Greetings wonderful Westchester Prep families, and welcome to the third edition of our blog! In this post, we deliver (as promised!) a detailed breakdown of the new Enhanced ACT.
Greetings wonderful Westchester Prep families, and welcome to the third edition of our blog!
In this post, we deliver (as promised!) a detailed breakdown of the new Enhanced ACT. We combine information from ACT’s website with our own examination of the four new practice tests(25MC1, 25MC2, 25MC3, and 25MC4) and the recently released official October exam to bring you an overview and comprehensive analysis of the Enhanced ACT.
The post begins with an easy to reference logistical overview, then progresses through the brass tacks and quantitative quirks of the new exam.
Note: On December 13th, 2025, we will be administering the official October ACT as a proctored test, which can serve as a diagnostic for students who wish to consider pursuing tutoring for the ACT in the new year.
(https://www.westchesterprep.com/proctored-exams)
Total Time With Science - 2 hours and 45 minutes
Total Time Without Science - 2 hours and 5 minutes
*The number of “scored” questions accounts for ACT’s addition of experimental questions scattered throughout each section. Students will not know which questions are experimentaland therefore must complete every question on the test. ACT will likely reduce the number of experimental questions as they iron out the kinks of the new exam; the numbers in this chart reflect the current distribution of experimental and non-experimental questions.
**Although the Science section is now optional, we generally recommend preparing for the section and electing to take it on test day. Certain schools still require applicants to complete the Science section, and some schools recommend that students complete the Science section(which for all intents and purposes means students must complete it to be competitive). Finally,many schools have not clarified their stance on the matter, which makes submitting an application without a Science score risky .
Of course, there are exceptions to our recommendation. Declining to take the optional Science section can benefit students who struggle with science and have a well-crafted humanities-focused college application. As always, we are happy to collaboratively outline a plan tailored to you or your child.
***As was the case with the old ACT, the Writing Section will likely not be taken by most students, though an outstanding Writing score can bolster a writing focused college application.We have experienced writing tutors who can tutor this section, but we rarely advise students tocommit resources to taking it.
Note: Students can superscore the Enhanced ACT. For example, if a student takes the exam in December and performs well in English and Math but underperforms in Reading and Science,then takes the exam again in February and performs well in Reading and Science but underperforms in English and Math, they can submit their highest section scores from the twotests combined. This is generally the most effective strategy for college applications, but nuances and exceptions exist. College advisors and guidance counselors are usually well-versed in the intricacies of superscoring— we are happy to discuss it with you or your child as well
Old Test: 75 questions, 45 minutes
Enhanced Test: 50 questions, 35 minutes
-The Enhanced ACT’s English section features medium length non-fiction passages pulled from actual published works and abridged for the purposes of the test. While the old exam stuck to five 15-question passages with relative consistency, the official October ACT and four new practice tests vary in passage length, featuring approximately 5-10 questions per passage.
ACT states that the English Section measures “the ability to make decisions to revise and edit short texts and essays in different genres.” This section is a mix of revision decisions; word and phrase choice based on context, style, and tone; and knowledge of English grammar.
The most significant change to the English section is an apparent reduction— relative to the old ACT— in the proportion of grammar questions in favor of more questions on revision decisions and word and phrase choice. On the old test, students could occasionally get away with skimming through the passage and zoning in on the underlined portions where questions were asked, but with the new distribution favoring revisionary and contextual questions, close analysis of the full passage is even more important than it used to be.
Fun Fact: The average proportion of Conventions of Standard English (grammar) questions in five recent old ACT English sections was about 52%, with all five tests falling in the 50-55%range. ACT has stated that only 38-43% of questions in the Enhanced ACT English Section will fall into the Conventions of Standard English category, a range that is backed up by the distribution of questions on the official October ACT and four new practice tests. Interestingly enough, this adjusted distribution aligns more closely with the Digital SAT.
Old Test: 60 questions, 60 minutes
Enhanced Test: 45 questions, 50 minutes
The Enhanced ACT’s Math Section consists of individual math questions that generally increase in difficulty as the section progresses. The old exam featured 2-3 sets of “group” questions in which three questions all pertained to the same passage— often including a diagram or figure. While the Enhanced ACT has done away with these group questions, it still features word problems, diagrams, graphs, and charts, testing students’ comprehension skills in a mathematical context.
ACT states that the Math section measures “the mathematical skills you have typically acquired in courses up to the beginning of grade 12.” Indeed, like the old exam, the Enhanced ACT appears to include advanced topics from Algebra II, Trigonometry and even Pre Calculus classes, such as asymptotes, the laws of Sines and Cosines, logarithms, basic conic sections,and trigonometric functions. One niche topic that was tested on the old exam but did not feature in either the official October exam or the four new practice tests is the multiplication of matrices,though this does not guarantee that said topic will not show up on future Enhanced ACT exams.
While these topics can be intimidating to prospective ACT students, who usually start preparing at some point before or during their Junior year, they are mostly tested on a cursory level and can often be picked up with tutoring and practice. That being said, for students in grade level math classes, the Enhanced ACT Math section may feature more new material than expected if approached at the beginning of Junior year.
