ACT Score Calculator
Turn the questions you got right into scaled 1–36 section scores, a composite and a national percentile. You get a likely range as well as a single number, because ACT uses a slightly different conversion for every test form. Covers the Enhanced ACT and the legacy ACT.
Raw score to composite
NOMACT_DATA first.
Enter your raw scores above to see your estimated scaled scores, composite and percentile.
Superscore calculator
Enter scaled scores (1–36) from up to five sittings. Your superscore uses the best score from each section.
Enter scaled scores to see your best score per section and your superscore.
Target score helper
Pick a target composite. The table shows roughly how many questions you need correct in each section, worked backwards from the same conversion tables.
Approximate only. Every ACT form has a slightly different curve, so the raw score you need for a given scaled score changes from test to test.
How this calculator works (steps, tables and sources)
Step by step
- Count the questions you answered correctly in a section. That is your raw score.
- Look the raw score up in a conversion table to get the scaled score (1–36). ACT writes a different table for every test form, so we averaged several published forms. That average is the number you see; the softest and toughest forms we looked at give the likely range beside it.
- Average the scaled scores used in the composite and round to the nearest whole number (a .5 rounds up).
- Look the result up in the percentile table to see how it compares with other test takers.
Worked example
Conversion tables
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Composite percentile table
One table, used for every percentile shown on this page.
| Composite | National percentile |
|---|
Limitations
Every ACT test form has its own conversion table, so no calculator can give you an exact scaled score for a form it has not seen — including the ones that show a single confident number. Ours is an average across several published forms, and the range beside each score shows how much those forms actually disagreed: usually 1–2 points on a section, often less on the composite. If you sat one of ACT’s own practice tests, its scoring key gives you the exact figure for that paper — the first link under Sources takes you there. Percentiles are ACT’s published National Ranks for the stated reporting year and are whole numbers.
Sources
Data last updated: TODO · Scoring data year: TODO
How the ACT is scored
Each section is scored by counting the questions you answered correctly; there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so guessing never lowers your score. That raw score is converted to a scaled score from 1 to 36 using a table made for that specific test form. Your composite is the average of the scaled scores, rounded to the nearest whole number. Percentile ranks compare your score with students who took the test recently. Because each form has its own conversion table, two students with the same raw score on different dates can end up with slightly different scaled scores.
Enhanced ACT vs legacy ACT
| Feature | Enhanced ACT | Legacy ACT |
|---|---|---|
| English scored questions | ||
| Math scored questions | ||
| Reading scored questions | ||
| Science scored questions | ||
| Science section | Optional | Required |
| Composite | Average of English, Math and Reading | Average of all four sections |
What is a good ACT score?
A “good” score depends on the colleges you are applying to, and this page makes no claims about admissions cut-offs. The clearest way to read your score is the percentile table in the panel above: it tells you what share of test takers you scored above. In that table, a composite of 30 is the first score at or above the 50th percentile, and a composite of 30 is the first at or above the 75th percentile. A score above those numbers is high relative to other test takers; a score below them still describes a normal result, not a failure.
Frequently asked questions
Why does it ask for 40 English questions when the test has 50?
On the Enhanced ACT, some questions in each section are unscored trial questions that ACT is testing for future papers. They do not count towards your score. The scored counts are English 40, Math 41, Reading 27 and Science 34. Your scoring key marks which questions are scored, so count only those.
Is the ACT curved?
Not in the usual classroom sense. Your scaled score comes from a conversion table fixed before the test is scored, so another student’s performance does not change your score. The table differs slightly from form to form to account for small differences in difficulty, which people often call a curve.
How is the composite calculated?
Add the scaled scores that count toward the composite, divide by how many there are, then round to the nearest whole number; a .5 rounds up. On the Enhanced ACT that is English, Math and Reading. On the legacy ACT it is all four sections.
Does Science count?
On the Enhanced ACT, Science is optional: it is reported as its own score and does not change your composite, though Math and Science together produce a separate STEM score. On the legacy ACT, Science was required and counted in the composite.
What is superscoring?
A superscore takes your best scaled score in each section across several sittings and averages those best scores. Many colleges use it instead of looking only at your highest single sitting. The panel above calculates it for you.
How accurate is this calculator?
It is an estimate, and so is every other ACT calculator — ACT writes a new conversion table for each test form, so a tool cannot know yours. The difference is that we say so. Our tables average several published ACT forms, and the range shown next to each score is the real spread between the softest and toughest of those forms, usually 1–2 points. If you are scoring one of ACT’s free practice tests, use the scoring key that came with it for the exact number.
Does ACT round scores?
Scaled section scores are whole numbers from 1 to 36. The composite averages them and rounds to the nearest whole number, with .5 rounding up. Half-point averages are never reported as decimals on a real score report.
ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc., which is not affiliated with this site and does not endorse it. The conversion tables here are our own averages, not ACT’s published tables; for an official table, use the scoring key supplied with your ACT practice test. This calculator gives estimates only. Always check your official ACT score report.
Built by Abu Abdul Rahman, Notes of Math.