The ACT organization rolled out a new digital version of the ACT this April and when they announced changes to the test, it sounds like a great opportunity. But, if you’re a junior, you might want to think twice about taking the new digital ACT. Let’s talk through why you should wait to take the new updated ACT.
To compete with the new digital SAT, the ACT organization created their own digital version of the test and there are three main reasons it looks appealing:
1. The new digital ACT is shorter:
The new ACT is a whole hour shorter, with 40 questions cut from the core test, not including the optional sections.
- English will have 50 questions in 35 minutes
- Math will have 45 questions in 50 minutes
- Reading will have 36 questions in 40 minutes
- Total testing time? 125 minutes
2. The new digital ACT doesn’t require Science:
Similar to the writing portion of a few years ago, the Science section is being turned into an optional add-on for students who want a STEM-specific score (combining the Math and Science scores) to submit to universities. It will also be shorter than previous versions of the Science section, will require a bit more outside knowledge, and will test on more technology and engineering passages.
3. The new digital ACT will feel more similar to the SAT:
The new test length will provide more time per question than it has in the past, so the pacing will be more comparable to the new SAT. The digital platform for the test will also be structured similar to the SAT, with some additions for accessibility and some small changes for longer passages. Plus, the Math section is getting rid of its old structure of having five answer choices and instead will follow the standard model of just four answer choices.
If you want to learn more details, check out our post here on everything we know about the new ACT.
The digital ACT is rolling out to students in phases:
- For the April 2025 test, the new ACT will be available for students taking the digital version ONLY.
- Starting in August and September 2025, ALL students taking a Saturday test, digital or paper, will have this new version.
- In Spring of 2026, students taking the ACT in schools will get the new version. For the next year, ALL in-school testing will be the old version.
Prior to September, there are a few reasons why students (especially current juniors) should not take the new version of the test, and most of them boil down to: The test is too new to best prepare or understand how it will impact your applications.
You don’t want to be the ACT organization’s guinea pig for their brand new, shiny test.
Here’s why:
- We do not yet have a clear sense of how colleges will respond – what they will require or what scores they will treat as a “good score” going forward. On the other hand, universities definitely know what a traditional ACT score means and represents for an applicant.
- There are not currently any ACT practice tests that accurately represent what the actual new test will be like. They have put together four practice tests (one for each subject) edited from the older version. And you can review your answers for each individually, but there is no composite score report available.
- Since the ACT is adding more time per question and decreasing the difficulty, it is unclear how the difficulty will change once scores start coming in (similar to the SAT).
- The ACT requires the host to provide devices for students, which means there are not nearly as many locations where the digital test is even available. Students will have a much easier time finding and preparing for the old version of the test on paper.
- This coming application season, there will be a mix of old and new version ACT scores, so students taking the new test will be compared to students who took the old one. Once the paper version has changed over in September, students will no longer have to worry about that discrepancy.
Overall, there is no reason to learn a new test when the traditional one is still widely available on paper and is better understood by universities, and all of the practice tests and resources primarily align with the old version.
If you’re a junior (Class of 2026), stick with the traditional paper ACT to secure a competitive score for your applications this fall.
If you’re a current freshman or sophomore (Class of 2027 or 2028), you have the opportunity to see how the rollout of the new ACT goes and use the practice tests coming this summer to prepare for next spring when the test is more established.
