How to study for the ACT in 2026: a plan for the enhanced ACT
Understand the enhanced ACT format, decide on optional Science, and follow a 12-week plan for the February 27, 2027 test.
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To study for the ACT, start with a full timed practice test. Then set a goal score based on the colleges on your list, and spend most of your study time on the question types you miss. The enhanced ACT has 131 core questions across English, Math and Reading. Science is now optional and doesn't count toward your composite, so it's worth deciding early whether you'll take it. If you're aiming for the February 27, 2027 test, the 12-week plan below starts on December 7, 2026.
How do you study for the ACT?
Most of the score gain comes from finding your weak spots and working on them. Rereading everything rarely helps as much. Here's the order to work in:
- Take a full, timed diagnostic test in the enhanced format. ACT publishes a free practice test on act.org. Older practice tests are still useful for content, but they have more questions per section, so their timing won't match the real test.
- Set a goal score. Look up the middle 50% ACT range for each college on your list and aim for the top of that range at your most selective choice.
- Pick a test date and a backup date, then work backward from the first one.
- Practice in short, targeted sets, review every mistake in an error log, and take another full timed test every two to three weeks.
Your score is based on the number of questions you get right, and wrong answers don't cost you anything. Never leave a question blank.
What changed on the enhanced ACT?
ACT moved to a shorter test in 2025. According to the ACT counselor blog, there are 44 fewer questions even if you add Science (84 fewer if you don't), you get more time per question, and math questions now have four answer choices instead of five. State and district (school-day) testing switched to the enhanced ACT in spring 2026.
| Section | Before 2025 | Enhanced ACT | Time per question now |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 75 questions, 45 min | 50 questions, 35 min | About 42 seconds |
| Math | 60 questions, 60 min | 45 questions, 50 min | About 67 seconds |
| Reading | 40 questions, 35 min | 36 questions, 40 min | About 67 seconds |
| Science | 40 questions, 35 min (required) | 40 questions, 40 min (optional) | 60 seconds |
| Writing | 1 prompt, 40 min (optional) | 1 prompt, 40 min (optional) | Not applicable |
| Total without Writing | 215 questions, 175 min | 131 questions, 125 min (171 questions, 165 min with Science) |
Source: ACT test enhancements and the ACT counselor blog. Time per question is calculated from ACT's section timings. Last checked: November 12, 2026.
Your composite score, still on the 1 to 36 scale, now comes from English, Math and Reading only. The registration fee is $70, with $5 more for Science and $25 more for Writing.
So what does this mean for how you study? English is still the fastest-paced section, so timed practice matters most there. Math and Reading give you noticeably more time per question than before. Speed matters less in those sections, and careful working and checking matter more.
Should you take the optional ACT Science section?
If you take Science, you get a separate Science score from 1 to 36 and a STEM score, which is the average of your Math and Science scores. Neither one changes your composite.
Most colleges treat Science as optional. A college policy tracker kept by Compass Education Group, last updated October 21, 2026, covers several hundred colleges. It marks Pomona College as requiring Science and lists Georgetown, Duke, Rochester Institute of Technology and Michigan State among the colleges that recommend it. Policies change, so check each college's admissions page before you register.
Take Science if:
- a college on your list requires or recommends it
- you're applying for engineering, medicine or another STEM program and want a STEM score to show
- science is a strength and you'd like a score that shows it
If none of these apply, skipping Science saves you 40 minutes on test day and gives you more prep time for the three sections that count toward your composite. You choose whether to include Science when you register.
A 12-week ACT study plan for the February 27, 2027 test
The December 12, 2026 test is a bit over four weeks away. Its regular deadline has passed, but late registration is open until November 29. So the plan below works back from February 27, 2027 instead. The ACT test dates page lists the regular registration deadline as January 22, 2027 and the late deadline as February 9. The deadline for uploading your photo is February 22, and initial paper scores come out on March 16. April 10, 2027 makes a sensible backup date.
