ACT exam changes policy to allow students to retake sections

The ACT exam will start letting students retake individual sections of the test as part of three changes announced Tuesday. 

ACT will also begin offering online testing options, and will allow students to combine section scores for a “superscore” to send to colleges. 

The changes will go into effect starting with the September 2020 test date. {mosads}

Officials at ACT said the new options aim to increase student opportunities for college admission and scholarships. 

It’s unclear how much students will have to pay to retake a portion of the exam when ACT rolls out the option. The current cost is $52 without the optional writing section and $68 with it. 

ACT officials told The New York Times that taking an individual section would be cheaper than retaking the exam in entirety, but said they had not yet decided on a price. 

Along with allowing students to opt to take individual sections, ACT will start allowing students to combine section scores from different tests to create an ACT “superscore.”

ACT claims its own research suggests “superscoring” is “actually more predictive of how students will perform in their college courses than other scoring methods.”

The exam will also begin offering online testing to provide faster score results. The online testing will be available as an option at selected centers initially with a goal of expanding to all. 

Results from online tests would be available in two days compared to about two weeks, according to ACT. 

Students will have the option to choose online or paper testing.