ACT® tutors
The ACT® is a US college admissions test with every section scored from 1 to 36. Since the 2025 changes it is shorter, with fewer questions, science is optional, and the Composite score is the average of English, maths and reading alone. It matters mainly for applications to US universities, and some UK universities accept it alongside APs.
Practise ACT between lessons, free
We also build cookie, the revision app, and every student and every tutor here gets it at no extra cost. This is what it has for ACT to use between lessons.
- Practice questionsExam-style questions from your notes or the specification, marked with partial credit and a worked solution.
- Past papersThe boards’ own papers and mark schemes, with grade boundaries, and you can do one in cookie with a timer.
- FlashcardsCards that come back just before you would forget them, including decks other students have shared.
- NotesRevision notes people have shared, to read, download or add to your own and turn into flashcards.
- Revision planSpreads your topics and papers out over the weeks before each exam, around your lessons.
What changed in 2025
ACT describes the enhanced test as shorter, with 44 fewer questions and more time per question. English is 50 questions in 35 minutes, maths 45 questions in 50 minutes and reading 36 questions in 40 minutes. Science, 40 questions in 40 minutes, is now the student’s choice, and so is the writing test.
The Composite is now the average of English, maths and reading. A student who takes science also gets a separate science score and a STEM score, which combines science and maths. The new format reached international test centres in September 2025, so a practice test from before then is not the test a student will sit now.
Whether to take science
ACT says a Composite without science is a valid score that can be sent to colleges, and that institutions have told it they will keep using enhanced ACT scores for admission, scholarships and course placement.
Whether a particular university or programme wants the science score is each institution’s own decision, so check the universities on the list before registering.
Sitting the ACT outside the US
Outside the United States the ACT is taken on computer at a test centre, on international test dates ACT publishes for each year, between September and July.
The ACT is used mainly for US applications. Some UK universities also accept it as part of a US-curriculum application: Imperial, for example, lists three APs with a US High School Diploma and an SAT or ACT score as an alternative to five APs, and King’s College London does not consider ACT superscores.
Our ACT tutors
Common questions
How is the ACT scored?
Each section is scored on the 1 to 36 scale, and the Composite is the average of English, maths and reading. Science and writing, if taken, are reported as separate scores.
Is science still part of the ACT?
It has been optional since the 2025 changes. Taking it adds a separate science score and a STEM score; leaving it out gives a shorter test with a Composite worked out the same way.
Does ACT superscoring still work?
Yes. ACT’s superscore report now builds the Composite from your best English, maths and reading scores across test dates. Universities set their own policies, and King’s College London, for one, does not consider superscores.
Do UK universities accept the ACT?
Some do, usually alongside APs and a US High School Diploma rather than on its own, and the scores asked for vary by course. Check each university’s page for US qualifications.
SAT or ACT?
It depends on the universities you are applying to, so check their testing policies first. A timed practice test of each is the quickest way to see which format suits you.
How much does an ACT tutor cost?
From £30 an hour, set by each tutor. Most tutors offer a free 15-minute intro, and their profile says so.
What happens in a lesson?
A lesson is live and one to one, in a room in your browser: video both ways, a shared whiteboard with proper maths notation, a graph plotter and screen sharing, on a laptop, tablet or phone with nothing to install. The tutor can put questions, notes and past papers on the board, and you can photograph your written work with your phone to put it there. The board is kept for 365 days, so either of you can open it again, print it or make notes, flashcards or questions from it, and the tutor writes a short report afterwards.
Related
How it works here
We are selective about who teaches here: we look for tutors at top universities, everybody is interviewed by us, and everybody completes an identity check before they are listed. Lessons run in the browser with live video and a shared whiteboard. Rates start at £30 an hour, most tutors offer a free 15-minute intro and their profile says so, and every student gets cookie's study software at no extra cost.
ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp., which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this website.