• Visit www.act.org  to register for the ACT.
     
    ACT Test Coordinator
    Melinda Beck
    724 934-7200
     
    mbeck@northallegheny.org 
     
     
    ACT INFORMATION    
     
    The ACT contains four curriculum-based, multiple-choice tests designed to measure academic achievement in English, Math, Reading, and Science, as well as an optional writing test for which students complete an essay.
     
    The ACT includes 213 multiple-choice questions and takes a little over 4 hours to administer.  This includes time for instruction and breaks.  The actual testing time is 2 hours and 55 minutes.  The test allows 45 minutes for English, 60 minutes to complete the Math section, 35 minutes for Science Reasoning, and 35 minutes for Reading.  Students planning to complete the optional 30-minute Writing Test will add another 45 minutes to the overall test session.
     

    Sections of the ACT

    Types of Questions

    No. of Questions

    Time Allotted

    English

    Usage/Mechanics

         Punctuation

         Grammar and Usage

         Sentence Structure

    Rhetorical Skills

         Strategy

         Organization

         Style

    Total

    40

    10

    12

    18

    35

    12

    11

    12

    75

    One section, 45 minutes

    Reading

    Prose Fiction

    Humanities

    Social Studies

    Natural Sciences

    Total

    10

    10

    10

    10

    40

    One section, 35 minutes

    Mathematics

    Pre-Algebra

    Elementary Algebra

    Intermediate Algebra

    Coordinate Geometry

    Plane Geometry

    Trigonometry

    Total

    14

    10

    9

    9

    14

    4

    60

    One section, 60 minutes

    Science Reasoning

    Biology

     

    Earth/Space Sciences

     

     

    Chemistry

    Physics

     

     

    Total

    Data Representation

    15

    Research Summaries

                      18

     

    Conflicting Viewpoints

                       7

                     40

    One section, 35 minutes

     

     

    What about the Optional Writing Test?

     

    The 30-minute optional Writing Test is an essay test that is intended to measure the writing skills emphasized in high school English classes and in entry-level college composition courses.  The test is comprised of one writing prompt describing two points of view on an issue.  Students are asked to write a response about their position on this issue.  The prompts are designed to be appropriate for responses in the 30 minutes permitted and reflect the student’s interests and experiences.  Students have the option of registering for the ACT or the ACT Plus Writing.  The Writing Test may not be taken alone.
     

    Taking the Writing Test does NOT affect students’ scores on the multiple-choice tests or their COMPOSITE score. Students taking both the English and Writing Tests receive two additional scores: a combined English/Writing score on a scale of 1-36 and a Writing subscore on a scale of 2-12.  Students also receive comments on their essays, and copies of the essays are available to the high school and the colleges to which scores are reported.