36U Took the Enhanced ACT
And we have a lot of feedback to share!
Posted January 12, 2026 at 12:25pm EST
After having taken, reviewed, and categorized all of the released practice ACTs in the enhanced format over the summer, I was still surprised by a few aspects of the enhanced October ACT. We’re about to analyze the December test as well so stay tuned for another post soon!
I’m going to break down my main observations by ACT subject, then I’ll summarize some feedback we’ve gotten from students who took the enhanced test in October.
Before I get into my subject-by-subject takeaways, I want to make a note of the number of scored items on the enhanced ACT. I knew going into the test that a good chunk of the items weren’t going to be scored because they were “field test items” (aka items used in research for future tests). However, seeing just how many questions didn’t count when I received the test packet was still a little disheartening!
Here are the number of questions that didn’t count towards your score in each section –
- English – 10 items
- Math – 4 items
- Reading – 9 items (a whole passage!)
- Science – 6 items (a whole passage!)
These numbers might not seem too extreme, but the enhanced ACT already has significantly fewer questions than the original “legacy” ACT, so having even fewer scored questions makes each question worth that much more!
When I received my copy of the October ACT, it only included scored items, so all of my feedback is based on the actual scored questions on the test.
English
My biggest takeaway from the English section was the large number of what we at 36U call “global items.” Global items are items that don’t test solely for grammatical correctness; rather, they require you to comprehend an entire paragraph or the full passage to answer correctly. For example, “If the writer were to delete the preceding sentence, the essay would primarily lose…” is a global item because it requires you to fully understand how that sentence functions within the passage.
On my version of the October ACT, we categorized 16 out of the 40 scored questions as global items (that’s 40% of the English test!). By comparison, our legacy ACT research (from 2007 – 2025) showed that the old tests averaged about 25% global items, or roughly 19 questions per test. While that’s technically more global questions than the 16 on the enhanced test, the legacy tests had 75 English questions total, so the percentage of global items was much lower.
What does this mean?
For me, this just meant that much of the extra time I was given to complete the enhanced English section was lost to answering global items because global items take much longer to answer than one-off grammar questions. On the legacy, 75-question English test, there were plenty of quick, “local” items that could be answered in a few seconds without reading the full passage. On this test, there weren’t as many opportunities like that for quick points.
Aside from the global vs. local item observation, I found that the frequency of certain question types differed a little from the enhanced practice tests I had taken. Nothing too extreme, but it’s worth noting!
For example, I found that my version of the October test was light on questions in subject-verb agreement, transitions, and redundancy, and heavy on questions testing vocabulary and words that are commonly confused (such as which vs. that). My scored questions didn’t include any items on possessive forms (its/it’s, their/there/they’re), adjectives, adverbs, or misplaced modifiers. This isn’t a big deal, but it’s definitely a change from the old ACT, where it was rare for an entire topic to be absent. With only 40 scored questions instead of 75, the enhanced test simply can’t cover as wide a range of English topics.
I wasn’t really surprised by much else on the English section of the enhanced October ACT. There were the anticipated changes (a mix of long, 10-question passages and short, 5-question passages, a stem on each question, etc.), but I had studied up on these differences before taking the test. If you’d like a summary of all of the changes the ACT has seen in the past year, you can read more here.
Math
I will preface this section by saying that I am a math person. It was always my favorite subject in school, and it’s by far my favorite to teach. That said, I found my version of the October enhanced math test to be fairly easy and noticeably easier than most legacy ACT math tests.
Why?
Well to start, the new format math test only gives you four answer choices per question instead of five, which increases the odds of guessing correctly and makes process-of-elimination strategies more efficient. The additional time per question on the math section is also extremely helpful. I had taken all of the practice tests offered in the enhanced format prior to taking the October ACT, so I knew these changes would work in my favor.
I had also studied up on the changes to the distribution of question types on the math section, but a few things still surprised me when comparing the October test to the enhanced practice tests.
In the algebra category, my test did not include any questions on substitution, solving polynomial/exponential/logarithmic equations, matrices, conic sections, or inequalities. It did, however, have a number of algebra questions that I was not used to seeing on the ACT–finding the domain/range, finding inverse functions, finding intercepts given a nonlinear equation, identifying logarithmic graphs, finding asymptotes given equations, etc. These topics weren’t previously emphasized in our test banks, but we’ve started adding them to keep our content current!
