ACT Questions And Time Allowed

Individual test times will depend on several factors-the student's reading speed, level of comfort with the material, preparation time-but the allotted time is the same. Including break time between tests, students can count on the allotted time being approximately four hours and fifteen minutes. Students who begin testing on the standard ACT exam series at 8 AM can expect to be finished with the exam by 12:15 PM. If the student has signed up for the ACT Plus Writing exam series, an additional break and exam time of thirty minutes is included, and the total time period is approximately five hours, meaning students can expect to be finished with the exam series by 1 PM.

As for the number of questions, the total breaks down as follows: The English exam has 75 questions, all of which are based on passages in the test booklet. The math exam has 60 questions; this exam is the only one of the series that has stand-alone questions, meaning students do not have to analyze a passage or prose sample in order to answer the questions. Both of the reading and science exams have 40 questions, and like the English exam, both tests use passages or data sets to provide the basis for the questions of the test. The ACT series in total has 215 questions. If students sign up for the ACT Plus Writing exam series, they will also have one essay prompt to address in addition to the 215 multiple-choice questions.