The Enhanced ACT: What Changed in 2025
July 30, 2026
In 2025 the ACT got its biggest redesign in decades: a core of English, Math, and Reading that runs nearly an hour shorter, Science demoted to an optional add-on that no longer touches the composite, and more time per question throughout. Here is what changed and how to prep for it.
The rollout
The enhanced ACT debuted on the April 2025 national digital test date, and from September 2025 the paper-and-pencil version follows the same design, so every student now sits the new format regardless of mode.
The scale did not change — colleges still receive a composite from 1 to 36, and section scores still run 1 to 36 as well. What changed is the test underneath the scale: which sections exist, how long they run, and what counts toward the composite. That combination matters for anyone using older prep materials, because a practice test from before the redesign rehearses timing and section stamina that no longer match the real exam. If you are choosing between test dates or between the online and paper modes, the content and scoring are now the same either way — pick whichever setting lets you focus best.
The scale did not change — colleges still receive a composite from 1 to 36, and section scores still run 1 to 36 as well. What changed is the test underneath the scale: which sections exist, how long they run, and what counts toward the composite. That combination matters for anyone using older prep materials, because a practice test from before the redesign rehearses timing and section stamina that no longer match the real exam. If you are choosing between test dates or between the online and paper modes, the content and scoring are now the same either way — pick whichever setting lets you focus best.
A shorter core with more time per question
The core test is now three sections: English with 50 questions in 35 minutes, Math with 45 questions in 50 minutes, and Reading with 36 questions in 40 minutes. That is 131 questions in roughly two hours and five minutes — nearly an hour shorter than the old exam.
The cut came mostly from question count, not from time, so the pacing genuinely eased: you get more seconds per question in every section than the old test allowed. For students who lost points to the clock rather than to content, that is a real scoring opportunity. But it also means each remaining question carries more weight in the section scale, so accuracy matters more than raw speed. Pacing drills built on the old question counts will train you to rush through a test that no longer demands it.
The cut came mostly from question count, not from time, so the pacing genuinely eased: you get more seconds per question in every section than the old test allowed. For students who lost points to the clock rather than to content, that is a real scoring opportunity. But it also means each remaining question carries more weight in the section scale, so accuracy matters more than raw speed. Pacing drills built on the old question counts will train you to rush through a test that no longer demands it.
Science is now optional — and outside the composite
The biggest structural change: Science became an optional add-on of 40 questions in 40 minutes that you choose at registration. It no longer counts toward the composite at all. The composite is now simply the average of your English, Math, and Reading scaled scores, rounded to the nearest whole number.
If you do sit Science, it is reported separately and combines with Math into a STEM score that some programs like to see. Whether to add it depends on where you are applying: a student aiming at engineering or pre-med programs may want the STEM signal, while a student whose target schools never look at it can spend those 40 minutes of stamina on the sections that actually move the composite. Check what your target colleges expect before registration — that one checkbox is now a genuine strategic decision.
If you do sit Science, it is reported separately and combines with Math into a STEM score that some programs like to see. Whether to add it depends on where you are applying: a student aiming at engineering or pre-med programs may want the STEM signal, while a student whose target schools never look at it can spend those 40 minutes of stamina on the sections that actually move the composite. Check what your target colleges expect before registration — that one checkbox is now a genuine strategic decision.
How to prep for the new format
The redesign quietly invalidated most of the printed practice-test supply. Old official tests still have useful questions, but their section lengths, timing, and Science-in-the-composite scoring rehearse an exam that no longer exists — finishing one tells you little about how you would score now.
Practice in the enhanced format instead. Crimsora's full-length ACT mocks follow the 2025 design — the shorter three-section core, the eased pacing, Science as a separate optional section — and are scored the way the real test now is, with the composite built from English, Math, and Reading alone. Pair them with our ACT score calculator to turn raw section performance into a scaled estimate, and use the course lessons to close whatever the mock exposes. You will find the mocks and the calculator on the practice-tests and score-calculator pages, and ACT prep itself on the courses page.
Practice in the enhanced format instead. Crimsora's full-length ACT mocks follow the 2025 design — the shorter three-section core, the eased pacing, Science as a separate optional section — and are scored the way the real test now is, with the composite built from English, Math, and Reading alone. Pair them with our ACT score calculator to turn raw section performance into a scaled estimate, and use the course lessons to close whatever the mock exposes. You will find the mocks and the calculator on the practice-tests and score-calculator pages, and ACT prep itself on the courses page.
Put it into practice
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Sources
- ACT: The ACT Test — fetched 2026-07-30