{"id":5514,"date":"2013-07-29T14:41:43","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T14:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=5514"},"modified":"2026-03-12T15:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T20:42:02","slug":"act-test","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/act-test\/","title":{"rendered":"ACT\u00ae<\/sup> Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning to enroll in college? You may need to take the ACT\u00ae<\/sup> as part of the admissions process!<\/p>\n

For those new to the test, this page provides everything you need to know about its content, scoring, and overall importance.<\/p>\n

\nACT\u00ae is a registered trademark belonging to ACT Education Corp. (\u201cACT\u201d). ACT is not involved with or affiliated with Mometrix Media LLC, nor does ACT endorse or sponsor any of the products or services offered by Mometrix Media LLC.
\n \n<\/div>\n

 
\nIf you\u2019re already familiar with the test, and you\u2019re looking for ACT test prep help, you\u2019re also in the right place! Just below, you\u2019ll find links to a wide variety of free review videos and practice questions that can help you get a great score on the ACT.<\/p>\n

\nACT Online Course<\/a>
\nACT
Study Guide<\/a>
\nACT
Flashcards<\/a>
\nACT
Practice Test<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span>What is the ACT?<\/h2>\n

The ACT is one of the two major college admissions tests used by colleges and universities in the US. The name used to be an abbreviation for “American College Testing,” but now ACT is the official name. It was first used in 1959, and since that time its use by colleges has grown tremendously, with over 1.38 million students taking the test in 2025.<\/p>\n

The ACT exam does two things: it measures how much knowledge a person has in English, math, reading, and science, and it also measures how likely the test taker is to be successful in studying these four areas at the college level.<\/p>\n

<\/span>ACT Test Outline<\/h2>\n

The test is split into five sections and is timed at 2-3 hours. The Writing and Science sections are always optional.<\/p>\n

\"Infographic<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span>1. English<\/h3>\n

The questions in this section are split into three categories:<\/p>\n

\nProduction of Writing<\/strong>
\nThe questions in this category assess your knowledge of topic development, organization, unity, and cohesion when it comes to a piece of writing.<\/p>\n

Knowledge of Language<\/strong>
\nThe questions in this category assess your ability to use precision and concision in word choice to demonstrate effective language use, as well as your ability to maintain consistency in the tone and style of a piece of writing.<\/p>\n

Conventions of Standard English<\/strong>
\nThe questions in this category assess your ability to revise and edit a piece of writing using standard grammar, mechanics, and language usage conventions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

You will be given five different passages to read, usually consisting of several paragraphs. The passages will vary greatly in both style and topics and are usually unrelated to any other passage. After each passage, you\u2019ll be given several questions (an average of 15 for each passage) to answer concerning what you just read. Some parts of the passage will be underlined, and different parts of the passage will be assigned a number for easy reference when answering questions.<\/p>\n

Many of the questions will be about one of the underlined portions of the passage. You will be shown several substitutes for the underlined portion and asked which one should replace it. In some questions, you have the option of selecting NO CHANGE if you believe the underlined text is correct as written. Other questions may concern the entire passage, or particular sections of the passage, even though they\u2019re not underlined.<\/p>\n

<\/span>2. Mathematics<\/h3>\n

The questions in this section are split into two categories:<\/p>\n

\nPreparing for Higher Math<\/strong>
\nThe questions in this category assess your knowledge of recently learned math concepts, from algebra to statistics. This category is divided into further subcategories:<\/p>\n