Big Changes in the ACT: What Students Need to Know for 2024-2025
There are some major changes coming to the ACT. While there are no sample tests available for us to analyze, here are our early thoughts on the changes:
Key Changes to the ACT
The ACT has announced these changes will start with online national test dates in April 2025 and school day testing in 2026. It has not said when the changes will come to paper national test dates (which is the way most of Ivy Link’s students take the ACT).
Shorter Test with More Time Per Question: This adjustment is designed to reduce time-pressure and allow students to better demonstrate their knowledge and skills. This change will be a huge benefit to students who struggle with time and will likely make the ACT a more advantageous test than the SAT (which contains harder questions). While the ACT says the questions aren’t changing, it remains to be seen whether there will be a higher percentage of harder questions. Finally, this change will be a disadvantage for students who struggle with careless mistakes, as each question will count for more of the overall score. Students who struggle with carelessness but not time should make every effort to take the ACT prior to April 2025.
Optional Science Section: The science section, which many students find strange and intimidating, will become optional. It is unclear whether colleges that require standardized tests will require/strongly encourage students to submit a science section score even though it will be officially “optional” (as they did with the essay, when it first became “optional”). It is also unclear whether colleges that don’t require the science section will still give preference to those students who submit an ACT with the science section. Therefore, unless the science section is a huge obstacle for students, they should continue to prepare for the science section and take the test with this section, at least until colleges’ policies become clear.
Online Testing Option: Beginning in February 2024, the ACT became available online at select locations across the United States. The ACT expects to offer additional locations with online testing in 2025. The online ACT is exactly the same as the paper version, except it is administered digitally and scores are available slightly faster. The changes to the ACT may come to the online version before the paper version, although the ACT has not made such an announcement.
Should Students Take the ACT?
Deciding whether to take the ACT, and if so, when and which version to take is a complicated individualized choice. Ivy Link’s advisors and tutors are here to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out for expert guidance.
