Registration for the October ACT has already come and passed, but significantly fewer students are taking it this fall. Why are so many students waiting to take it this year? Turns out, these students have a well-founded reason and may have made a wise decision by waiting. 

Significant changes to the ACT are coming in the spring, announced Janet Godwin, CEO of ACT, on July 15. These changes are to focus on flexibility and create a shorter test, helping prevent the fatigue that comes with lengthy exams. To achieve this, the science section of the test will become optional, similar to the writing portion. That means the base test will become only English, reading, and math. The test will also be only 2 hours long, compared to the 3 hours it is currently. Godwin is lowering the question count in all sections of the test (removing 44 questions overall) and making the passages in the English and reading sections shorter. She is also making the math section easier, lowering the answer choices down from 5 to 4. These changes follow the changes to the SAT made by College Board, the non-profit organization that develops and administers that test, to make it easier and more accessible for students.

These changes make significantly more sense after looking at the numbers. More students are slowly starting to take the test, and scores are continuing to decline. The number of students taking the test has been climbing back up since 2021 after dropping dramatically following 2016 and especially in 2020. The average composite score for this past year was 19.5, which is a 0.3 point decrease compared to 2022 and a 1.5 point decrease since 2017. Although more students are taking the test compared to previous years, they keep getting worse scores. 

So, how are these changes going to affect students? These changes greatly benefit students and allow them to slow down and think thoroughly before answering the questions. A major complaint was the feeling of a long marathon where students barely have the endurance to finish the test. Creating a shorter test will greatly improve this issue and will allow students to finish the test without the mental fatigue that frequently accompanies it. This style of shorter tests fits better with today’s students and highlights their strengths. Despite the removal of the science section being controversial, it is predicted that participation and scores will shoot up rapidly due to these changes. Students waiting to take the test until next year could see a massive improvement in their scores, and we are eager to see how the changes turn out!