If you’re preparing to take the ACT, you’re likely practicing core skills by learning punctuation and grammar rules, working on strategic reading, and memorizing common math formulas. After all, a strong understanding of the ACT’s content is key to earning a high score.
Beyond the raw material, understanding how the ACT is scored is another valuable part of your preparation. Knowing exactly how your performance will be evaluated can help you set goals and build a more effective study plan.
First, the number of questions you got right on each separate section (English, math, reading, and science) is tallied, to give you what is known as your raw score. Your raw score does not appear on the standard score report, although you can request a copy of your answer sheet through the ACT’s Test Information release program . Instead, your score report gives you your scaled score.
Your scaled score on each section will range from 1-36, and align with the numbers you’re probably most familiar with if you’ve researched ACT averages at your top-choice colleges.
Your scaled scores for each separate section are then averaged to calculate your composite score. Fractions more than or equal to one half are rounded up to the nearest whole number, while fractions under one half are rounded down to the nearest whole number.
For example, if you earned a 31 on 3 sections and a 30 on one section, your composite score would be a 30.75, which would round up to 31. If, on the other hand, you earned a 30 on 3 sections and a 31 on one, your composite score would be a 30.25, which would round down to 30. If you earned a 31 on two sections and a 30 on the other two, your composite score of 30.5 would round up to 31.
Your composite score is the first number that appears on your score report and is widely accepted as the most important indicator of your success on the test. Colleges might also consider your section scores, however, especially those that are most relevant to your intended major.
For STEM applicants, the math and science sections could carry slightly more weight, whereas for humanities-oriented students, your English and reading scores should be strong. At the same time, the ACT is meant to test skills that will be broadly relevant to your success in college, like data interpretation or analysis of complex ideas, not your abilities in particular subjects, so regardless of your area of interest you ideally want to do well across the board.
Note: If you’re taking the optional writing section, that has an entirely separate scoring process, and does not impact your composite score. Rather, you’ll receive an independent writing score, which will be between 2-12. This post will address only the composite score calculation, as that is the score colleges care about most.
Raw scores are converted to scaled scores by using a test-specific curve designed to correct for slight variations in the difficulty of each test. While you’re probably used to hearing about curves that plot your performance relative to your peers, the ACT curve is not based in any way on how well or poorly you did compared to other students.
Instead, the curve is calculated based on the difficulty of the specific ACT that you took. Because there are multiple versions of the test administered on each test date, and new versions obviously come out for each new date, the test makers must account for slight variations in how difficult each test is.
For example, they want a score of 31 earned in July 2024 to reflect the same mastery of the material as a 31 that was achieved in September 2022. This consistency is what allows colleges to accurately evaluate what a student’s ACT score says about their ability to succeed at that school. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to draw on past data when considering the current applicant pool.
To give you a sense of what your ACT score means and how it stacks up against other test takers, below is a chart of potential ACT scores, from 1-36, and which percentile they correspond to on each section, as well as for the composite score.
The percentile ranking lets you know what percentage of test takers you scored above. For example, if you scored a 33 in English, then you scored better than 94% of test takers. Or, if you got a 31 composite score, you did better than 95% of test takers.
English Percentile
Math Percentile
Reading Percentile
Science Percentile