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Standardized tests

ACT

American College Test

The SAT's twin, scored out of 36. Faster, more questions, more curriculum-shaped — and a genuinely better fit for some students, which is worth twenty minutes of your time to find out.

When
Usually Grade 11 and again early in Grade 12
Where it counts
US admissions test, accepted interchangeably with the SAT by every US university and by several in the Gulf

How it works

Three required sections — English, Mathematics and Reading — with Science now an optional fourth, and Writing an optional essay on top of that. The composite score is the average of the required sections, rounded; taking Science gives you a separate score that some programmes ask for and most do not.

It is available on paper and, increasingly, digitally at test centres. Unlike the digital SAT it is not adaptive: everyone sees the same questions, and the pace is the defining difficulty. The ACT gives you noticeably less time per question than the SAT does, and students who are accurate but slow tend to prefer the SAT for exactly that reason.

The content is closer to a school syllabus than the SAT's is. Mathematics goes slightly further — a little more trigonometry, some matrices and logarithms — and the Science section is really a data-interpretation test dressed as science: graphs, experiments and conflicting hypotheses, with almost no outside knowledge required.

How it is graded

Each section is scored 1–36, and the composite is their average. Roughly, 24 is solid, 30 is competitive at strong universities, and 33+ is the range of the most selective. Universities treat an ACT composite and an SAT total as equivalent through published concordance tables and state no preference between them.

When to sit it

Offered several times a year, with international dates fewer than US ones — commonly February, April, June, July, September, October and December, though the international calendar is shorter. Same plan as the SAT: first attempt in the spring of Grade 11, second in the autumn of Grade 12.

What it is good for

  • US university admissions — accepted everywhere the SAT is, on equal terms.
  • Students who read quickly and work fast, and students who prefer straightforward curriculum-shaped mathematics to the SAT's puzzle-shaped version.
  • Anyone who has taken a practice SAT and disliked it. Sitting a practice ACT costs an afternoon and occasionally reveals a much better fit.

When it happens

Months rather than dates — the exact dates are republished every year, and the official calendar is linked below.

  1. February, April, June, JulySpring and summer sittings. International dates are fewer than US ones.Registration closes about five weeks before each test date, with a late window at extra cost.
  2. September, October, DecemberAutumn sittings, which is where a second attempt normally goes.
  3. Roughly two weeks after each sittingMultiple-choice scores released; writing scores take longer.

What is actually on it

  • English

    OpensAny degree — grammar, usage and rhetoric under time pressure

    The most learnable section on either test. It is a punctuation and sentence-structure exam more than a writing one.

    On this siteJournalistLitigator

  • Mathematics

    OpensEngineering · Computer science · Economics · Physics · Business

    Covers slightly more ground than the SAT — logarithms, matrices and more trigonometry — but asks more direct questions about it.

    On this siteMechanical EngineerSoftware EngineerEconomistActuary

  • Reading

    OpensHumanities · Law · Social sciences · Any degree

    Four long passages, fast. Pace is the whole difficulty.

    On this sitePolicy AnalystJournalist

  • Science

    Optional since 2025

    OpensEngineering · Life sciences · Pre-med · Data-heavy degrees

    Now optional under the enhanced format, but some STEM programmes and scholarships still want the score. If you are heading for science or engineering, take it.

    On this siteEpidemiologistData ScientistBiomedical Engineer

  • Writing (essay)

    Optional

    OpensNothing on its own — a small number of universities and scholarships still ask for it

    Check whether anything on your list requires it before deciding. Most no longer do.

Choosing well

The parts a student can act on this month.

  • Sit one timed practice test of each. Whichever score converts higher on the concordance table is your test, and the difference is occasionally large. This is the single highest-return afternoon in the whole admissions process.
  • If you run out of time on practice tests, the ACT is probably not your test. If you find the SAT's questions oblique and would rather just be asked the mathematics, it probably is.
  • Take the Science section if you are applying to anything scientific or engineering-related, even though it is now optional. A missing score is read as a missing score.
  • Universities do not prefer one test over the other, and submitting both is not an advantage. Choose one, prepare for it properly, and stop.

What costs people a year

  • International test dates are fewer than US ones and centres in the region fill up. Register early; the ACT is harder to sit at short notice than the SAT.
  • The enhanced format is recent, so older preparation books describe a test with a required Science section and different timings. Use current materials.
  • As with the SAT, this is not a school qualification. It ranks you; it does not certify what you have studied.

In Saudi Arabia

The ACT is sat less commonly than the SAT in Saudi Arabia and there are fewer test centres and dates, which is a practical argument for the SAT unless the ACT clearly suits you better. US universities and Saudi scholarship programmes accept either without preference. As with the SAT, Saudi public universities do not use it at all — that is what Qudurat and Tahsili are for.

The parts that go out of date

Everything on this page was read from the awarding body on the date below. These are the statements most likely to have moved since.

  • The optional-Science format and the digital rollout are both recent and still settling; check the current format before booking.
  • Which universities require a test at all is changing every cycle, in the direction of requiring one again.
  • International test date availability changes annually and is narrower than the US calendar.

What sits alongside it

Almost nobody sits only one of these.

What to prepare with

Official material first, and free unless marked otherwise. Every link here was fetched and confirmed to resolve on the date shown.

  • Free ACT test preparationofficial practice testfree

    Official practice questions and full practice tests. Sit one timed, alongside a practice SAT, and let the concordance decide which test is yours.

    ACT, Inc. · link checked 2026-09-06

  • ACT registration and test datesofficial datesfree

    Dates, deadlines and centres. The international calendar is shorter than the US one, so book early.

    ACT, Inc. · link checked 2026-09-06

Nothing here is sold or sponsored, and there is no affiliate link on this site. Where an awarding body publishes its own past papers, those are listed instead of a revision guide — the UCAT and LNAT consortia both state outright that paid coaching is unnecessary and unendorsed, and the same is broadly true of every exam on this page.

Where this came from

Last checked 2026-09-05. Entry requirements are set by individual universities, change every year, and are the one thing on this page you should always confirm on the course page for the year you apply.