Study Tips

How to Practise for the Enhanced ACT with Practice Quizzes (2026)

April 14, 20266 min readEmily Chen · Cognitive Psychology Writer & Study Skills Coach

In this article

1.The ACT at a glance
2.What the format means for how you practise
3.An 8-week ACT practice plan
4.How to build ACT practice sets with SimpleQuizMaker
5.Common mistakes
6.Worked example: from one missed question to a practice set
7.How to review a timed section
8.Frequently Asked Questions
9.Keep going
10.Sources

Short answer. The enhanced ACT is shorter than the old test. The core is English, Math and Reading, and those three alone make up your Composite score. Science and Writing are optional. Because each section is a fixed set of questions with a strict time limit, the ACT rewards two things: knowing the content and working at a steady pace. Short timed quizzes on your weakest reporting categories train both.

The format below was checked against ACT.org on 24 September 2026.

The ACT at a glance

Section	Questions	Time	Counts toward Composite?
English	50	35 minutes	Yes
Mathematics	45	50 minutes	Yes
Reading	36	40 minutes	Yes
Science (optional)	40	40 minutes	No
Writing (optional)	1 essay	40 minutes	No

Total time: 125 minutes for the core sections, or 205 minutes with both Science and Writing.

Scores: each section is scored 1–36. The Composite (1–36) is the average of English, Math and Reading, rounded to the nearest whole number. Writing is scored 2–12.

Format: online or on paper. Math questions now have four answer choices instead of five.

Science: optional and outside the Composite. It still has its own 1–36 score, and some colleges and scholarships look at it. Whether it is offered on a school-day test can depend on the district.

What the format means for how you practise

English gives you about 42 seconds per question. Most English questions test grammar and punctuation rules plus rhetorical choices. These rules can be learned, so frequent short quizzes on them pay off.

Math covers pre-algebra through trigonometry in 50 minutes. That is a broad range with little time on each question. Quizzes should mix topics once you are past the basics, because the test moves between topics without warning.

Reading is 36 passage-based questions in 40 minutes. Recalling details from a passage and finding the evidence for an answer are the skills. Quiz yourself on passages you have not seen before, not on ones you have already read.

Science, if you take it, is about reading data, not memorising facts. Most questions ask you to read graphs, tables and experimental setups. Practise interpreting data rather than memorising science content.

An 8-week ACT practice plan

Week 1: take a diagnostic. Take one full official practice test with real timing. For each section, note your two weakest reporting categories.

Weeks 2–5: build the skills. Work on one weak category per session, and finish each session with a 10-question quiz on it. Quiz yourself on the same category again two days later and once more the following week. Spacing reviews out like this works better than cramming the same material in one sitting, a finding summarised in Cepeda et al. (2006).

Weeks 6–7: work on pace. Take timed half-sections: 25 English questions in 17 minutes, or 22 Math questions in 25 minutes. Keep a log of every question you missed, with the category it tested and the reason you missed it.

Week 8: rehearse. Take one more full practice test, then do short daily quizzes on whichever categories your log shows are still weak.

How to build ACT practice sets with SimpleQuizMaker

Choose a narrow topic. For example, "ACT English: comma rules and nonessential clauses, 10 questions, explain each answer." The free plan generates from a topic or pasted text, with up to 10 questions per quiz and 5 generations a month.

Paste the rule sheet you are studying, so the questions use the same wording you learned.

Upload a full unit on the Student plan. For $2.99 a month you can upload a PDF, Word file or image and generate up to 100 questions per quiz. That works well for the mixed Math sets in weeks 6–7.

Science data practice: start from the ACT Science practice template.

Keep missed items in flashcards. Put every missed rule or formula into a flashcard deck, which uses spaced repetition to bring cards back before you forget them.

Everything ACT-related on the site is on the ACT exam page.

Common mistakes

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Treating the Composite as covering four sections. On the enhanced ACT, Science is not part of the Composite. Decide early whether you are taking Science, based on what your target colleges ask for.

Practising without a timer. Knowing the content is not enough if you run out of time.

Only doing questions you already get right. It feels good but does not raise your score. Spend most of your practice on your two weakest categories.

Worked example: from one missed question to a practice set

Suppose your practice test log shows you missed three English questions on the same point: commas around nonessential clauses. A sample question written for this guide:

> *My neighbour who has lived here for forty years knows everyone on the street.*

> Which revision is correct if the writer has only one neighbour?

> A. No change B. My neighbour, who has lived here for forty years, knows C. My neighbour who has lived here, for forty years knows D. My neighbour, who has lived here for forty years knows

The answer is B. If there is only one neighbour, the clause is extra information, so it needs a comma on both sides. D is the classic trap: it has an opening comma but no closing one.

Turn it into practice:

Write the rule in one sentence: "Extra information is set off with two commas, or with none."

Generate 10 questions on this rule, mixing essential and nonessential clauses so that no commas is sometimes the right answer.

Take the set, then another set two days later and a third a week later.

When you score 9 or 10 out of 10 twice in a row, move the rule to your flashcard deck for occasional review and pick the next weak category.

This takes about 15 minutes a day and focuses on the exact points your log shows you are losing.

How to review a timed section

Sort every miss into one of three kinds: you did not know the content, you misread the question, or you ran out of time. Each needs a different fix: more content quizzes, slower reading of the question, or pacing practice.

Note which questions took too long, even if you got them right. A correct answer that took two minutes in English is still costing you time for later questions.

Redo the missed questions a week later without looking at your notes. If you miss them again, the concept goes back into your daily quizzes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the ACT now?

The core test of English, Math and Reading takes 125 minutes. With optional Science and Writing it takes 205 minutes.

Does Science count toward the ACT Composite?

No. On the enhanced ACT the Composite is the average of English, Math and Reading. Science still receives its own score.

How is the ACT Composite calculated?

ACT averages your English, Math and Reading scores, each on a 1–36 scale, and rounds the result to the nearest whole number.

Can I take the ACT on a computer?

Yes. ACT offers both online and paper testing. The one you get can depend on your test center or your school-day administration.

Should I use AI-generated practice questions for the ACT?

Use them for extra repetition on specific skills. Use official ACT practice tests to measure your score, because generated questions are not calibrated to ACT difficulty.

Keep going

SAT practice guide, if you are comparing the two tests

AP exam practice guide

ACT practice quizzes

Sources

Sources: ACT: exam sections and structure · ACT: understanding your scores · ACT: test enhancements. Format checked 24 September 2026.

*SimpleQuizMaker is not affiliated with or endorsed by ACT, Inc. Quizzes described here are AI-generated practice, not official ACT questions.*

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Emily Chen

Cognitive Psychology Writer & Study Skills Coach

Try it on your own material

SimpleQuizMaker turns what you are already teaching or studying into practice questions. The free plan includes 5 quiz generations a month and needs no card.

AI quiz generatorPaste a topic or your own notes and get a quiz back in seconds.FlashcardsSpaced repetition on an SM-2 schedule for the memorisation half.Personalized generationOpt in and quizzes weight toward the topics you keep getting wrong.