How Is the College Requirement Act Score Determined?

The ACT score is a composite of four sections.

The ACT, originally known as the American College Test, tests the educational readiness and preparation of high school students preparing to enter college and universities. The test was first administered in 1959, and since then has become the standardized college entrance exam most commonly required by institutions of higher learning across the United States. Students preparing to take the ACT should familiarize themselves with subject matter and scoring methods of the exam.

Mandatory Subjects Tested

Students taking the ACT are required to answer test questions in the following four subject areas: reading, English, mathematics and science. The reading and science sections are both comprised of 40 questions; the mathematics portion has 60 questions and the English test has 75 questions.

Optional Subjects Tested

Students taking the ACT test have the option of taking a written portion of the exam. Unlike the required four sections, the written portion is not multiple choice. Testing candidates will be required to write an essay that will be graded by professional readers.

Sub- Sections

Three of the four required main sections (English, reading and mathematics) of the ACT has sub-sections that will be scored independently. The scores of the sub-sections (called sub-scores) will not reflect a student's overall score, but they do reflect the areas in which a candidate displays strengths or weaknesses.

The reading sub-sections are social studies/ natural sciences and arts/ literature. The mathematics subsections include pre-algebra/elementary algebra, intermediate algebra/ coordinate geometry and plane geometry/ trigonometry. The English sub-sections are divided into usage/ mechanics and rhetorical skills. For students who choose to take the writing test, the scores will also be added as an English sub-section.

Sub-Section Scoring

Students are given one point for each correctly answered question; there are no penalties for wrong or unanswered questions. The student's raw scores are then converted to ACT scale scores. The sub-section scale ranges between 1 (lowest) and 18 (highest). The writing test is judged by two professionals; each will give the student a score between 1 (lowest) and 6 (highest). A student's total raw writing score will be a sum of the two totals, and the score will then be converted to ACT scale. Please note: a student's sub-section scores will not add up to their composite score. Sub section scores are to be used as helpful competency indicators.

Composite Scores

A student's composite score is their official ACT score. For each of the four sections, a student is given one point for every correct answer. No penalties are given for incorrect answers or unanswered questions. The raw scores from each section will be transferred into ACT scores using the ACT scale from 1 (lowest) to 36 (highest). The ACT scale scores will then be averaged, resulting in a student's final composite score.

National Rank

Along with test scores, the ACT also provides students with percentile and national rank information. This tells students how many high school student's also taking the test scored at, or below the student's scores. National rank statistics inform student's of their academic progress in relation to their peers, which lets them know which areas they may need to improve upon.

References

• ACT Student: ACT Score Information
• E Campus Tours: Understanding your SAT and ACT Score Reports
• ACT Newsroom: Facts About the ACT