The ACT you can register for today is the enhanced ACT: a shorter core test, more time per question, and - the headline change - Science is now an optional section that no longer touches the Composite. Advice written for the old five-section, always-with-Science ACT will mis-prepare you.
Source verification: 3 September 2026. Section structure below is checked against ACT's official pages listed at the end.
The current format, verified
- English: 50 questions, 35 minutes.
- Math: 45 questions, 50 minutes.
- Reading: 36 questions, 40 minutes.
- Core test: those three sections - about 2 hours 5 minutes of testing.
- Science: optional - 40 questions, 40 minutes, scored separately; it does not affect the Composite.
- Writing: optional - one essay prompt, 40 minutes, also outside the Composite.
- Each section is scored 1-36, and the Composite is the average of English, Math and Reading.
The Science decision
Because Science is scored outside the Composite, taking it is a targeting decision, not a default. Take it when a programme you are applying to asks for it, when you are presenting a STEM profile the extra science score strengthens, or when your practice science scores outrun your core sections and you want that on the record. Skip it when none of those hold - the shorter test spends your concentration where the Composite is actually made.
Fewer questions, more time each - which changes the errors
The enhanced format gives noticeably more time per question than the old ACT, and that moves the failure mode: rushed-guessing errors fall, while genuine concept and reading-precision gaps become the score ceiling. Practising with old-format pacing drills trains for a problem the current test mostly does not have. Practise instead at the real per-section timings above, and spend review time on why an answer was wrong, not on shaving seconds.
There is still no wrong-answer penalty - every question gets an answer, always.
Section-by-section emphasis
English rewards a compact rule set - punctuation, agreement, concision - applied fast; keep a personal rule list and drill it weekly. Math runs from algebra through trigonometry with some advanced topics; a calculator is allowed, but the section rewards knowing when not to reach for it. Reading is passage-based; train evidence-pointing - every answer should be attached to lines you can cite to yourself. If you take Science, remember it is chart-and-experiment literacy more than recall - most answers are in the figures.
An eight-week shape
Weeks 1-2: one full timed core test as a diagnostic; sort errors into rule gaps, concept gaps and misreads. Weeks 3-5: two focused section blocks per week on your weakest areas plus one timed section rotation. Weeks 6-7: full timed tests at real timings, each reviewed as long as it took to sit; add Science practice only if you have chosen to take it. Week 8: retrieval and rule-list revision - no new content.
Quick answers
Does the ACT still include Science? Only if you opt in. Science is an optional, separately scored section on the enhanced ACT and does not affect the 1-36 Composite.
Is the enhanced format used everywhere now? It is the current ACT across national testing, with school-day and international administrations aligned to it - confirm your specific administration's details on ACT's official pages when you register.
ACT or SAT? Different shapes, overlapping skills - the SAT vs ACT comparison walks the decision.
