ACT Score Computations
Scoring for the ACT is done in three steps. The first step is to evaluate the student's answer sheet and tally the correct answers. There is no penalty for incorrect answers; those questions are simply ignored for the purposes of scoring. Once the raw scores have been tallied, the raw scores are then converted into "scale scores," a measure of how well those scores reflect performance yardsticks developed through past score analysis. Scale scores are considered valid across test dates and test versions, meaning that any given score is equivalent to the same numerical score achieved on a different testing date and exam revision.
Once the individual test scores are computed, they are summed and a test average is found; this is the student's composite score. The composite is rounded to the nearest whole number, and is on the same scale of 1-36 as the subject exams. While the composite and subject exams are the focus of the score reports, the ACT also offers several subscores that break down and identify the student's skill levels in the tested subjects. These subscores are measured on a 1-18 basis, and do not have a direct mathematical relationship to the overall test scores, which means the subscores generally do not add up to the test scores. However, the subscores are useful in identifying student strengths and areas of improvement. The subscores are broken down as follows: the English exam has subscores for usage/mechanics and rhetoric skills; the reading test is broken down into social studies/science reading skills and arts/literature reading skills; and the mathematics test is broken down into pre-algebra/elementary algebra skills, intermediate algebra/coordinate geometry skills, and plane geometry/trigonometry skills. The science test has no subscores; the score for the science exam is based on the total list of questions in the exam.