American College Test (ACT)
Per the Illinois State Board of Education, the high school State assessment will transition to the ACT beginning with the 2024-25 school year. The ACT aligns to the Illinois Learning Standards; provides a secure online testing experience for students, while reducing administrative burden on districts; and prioritizes accessible and actionable reporting for educators and families. The Illinois State Board of Education has created an ACT Frequently Asked Questions document that addresses the transition from SAT to ACT.
The ACT is composed of multiple-choice questions in four subject areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. There is also an option to participate in a writing assessment, which does not factor into a student’s composite score.
Subject Area | Test Length | Number of Questions | Description |
English | 35 minutes | 50 | Make decisions to revise and edit short texts and essays of various genres. |
Mathematics | 50 minutes | 45 | The skills acquired in coursework through 12th grade. |
Reading | 40 minutes | 36 | Read closely, reason logically about texts using evidence included in the text and integrate information from various sources. |
Science | 40 minutes | 40 | Interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem-solving using science content including biology, chemistry, Earth/space science, and physics. |
Writing | 40 minutes | 1 prompt | Skills learned in high school English courses as well as entry-level college composition course requirements. |
2025 ACT Enhancements
In the spring of 2025, ACT began the rollout of an enhanced test. Beginning in September 2025, all ACT test administrations will be the enhanced version of the test. Changes to the test were made in order to provide students with a shorter, more flexible assessment that increases the time available for each test question. In addition to decreasing the test length for the English, mathematics, and reading tests, ACT also updated the composite score calculation, by removing science. That means when students register for "The ACT" they are only required to take the English, math, and reading tests to earn a composite (overall) score. Students wishing to take the science and/or writing tests can simply add these tests to their registration. For more information about these changes, please visit ACT's website.
A graphic representation of the differences between the legacy and enhanced ACT can also be found here. This table was designed to quickly illustrate changes in timing, questions, and test content. While no changes to the scoring categories have occurred, in some cases, the percentage of question-types have changed. ACT maintains that no major content areas have been added or removed, so ACT preparation materials published prior to the implementation of the 2025 enhanced ACT are still useful.
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ACT Test Preparation Options