The most significant change to the Math section is an apparent increase in the proportion of difficult questions. While the old exam began with 10-20 questions on fundamental topics presented in a relatively straightforward manner, the Enhanced ACT appears to jump into trickier presentations and higher -level topics much earlier. This adjusted distribution does not necessarily entail a strictly harder math section moving forward— curves could be adjusted; the hardest questions could be watered down; other ameliorating tweaks could be made— but it is a pattern that prospective ACT students should be aware of.
Fun Fact: The average proportion of Preparing for Higher Math (PHM) questions in five recent old ACT Math sections was about 58%, with all five tests falling in the 56-61% range. ACT has stated that 80% of questions in the Enhanced ACT Math Section will fall into the PHM category,a range that is backed up by the distribution of questions on the official October ACT and four new practice tests. Unfortunately, this is a relatively broad category— perhaps the clearest repercussion of the increased proportion of PHM questions is the relative decrease inIntegrating Essential Skills (IES) questions; IES questions include what we have often called“number sense” questions, which involve a general understanding of numbers and creative problem solving skills but do not necessarily align with the major units students work on in school.
Old Test: 40 questions, 35 minutes
Enhanced Test: 36 questions, 40 minutes
The Enhanced ACT’s Reading section features medium-length fiction and non-fiction passages pulled from actual published works and abridged for the purposes of the test. The official October ACT and the four new practice tests feature four 9-question passages (the old test featured four 10-questions passages).
ACT states that the Reading section measures “the ability to read closely, reason logically about texts using evidence, and integrate information from multiple resources.” This section tests various reading comprehension skills, such as summarizing main ideas of passages and paragraphs, remembering or finding specific details from the text, and choosing the best word orphrase in a given context. It also challenges students’ ability to make inferences and conclusions and requires students to demonstrate basic knowledge of literary devices.
At first glance, there do not seem to be any significant changes to the Reading section of the Enhanced ACT. Thus, I defer to my fun fact to demonstrate a subtle quantitative shift that may indicate the direction ACT plans to go with the new Reading section.
Fun Fact: The average proportion of Key Ideas and Details shrank from approximately 60% in the average of five old ACTs to a range of 44-52% in the official October Enhanced ACT and the four new practice tests. Conversely, the average proportion of Integration of Knowledge and Ideas grew from approximately 13% in the average of five old ACTs to a range of 19-26% in the official October Enhanced ACT and the four new practice tests. Key Ideas and Details questions tend to send students on “wild goose chases” for answers in the text, whereas Integration of Knowledge and Ideas questions tend to call upon bigger picture concepts, such as understanding how authors construct ideas and differentiating between facts and opinions.W hether this represents an intentional, significant shift from detail searching to critical thinking and logical reasoning is hard to say, but it is worth keeping in mind moving forward.
Old Test: 40 questions, 35 minutes
Enhanced Test: 40 questions, 40 minutes
-The Enhanced ACT’s Science section consists of medium length science passages that generally include complex graphs, charts, figures, and accompanying short sections of text. Like the old exam, the official October ACT and four new practice tests feature seven 5-7 question passages.
ACT states that the Science section measures “the interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem-solving skills required in biology, chemistry, Earth/space sciences and physics.” This section tests a student’s ability to read tables and graphs; cross-reference figures, tables, graphs, and text to make quantitative and qualitative conclusions; and apply a mix of logical reasoning and fundamental scientific knowledge to solve problems related to a given passage. While this section is not a test in any of the aforementioned science subjects and is largely an assessment of comprehension skills, select questions will require some background knowledge learned in these subjects.
Other than the increase in time per question, the Science section of the Enhanced ACT does not appear to implement any significant changes from the old test. This would appear to make it strictly easier to perform well than before (more time; same difficulty), but ACT will likely make tweaks to combat this, whether it is making the curve harsher, sprinkling in trickier questions, or featuring more challenging passages.
Fun Thought: One could speculate that making the science section optional would eventually lead to it becoming a challenging, specialized exam intended to provide an opportunity for prospective STEM majors to set themselves apart. This would be similar to the old SAT subject tests, which were once prominent but have since died out. However, at this point, there are no data demonstrating any significant changes in difficulty, structure, or content of the Science section, nor are there data that schools will begin to treat the optional Science section like an SAT subject test.
In declining to release any new material ahead of the first few administrations of the new Enhanced test, ACT indicated that there would be no noticeable changes in content as they transitioned to a new exam. While their renovation was not a complete remodeling— like College Board’s Digital SAT— they did make some significant shifts, highlighted by the considerable decrease in the proportion of grammar questions in the English section and the increased concentration of difficult questions in the Math section.
As we all plow ahead through the first year of the Enhanced ACT, we promise to continue to be ahead of the curve when it comes to all of the tweaks and bumps in the road that come along with rolling out a new exam… And, of course, I promise to bring you more fun facts about the exhilarating intricacies of question distribution on standardized tests!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
~Haley
