Test Prep · ACT · what changed
How the ACT changed in 2025
In April 2025 ACT began giving a shorter “enhanced” ACT, with fewer questions, more time for each, and science made optional. Here is what changed, side by side, and what the evidence says about whether it got easier.
Which one will you take?
If you take the ACT now, you take the enhanced ACT. National tests switched in 2025 and school-day tests in spring 2026, so the legacy ACT isn't given anymore. The Enhanced ACT · The Enhanced ACT Explained
Side by side
| What | Legacy ACT, before 2025 | Enhanced ACT, 2025 on |
|---|---|---|
| The whole test | ||
| Length | 215 questions in 175 minutes (English, math, reading and science) | 131 questions in 125 minutes (English, math and reading); science adds 40 questions in 40 minutes if you choose it Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements |
| Science | Required, and part of the Composite | Optional; not part of the Composite The Enhanced ACT Explained · The Enhanced ACT |
| Composite score | Average of English, math, reading and science | Average of English, math and reading The Enhanced ACT Explained |
| Scores | 1–36 | 1–36, on the same scale The Enhanced ACT Explained · The Enhanced ACT Linking Study Report |
| Math | ||
| Questions and time | 60 questions in 60 minutes | 45 questions in 50 minutes (41 scored, 4 tryout questions) Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements |
| Pace | 60 seconds a question | about 67 seconds a question Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements |
| Answer choices | Five | Four Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements · The Enhanced ACT Explained |
| Calculator | Permitted calculator allowed | Permitted calculator allowed Preparing for the ACT, 2025–2026 |
| Content | Preparing for Higher Math 57–60%, Integrating Essential Skills 40–43% | Preparing for Higher Math about 80%, Integrating Essential Skills about 20%; fewer questions set in long real-world stories Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements |
| English and reading | ||
| English | 75 questions in 45 minutes | 50 questions in 35 minutes (40 scored) Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements |
| Reading | 40 questions in 35 minutes | 36 questions in 40 minutes (27 scored) Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements |
Did it get easier?
Some people say yes. Here is who says what.
- What changed for sure
- The enhanced ACT is shorter, gives more time per question (about nine seconds more on average; 67 instead of 60 in math), drops a fifth answer choice in math, and makes science optional. Counselors quoted in news reports expect less fatigue and stress. Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements · ACT Changes Include Fewer Questions, Shorter Passages and Optional Science Section
- Critics
- A longtime test-prep tutor, writing in Inside Higher Ed, predicted the ACT would become “substantially easier,” mostly because it eases the time pressure that used to separate fast and slow test takers. He also expected the effect to be minor. Assessing the ACT Changes
- ACT
- The test maker's linking study found the difficulty of the enhanced questions similar to the legacy test in all four sections, with a slight tendency to be harder, and found that scores on the two can be used interchangeably. Its design report says fewer answer choices cut the time spent reading choices. The Enhanced ACT Linking Study Report · Design Framework for the ACT Enhancements
What we can say: the enhanced ACT is shorter and less rushed, and its math has four choices instead of five. ACT's own studies say the questions are about as hard as before and that scores mean the same thing. Less time pressure may help students who used to run out of time; whether that makes a given score easier to reach is still argued, and we found no independent study that settles it.
What it means for practice here
- Enhanced ACT sets are 45 questions in 50 minutes, with four choices each.
- Legacy ACT sets are 60 questions in 60 minutes, with five choices each, and lean more on longer problems from earlier math (“Integrating Essential Skills”).
- Every problem is our own, from Math Ladder's generators. Results show the topics to work on; nothing here predicts a score.
Read on October 17, 2026. Also on Test Prep: How the SAT changed · Has the CLT changed? · Reading, writing and grammar