Plan for three to five sessions a week, each 30 to 60 minutes, with a full timed test every few weeks.
| Week | Dates | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 7 to 13 | Full timed diagnostic test. Set your goal score and start an error log. |
| 2 | Dec 14 to 20 | English: punctuation and sentence structure. Math: algebra and linear equations. |
| 3 | Dec 21 to 27 | Lighter holiday week. Reading: one timed passage every other day. |
| 4 | Dec 28 to Jan 3 | Math: functions and graphs. Review your error log and rank your weakest question types. |
| 5 | Jan 4 to 10 | Full practice test 2. Compare it with test 1 and update your top three weak areas. |
| 6 | Jan 11 to 17 | English: transitions, relevance and concision. Math: geometry and trigonometry. |
| 7 | Jan 18 to 24 | Register by January 22. Reading: passage strategy. Start Science sets if you're taking it. |
| 8 | Jan 25 to 31 | Full practice test 3. Then do targeted sets on your top three error types. |
| 9 | Feb 1 to 7 | Math: statistics, probability and word problems. English and Reading timed sections. |
| 10 | Feb 8 to 14 | Timed sections at real test pace. The late registration deadline is February 9. |
| 11 | Feb 15 to 21 | Full practice test 4 at your real start time. Upload your photo before February 22. |
| 12 | Feb 22 to 27 | Light review of your error log only. Rest, pack your admission ticket and ID, and take the test on Saturday. |
Source: dates from ACT test dates 2026 to 2027. Last checked: November 12, 2026.
If your diagnostic shows one section well behind the others, give it two sessions a week until it catches up.
How to review ACT mistakes by question type
Your error log matters more than how many questions you answer. For every question you get wrong or guess on, write down the section, the question type and the reason you missed it: you didn't know the content, misread the question, ran out of time or made a careless slip. After two or three practice tests, you'll start to see which mistakes keep coming back.
English
ACT groups English questions into conventions (grammar, punctuation, usage), production of writing (organization and whether a sentence belongs) and knowledge of language (concise, clear style). Write down the exact rule you missed, such as "use a comma before 'and' only when it joins two complete sentences." When every option is grammatical, the shortest one that keeps the meaning is often right.
Math
Cover the answer explanation and redo the problem from scratch. If you still can't do it, it's a content gap, so go back to the topic before you do more questions on it. If a topic like systems of equations or trig ratios keeps tripping you up, you can ask Medly AI's tutor to walk you through it one step at a time. The free plan includes 20 AI tutor messages a day, with no card needed.
Reading
For each miss, find the line in the passage that proves the right answer. Most Reading errors come from picking an answer that sounds true but doesn't answer the question, or from answering from memory. Get into the habit of pointing to the evidence before you choose.
Science, if you're taking it
Sort your misses into reading graphs and tables, understanding experiments, and comparing two scientists' viewpoints. Most questions test how you read data, so practice reading data, even if you're tempted to relearn content.
Frequently asked questions
When should you start studying for the ACT?
Ten to twelve weeks before your test date works for most students. That's enough time for four full practice tests and focused review. If you're a junior, sitting a first test in the winter or spring leaves room for a retake before senior year applications.
Is 32 a good ACT score?
Yes. On ACT's score concordance with the SAT, a 32 lines up with about 1420 to 1440 on the SAT. Whether it's right for you depends on the middle 50% range at the colleges you're applying to.
Is a 33 ACT or a 1450 SAT better?
They're roughly equal. The official concordance places SAT scores from 1450 to 1480 at a 33 on the ACT, so a 1450 sits at the lower end of that band.
Should I take the ACT or the SAT?
Take a timed practice test of each, convert your scores using the concordance and pick the test you scored higher on. All US colleges accept the ACT, and colleges that accept both tests don't prefer one over the other. If you go with the SAT, Medly AI covers SAT prep, and your practice answers are marked as you go.
Is Khan Academy enough for the ACT?
No. Khan Academy doesn't have an ACT course or ACT practice tests, and its official test prep partnership is for the SAT. Its math lessons are useful for filling content gaps, but pair them with full practice tests in the enhanced ACT format.
What subjects are on the ACT?
English, Math and Reading, plus optional Science and optional Writing. Your composite score comes from English, Math and Reading only.