Below are a series of five ACT practice tests produced by the actual maker of the ACT. Practice Tests #1-4 are based on an older version of the test; Practice Test #5 is based upon the current model of the exam, which includes a dual passage as one of the four passages on the Reading Test, and six instead of seven passage experiments on the Science Test, as well as a completely revamped writing prompt on the optional Writing Test.
As you practice taking these tests, please keep the following in mind:
- ACT Timing is tight
- To reduce test stress related to this tight timing, don’t work for time, make time work for you using the following guide:
- English Test — 45 mins / five 15 question passages — 9 mins per passage — check your watch only once: after third passage, at roughly the 27 min mark
- Math Test — 60 mins / 60 questions — 1 min per question — check your watch only once: after question 30, at roughly the 30 min mark
- Reading Test — 35 mins / four 10 question passages — 8 mins 45 secs per passage — check your watch only once: after the second passage, at roughly the 17 min 30 sec mark
- Science Test — 35 mins / two 6 question and four 7 question passage experiments — 1 min less per number of questions per passage — check your watch only once: after third passage experiment, at roughly the 17 min mark
As you prepare to take ACT Practice Test #1:
- Print out the test
- Start the clock, writing down the time you started and ended each individual test
- Bubble in your answers onto the answer sheet
- Answer all questions — no points are taken off for wrong answers
Once you finish each of the five ACT Practice Tests, score as follows: using the Scoring Keys for the ACT Practice Test, add up your correct answers per individual test; take that raw score to Table 1 conversion chart to match with your individual ACT test score. For example, on Practice Test 1 is the 34 correct answers on the Science Test converts to a 27 Science Test score. Finally, average the four individual test scores to compute your ACT composite score, understanding that a composite score of 28.5 would increase to a composite ACT score of 29.