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Students and families often have questions about the information provided in their ACT Score Report. To help you better understand your scores, we’ve put together this guide.
View Your ACT Score Online
On the myACT portal, for each ACT test they’ve taken students can access the following features:
My Score Details – This shows a breakdown of subject-area performance. For example, students can compare their achievement in areas of algebra, and statistics. This can help students determine areas to focus on to improve their scores.
How do I Compare – This shows students’ percentile ranks for their Composite score and individual test scores. They can check their ranks among students nationally or just within their own states.
Am I Ready for College – Students’ scores are compared against the college readiness benchmarks. If a score meets the benchmark, the student has at least a 50% chance of earning a grade of B or higher in relevant first-year college courses.
My Interests – This connects to the Interest Inventory, a survey of 72 questions that helps students find occupations and college majors that match their passions.
Send this Score – Scores can be sent to schools or scholarship agencies.
ACT Score
A The Composite is the average of the 4 Test Scores. The Composite and your individual test scores — Math, Science, English, and Reading — are the most important scores when applying to college. Colleges that superscore will consider your best Test Scores from multiple ACTs.
Score Details
Click on the “My Score Details” button and you will see more specific information where you might focus your test preparation. These details are typically not used in college admission decisions.
Each question within an individual test on the ACT falls into one of three assessment categories for that test. Within each of these categories, you will see the percent correct, the actual number correct out of the total number of questions, and how your results fall within the ACT college readiness range.
ACT Readiness Range shows the benchmarks used to predict success in first-year college courses. You can view more on this for your scores by clicking on the “Am I Ready for College” button.
B The 3 assessment categories for Math are Preparing for Higher Math, Integrating Essential Skills, and Modeling. ACT provides a further breakdown of Preparing for Higher Math (which makes up 60% of questions on the math test) to provide insight on specific subject areas.
C The Science test score categories are: Data Representation, Research Summaries, and Conflicting Viewpoints. The biggest challenge students face on the ACT Science is timing (only 35 minutes to work through 40 passages with problems).
D ACT Reading questions fall into the categories of: Key Ideas and Details (main ideas, cause and effect, and comparative relationships), Craft and Structure (contextual meaning, tone, and point of view), and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (author clams and connection between texts).
E ACT English assesses your ability to edit and revise essays. Conventions of Standard English category includes questions about grammar and usage, punctuation, and sentence structure. Knowledge of Language type questions ask you to determine appropriate and precise word usage. Production of Writing includes organization, relevance, and strategy.
What’s Next?
Many students take the test 2 or 3 times to improve their scores. In Summit test preparation programs, your tutor and program director will review the score report and make a plan for more targeted study and practice.
As always, feel free to reach out with any questions. Standardized testing for college admissions can be confusing and overwhelming. We are here to help. Please feel free to contact us or leave a note in the comments box below.