In geometry, my version of the October test didn’t include questions on the Pythagorean Theorem, special right triangles (45-45-90 and 30-60-90), distance, midpoint, circumference, arc length, Law of Sines/Cosines, circle trigonometry, vectors, angles in circles, or trig identities. I had heard that the enhanced version of the ACT was going to cut back on what they called “advanced topics” (topics frequently taught in grade 12 and sometimes grade 11), and I definitely saw that here.
In the statistics and probability category, my version of the test didn’t have any questions on measures of central tendency (mean/median/mode), odds, or the multiplication principle, and there was only one probability question. I felt that the practice tests in the enhanced format were heavy on the probability and mean/median/mode questions, so I was surprised by the lack of these question types on the October test!
The numbers and arithmetic category closely matched my expectations. There was one question on rational versus irrational numbers, which isn’t especially common on the ACT, but it wasn’t unreasonable.
As expected, the enhanced math test no longer contains “passage” questions (sets of 2-3 related questions tied to a shared scenario or graphic). I felt that the passage questions always took longer than the others, so their absence helped my pacing on this test.
Overall, I think the combination of fewer questions, more time allowed per question, fewer answer choices, and fewer advanced topics questions made the math section on the October test a little less daunting. I recommend adding some of the “surprise” topics I mentioned above to your study plan so you’re prepared if they show up again on a later test!
Reading
There really weren’t many surprises on my version of the October enhanced reading test. I knew that there would be 9 questions per passage instead of 10 and that we’d have 1 minute, 7 seconds to answer each question rather than 52.5 seconds. I also knew that the passages could now appear in any order (rather than the predictable order on the old ACT: Prose Fiction, Social Science, Humanities, Natural Science).
My social science passage was the “field test” passage that didn’t count towards my score. I am a little bummed that an entire passage is excluded from your score on this test. Reading is my weakest ACT subject and I definitely do better on certain passage types over others (Literary Narrative and Natural Science are my favorites!). My score would probably take a hit if one of those two passage types was chosen as the field test passage.
Other than that, I don’t have much to note about the October reading section! I feel that the level of difficulty matched the enhanced practice tests well, and I didn’t find it to be any more difficult than the legacy ACT reading test. Just make sure you give enough attention to each passage type when you’re practicing, because your strongest one might be used as a field test passage and excluded from your score!
Science
Like math, I found the October enhanced science test easier than most legacy tests, and even a couple of the enhanced practice tests. Since science involves a lot of reading comprehension, I think the extra time given per question was very helpful.
As expected, my version of the October science test was heavy on the math calculations and “science knowledge” questions. This didn’t bother me at all because I’m a math/science person, but it might require a brush up on basic science concepts and calculations (density formula, boiling/freezing point of water in oC, definition of a solution, charges on protons/electrons/neutrons, percent mass and average calculations, etc.) if those aren’t second nature to you.
Now that the science test is optional, I think the ACT assumes that those taking it have a direct interest in the science or STEM field, so they expect test takers to know the background information needed to answer the math and “science knowledge” questions. The challenge there is that science is such a broad subject, making it difficult to predict exactly which concepts will appear. This makes studying for the “science knowledge” items tricky. As more practice tests are released, we’ll work to identify patterns and update our test banks accordingly!
My last note about science is just a reminder that the science test now includes an engineering design passage. We’re in the process of adding those passage types to our program so you aren’t caught off guard on test day!
Student Feedback
As promised, I’m going to share some feedback from students who have taken the enhanced ACT. As I gather more feedback, I’ll make a more detailed, dedicated post about what students are liking and disliking about the new ACT format.
Timing
Many students thought that having more time per question helped them significantly. They felt more relaxed and didn’t have to guess on as many questions as the timer ran out. However, some students noted that they still felt rushed on the English and science sections. As I mentioned earlier, I felt the same way about English because it was so heavy on global items!
Math Section
The math section always has the most student opinions! The biggest takeaway was that the questions increased in difficulty much faster on the enhanced test than on the legacy test. That makes sense given the reduction from 60 scored questions to 41. There’s less room for the easier “warm up” questions on the new test!
That said, most students agreed that the math test felt much easier to complete than it did in the past, and that the last few questions weren’t as difficult as they remembered from the legacy test. I think the reduction in advanced topics likely plays a role in that!
Technical Difficulties
This doesn’t have anything to do with the enhanced format, but a lot of students reported technical issues with the online version of the test (lagging and screen freezing!). I’m sure this will be resolved over time, but I am old school and would opt for the paper test as long as it’s offered!
I hope this feedback on the enhanced October ACT was helpful! The transition to the enhanced ACT was a big change, and we are here to help you navigate the change confidently. Once we fully review the December test, we will compare our notes and post an update. Stay tuned!