The ACT is a critical stepping stone for college admissions, and understanding its syllabus is your first step toward success. In this guide, we’ll break down each section of the ACT test so you know what’s on the exam and can tackle it with confidence.
ACT English Test Syllabus
The first section of the ACT is the English Test. This section assesses your knowledge of grammatical rules like usage, punctuation, and sentence construction, as well as your conceptual understanding of the given passages. The questions pertain to a specific paragraph or the entire passage, and they are either detail, broad idea, or big-picture based.
What Is on the ACT English Test
The test contains 50 questions to be answered in 6 passages in 35 minutes, giving you an average of 42 seconds per question, which is achievable through practicing on free ACT practice tests. Each question has 4 multiple-choice answer options. The 3 primary categories of questions the English test examines are as follows:
1. Production of Writing (29-32%)
This section tests your ability to understand the purpose and focus of the writing piece by evaluating its effectiveness, relevance, and its intended goals.
- Topic Development: These questions test your ability to assess a text's rhetorical aspects, determine whether its parts fulfill the purpose, and judge the relevance of its material to the overall focus.
- Organization, Unity, and Cohesion: These questions check your aptitude in ensuring the text is logically organized, flows smoothly, and includes effective introductions and conclusions.
2. Knowledge of Language (15-17%)
These questions require you to demonstrate precision and conciseness in word choice while maintaining consistency in tone and style.
3. Conventions of Standard English (52-55%)
This section requires the application of English grammar conventions and their usage by revising and editing texts correctly.
- Sentence Structure and Formation: These questions test your ability to revise sentences to improve clarity, coherence, and structure.
- Punctuation: You’ll be required to identify and correct punctuation errors to improve text quality.
- Usage: These questions test your knowledge of grammar rules such as subject-verb agreement, modifiers, pronouns, adverbs, idioms, and verb tenses.
ACT Math Test Syllabus
The Math test is the second section of the ACT test. It evaluates the mathematical abilities that students have developed throughout their high school math coursework. Knowledge of basic formulas and computational skills can prove to be a great advantage on this test. This section of the ACT test checks your overall math aptitude and preparedness for an entry-level college course.
What is on the ACT Math Test
There are 45 questions on the Math test, which must be completed in 50 minutes, giving you an average of 67 seconds per question. Each question has 4 answer choices to consider. Note that you will not be provided with math formulas on the ACT test; however, you are allowed to use a calculator on all questions. Here is a description of each category and its question types:
1. Preparing for Higher Math (57-60%)
- Number & Quantity (7-10%): These questions require knowledge of both real and complex number systems. To solve these questions, students should understand a variety of numerical concepts, including vectors, matrices, and exponents with integer and rational values.
- Algebra (12-15%): These questions include various equation types, such as linear, polynomial, radical, and exponential relationships.
- Functions (12-15%): These questions require a thorough knowledge of function definition, notation, representation, and application.
- Geometry (12-15%): These questions revolve around concepts like surface area, volume measurements, and the congruence and similarity relationships of different geometric shapes.
- Statistics & Probability (8-12%): These questions require understanding data collection techniques, modeling relationships in bivariate data, and calculating probabilities.
2. Integrating Essential Skills (40-43%)
This category focuses on your ability to tackle more challenging problems. You are required to answer questions about rates and percentages, proportional relationships, area, surface area, volume, average, median, and various other concepts.
3. Modeling (≥ 20%)
In this category, you will find questions about creating, analyzing, comprehending, evaluating, and enhancing models across all mathematical domains.
ACT Reading Test Syllabus
The third test on the ACT, the Reading test, evaluates your capacity to read, analyze, and synthesize information carefully. The passages on this test represent the kinds of text you might see in your first year of college.
What is on the ACT Reading Test
The Reading test has 36 questions and allows for 40 minutes, giving you 54 seconds per question. Each question has 4 answer choices to consider. The Reading test consists of 4 sections — 3 with 1 long passage and 1 with 2 short passages. Taking ACT mock tests can help you manage time and focus on what’s important. The questions on this test measure your understanding of the following:
1. Key Ideas and Details (52-60%)
Comprehending central themes, ascertaining inferences and conclusions, and understanding cause-and-effect relationships.
2. Craft and Structure (25-30%)
Understanding the author's perspective, determining the meaning of words and phrases, and analyzing the characters' points of view.
