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What is the ACT?


The ACT is a test of your skills in four major areas: English grammar and structure, math, reading comprehension, and science-based reasoning. The diagram below provides the structure of the exam.

English
(Section 1)


75 questions

45 minutes


1–36 scaled score

Math
(Section 2)


60 questions

60 minutes


1–36 scaled score

Reading
(Section 3)


40 questions

35 minutes


1–36 Scaled score

Science
(Section 4)


40 questions

35 minutes


1–36 scaled score

You do not lose points for incorrect answers or omitted questions—you simply gain one raw point for every correct answer. Therefore, you should never leave questions blank: it is to your advantage to answer all questions, even if you have to guess at random. The number of questions you answer correctly—your raw score—is used to obtain your scaled score between 1 and 36 for each section. Your section scores are then averaged to generate your composite score, also on a scale from 1 to 36.


Continue through this lesson to learn more about each section of the test!

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