As you may have read in part 1 of this blog post series, the ACT is going to be seriously changing up its format in 2025. (If you haven’t checked out that first post, which breaks down the 8 ways the ACT will be changing, I recommend you do so before proceeding with today’s installment—there’s a lot of context in there that I wouldn’t want you to miss. However, if you insist, you can read this one first, then skip back to post 1!)
If you read that previous article, you might be thinking to yourself, “Gosh, there are going to be SO many changes—surely the new ACT is a TOTAL overhaul, right?” Not so fast. As it turns out, a handful of important things are staying the same. And that’s what we are going to address in todays’s post.
Why should you trust me on this? Well, keeping up with college news is my passion and my job—I help high schoolers all over the globe dramatically raise their SAT and ACT test scores and get into their dream colleges.
Article Contents: What’s Staying the Same on the New ACT?
1. Watch this article as a video
2. Required sections on the new ACT
3. The optional essay is still optional
5. Question subtopics and difficulty
6. Paper and digital both remain options
7. Conclusion
Video version of this article:
1. Required sections on the new ACT
The first thing that is staying consistent on the new ACT is that English, Math, and Reading will still be obligatory. In fact, they’ll play a MORE prominent role on the new test because they are the only sections that are going to count towards your composite score. (Science, as my last post covered, will be changing from required to optional on the 2025 update of the test.)
So, Grammar still matters. Math still matters. Comprehending what you read absolutely still matters.
And who knows? Depending on which colleges you might be applying to down the road, you might end up having to take that optional Science section anyway, because maybe a given college on your list might require it. We don't know yet—but what we DO know is that English, Math, and Reading are still sections that every student will have to take.
2. The optional essay is still optional
Remember that essay that people used to write all the time for the ACT (and for the SAT, back in the day)?
Well, guess what? It's still available—and still something you have to opt into if you want to do it. In fact, it's been quite a few years since any major college in the U. S. has required the essay component of a standardized test. So it will remain the case with the new ACT that unless you really want to do the free-writing component (and sign up for it), you don't have to.
3. 2025 ACT scoring system
Currently, the ACT scores all of its sections on a 1 through 36 point scale: a score of 1 being “yikes” and a score of 36 being a perfect score.
That is not going anywhere come April/September 2025. The ACT is still going to score each of its multiple-choice sections on a 1 to 36 point scale. And speaking of scoring, the whole idea of coming up with a composite score means that you average your core sections to get that composite score, as opposed to adding them up. (The latter is what the SAT does.) That isn't changing either.
However, it’s worth noting that one aspect of scoring IS changing. While the old/current version of the test averages your English, Math, Reading, and Science scores to get your composite score, the transformed test will only average the first three sections in that list (English, Math, and Reading) to get a test-taker’s overall composite score (out of 36).
4. Question content and difficulty on the future ACT
This is the big FAQ I know you've all been waiting for: will the TYPE of question—what’s being asked—change in 2025? Well, we don't yet have actual practice tests reflecting the new ACT. However, the ACT organization has assured everyone that the question difficulty and the content of the questions and of the sections are remaining the same.
What do I mean by “the content of the questions will remain the same?” I mean that the rough breakdown of the subtopics tested within a given section (English, Math, or Reading) will theoretically be the same in 2025 as it is now.
Let’s walk through what that means with an example. Take the Math section. Currently, Geometry theoretically comprises roughly 25% of that section’s content. So what the ACT is telling us now is that Geometry will STILL comprise about 25% of Math questions on the new ACT. So you still need to learn the same amount and subtopics of Math. It's just that because the new test will have fewer questions overall (see part 1 of this series for a full breakdown of # of questions per section), you'll have 45 questions total to demonstrate your knowledge of Math as opposed to the 60 questions on today’s test.
Likewise, in the English section, the rough breakdown of questions testing you on hard-and-fast grammar rules versus questions testing you on rhetorical strategies should stay consistent between now and April 2025. Whether you’re taking the test in 2024 or 2025 or 2026, your studying will still need to place the same emphasis on punctuation and transition words and pronouns and subject-verb agreement.
Now, when I say that the difficulty of the questions is allegedly not going to change, I believe that means that the types of questions will basically stay the same. It's simply that the 2025 test will ask fewer questions and give you less time overall to do them in (but, as part 1 discussed, more time per question, generally speaking).
5. Will the ACT be going digital?
The fifth thing that will stay the same even after the ACT undergoes its makeover: students will still have the option to take the test with paper and pencil OR online.
Maybe your response to this is, “What? You can take the ACT online?!” Yep! Little-known fact, but a digital version of the ACT started being offered in December of 2023 to a pilot of roughly 5,000 students. Most people still take it with paper and pencil, and the computer version may or may not be offered at your testing center of choice, BUT it theoretically remains an option to test on a computer.
Come 2025-26, you will still have the option to do it online—and you'll still have the option to take it on paper, too.
I do want you to know that the question of whether you take the test on a computer or on paper will determine WHEN you will need to switch over from the current test to the new test. So, if you're one of those online test people, you would be taking the new test as early as April 2025. If you are a paper-and-pencil kind of gal or guy, then you would be switching over to the new format in September 2025. And if you are doing the ACT in school as a school day test, you'll be switching to the new ACT in Spring of 2026.
Conclusion
I hope today’s post has made clear that, in fact, a lot is staying the same between the current format of the ACT and the new format that's coming out. This should help you feel less freaked out by the coming shifts. And it bears repeating: the content that you need to learn is staying the same.
But you might find yourself asking, “Well, how do these changes specifically affect ME? For example, if I know I want to take the ACT, is it more advantageous for me to wait and take the new one? Or should I instead hurry up and get the old one done?” The answer to this depends on what class year you are, as well as several other factors. And I'm going to draw a clear roadmap for you in next week’s post—the third and final entry in this series on the new ACT.
In the meantime, if you're already confident you’re going to take the ACT this school year—before the changes discussed in this post set in—check out my courses and study guides on the ACT. Whether you’re looking to brush up on your ACT-specific Math drills or want to make sure you’ve got a hold on what actually happens in the Reading section, my set-your-own-pace video and print courses will teach you everything you need to know—and nothing extraneous!
