For high school juniors across the country, the mention of the ACT often brings a wave of emotions, from anxiety and anger to sadness and curiosity. This standardized test is not only an important part of the college admission process but also creates academic demands as well as the pressure a student receives to meet expectations. As the testing date looms over students’ heads many try to juggle study schedules, practice exams, as well as the stresses of everyday high school life.
The structure of the current ACT is as follows
English 75 questions- 60 minutes
Math 60 questions – 60 minutes
Reading 40 questions – 35 minutes
Science 40 questions – 35 minutes
Writing 1 essay – 40 minutes
Not including the 15 minute break after the math section and a 5 minute break before the writing section, the total time of the current ACT is 230 minutes (3.8 hours).
“I think it is actually a helpful test for college admissions but I do wish the ACT gave more time to answer the questions so that we can show our best ability, junior Natalie Haecke said.
According to a recent Common Sense poll 53% of juniors say that the math section of the ACT is their least favorite and 52.4% say the English section is their favorite. Many students have lots to say about the ACT.
“It shouldn’t be as difficult and life changing as it is, some people just don’t do as good on tests like this so basically their future is “ruined” because they can’t get a 30 or higher on a very difficult test. Some of us haven’t even learned what’s on the math section and some people haven’t gone over the stuff since 8th grade. Also we should get more time because you could know all the stuff and just need more time to process but you don’t have that time. Due to the lack of time, you get a bad score and that’s just not fair because everyone tests differently and everyone’s brains are different so some people just need more time to work out stuff than others,” says junior Isabella Rakosky
Beginning in April of 2025 students in the US taking the online ACT will see an updated version and in September of 2025 the updates will apply to paper pencil tests.
English 50 questions – 35 minutes
Math 45 questions – 50 minutes
Reading 36 questions – 40 minutes
Science 40 questions – 40 minutes
Writing 1 essay- 40 minutes
The new version of the ACT will allow for more time per question and the test will overall be 44 questions shorter for students.
This updated version will allow you to have the option of registering for the science and writing sections of the ACT making the allotted time 125 minutes (2.1 hours).
In the state of Nebraska students will not be allowed to opt out of the writing and science sections for the state administered ACT, so the total allotted time will be 205 minutes (3.4 hours)
The ACT will remain a significant part of the high school experience invoking a range of emotions among students. While the test will still remain challenging, the changes to the format are expected to alleviate some of the pressures that come with the ACT.
