The ACT has finally responded to the major update to the SAT that College Board released earlier this year. An effort to keep up with the trends begun by the new Digital SAT, the ACT organization is also responding to the paradigm shift in the college admissions process represented by both the test optional movement and recent Supreme Court rulings. The ACT organization is changing how the ACT is administered in 2025, both by shortening the test and making one section optional.
Optional Science Section
The first major announcement is that the Science section is now optional. Students can register for the ACT as per usual, but the core test will only include the English, Math, and Reading sections. If a student wants to take the Science section, they will have to select ACT Plus Science during the registration process. This will undoubtedly cost more.
Scoring Changes in 2025 ACT
This change is reflected in the scoring of the test. The Composite score, previously an average of the four section scores (English, Math, Reading, and Science) will now merely be an average of the three core sections (English, Math, and Reading). This has been the case for the oft-forgotten Writing (essay) section, where the Composite has not included the essay. Instead, there has been a separate, non-binding sub-score combining the English and Writing sections visible on the official score reports. We predict that the ACT will continue to display a non-binding sub-score for Science and Math on future score reports.
Length of New Test
The other major announcement is that the ACT organization is shortening the length of the test. The core ACT (English, Math, and Reading) will last just over two hours, with breaks. The test writers are accomplishing this by utilizing shorter passages in both the Reading and English sections and reducing the number of questions in each section. They promise that the core sections of English, Math, and Reading will have 44 fewer questions than on the current test, where those three sections have a combined total of 175 questions. The ACT organization has not released specific information on the changes to the timing or how many questions will be removed from each individual section.
Additionally, the ACT organization has not announced if these changes in timing and number of questions apply to the now-optional Science section. Considering the Writing section is still an option, the ACT organization has not made any references to changes in the timing or format of that section either.
2025 ACT Start Date
The new, shorter ACT will be released for the first time in spring 2025, either for the traditional February or April test dates. ACT will not release the new, shorter ACT for School Day Testings until spring 2026, which is surprising, since many students from lower income and economically depressed communities rely on School Day Testings to access the ACT. A School Day Testing is when an individual high school contracts with ACT for a unique testing date only for the students of that high school, on-site and during a regular school day. The vast majority of the time, School Day Testings are free for all students who attend the school. Other times, the testing is free for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch per Title I, but students who do not qualify must pay the regular registration fee.
As we at Livius learn more about the upcoming changes to the 2025 ACT, we will share what we know with our clients and the community at large.
Author: Jason Breitkopf