3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (13-23%)
Evaluating differences between opinions and facts, understanding the construction of arguments, and assessing evidence from various sources.
Here are the types of questions that you can find in this section across a range of subject areas:
- Central Idea Questions: These questions revolve around the central idea or theme of the passage.
- Detailed Questions: These questions check your ability to understand specific lines or phrases within a passage.
- Vocabulary Questions: These questions require you to understand the context of words and how they are used.
- Function and Development Questions: These questions examine how well you comprehend a word or phrase's function within the context of the passage.
- Implied Ideas Questions: These questions check your understanding of the implicit meaning of words and phrases from the passage.
ACT Science Test Syllabus (Student Choice)
The fourth test on your ACT is the Science test. It assesses your ability to comprehend, analyze, evaluate, reason, and solve problems in the natural sciences. The questions are based on concepts from biology, chemistry, earth/space sciences (geology, astronomy, and meteorology), and physics, and require you to interpret charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
What Is on the ACT Science Test
Much like the Reading test, the Science test consists of 40 questions attached to 7 passages. You will have 40 minutes to complete the questions. Like other ACT subjects, this test also provides 4 answer choices to consider. Here is the content covered by the ACT Science test:
1. Interpretation of Data (40-50%)
These questions require you to manipulate and evaluate scientific data given in tables, graphs, and diagrams (e.g., recognizing data trends, plotting tabular data on graphs, interpolating and extrapolating, and reasoning mathematically).
2. Scientific Investigation (20-30%)
These questions check your ability to comprehend experimental methods, instruments, and designs (e.g., you must recognize controls and variables, like predicting the results of additional trials).
3. Evaluation of Models, Inferences, and Experimental Results (25-35%)
These questions require assessing the reliability of scientific data and drawing inferences and predictions from it (e.g., determining which explanation for a scientific phenomenon is supported by new findings).
The scientific information on the test appears in 1 of the 3 formats:
- Data Representation (25-35%): Similar to what is presented in scientific papers and texts, these questions include graphs and tables. These questions assess your ability to identify connections, perform interpolation and extrapolation, and turn tabular data into graphs.
- Research Summaries (45-60%): These questions check your understanding of the experimental design and related findings presented in the passages.
- Conflicting Viewpoints (15-20%): These questions give you 2 or more explanations of the same scientific phenomenon. Examination of these viewpoints and theories is the main emphasis of these questions.
ACT Writing Test Syllabus (Student Choice)
The Writing test on the ACT complements the English and Reading tests. The combined data from these 3 tests provides colleges with information about students' knowledge of standard written English conventions and their capacity to develop a writing sample.
A prompt is given to help you write the essay and develop your own perspective on the issue. This test lasts for 40 minutes. Your score is not affected by your opinions or the point of view you choose. Your ability to assess arguments and incorporate ideas is what you are graded on. Your essay should be clear and understandable, and a few minor spelling and punctuation mistakes won't affect your grade. The following skills are measured on the Writing test:
- Ideas and Analysis: You need to come up with useful concepts and interact critically with different viewpoints. You must be aware of the topic you are asked to write about and should be able to produce pertinent ideas for the circumstance.
- Development and Support: You must explain concepts and justify and support an argument. You must lay out and develop concepts, talk about ramifications, and provide examples to support your points.
- Organization: You need to arrange thoughts in a purposeful and clear manner. Making effective organizational decisions is essential. You must organize your work in a way that the connections between concepts are crystal clear.
- Language Use and Conventions: You need to reflect the clarity with which arguments can be presented in writing. You must take care of the conventions of language, syntax, word choice, and mechanics.
Now that you know everything about the ACT syllabus, how it is set up, what is being tested, and what kinds of questions to expect, try out the ACT practice test to feel more ready for the test and less nervous.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the important topics tested on the ACT?
The following topics contain the maximum number of questions in each subject.
- English test: Conventions of Standard English (51-56%); includes questions related to sentence structure and formation, punctuation, and usage.
- Math test: Preparing for Higher Math (57-60%); includes questions related to number & quantity, algebra, functions, geometry, and statistics and probability.
- Reading test: Craft and Structure (55-60%); includes questions related to the author’s perspective, meaning of words and phrases, and characters’ points of view.
- Science test: Interpretation of Data (40–50%); includes questions related to manipulating and evaluating scientific data.
Are matrices part of the ACT Math syllabus?
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