparation experts will help students navigate these transitions effectively.

The upcoming changes to the ACT are designed to alleviate stress and create a more equitable testing environment. By offering more time per question and providing options like the optional Science section, the ACT aims to better accommodate a diverse range of student strengths and preferences while still effectively evaluating college readiness.