ACT English: All You Need to Know

The ACT English section, the first part of the exam, measures your ability to revise and edit written text. As a proofreader and editor, you'll evaluate passages for grammar, punctuation, and clarity by examining underlined or highlighted portions that may need improvement. This section assesses both standard English conventions (grammar, usage, and mechanics) and rhetorical skills (organization and effective wording) in context.

Unlike other standardized tests, spelling and difficult vocabulary aren't directly tested on ACT English. Questions are based on passage context, requiring you to determine the best answer using the information provided rather than recalling obscure rules. While reading comprehension helps you follow a passage's logic, the focus remains on editing and improving clarity—essentially testing how well you can identify and fix writing errors.

ACT English Section Overview

Format and Timing: The ACT English section consists of 75 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 45 minutes. This makes it the fastest-paced section of the ACT – you have roughly 36 seconds per question on average. It is always the first section of the test, so you'll begin your exam day with English while you're fresh. The 75 questions are divided into a series of passages (typically 5 passages with about 15 questions per passage). Each passage is a slice of written text (it could be an essay, article, or story excerpt) with certain portions underlined (on paper) or highlighted (on computer). After the passage, you'll find questions that refer to those marked portions or to the passage as a whole.

Enhanced ACT Format (Starting April 2025): Beginning in April 2025 for online testing and September 2025 for paper-pencil testing, the ACT English section will be shortened to 50 multiple-choice questions with a time limit of 35 minutes. This change is part of ACT's commitment to making the test more accessible while maintaining its reliability. For more information about these changes, visit ACT Enhancements.

Information derived from ACT.org

Question Format: For each question, you'll be given four answer choices. Your task is to choose the answer that makes the best improvement to the underlined/highlighted text, or to select the option stating that no change is needed. Importantly, "NO CHANGE" is a valid answer choice for many questions – if you believe the original phrasing of the passage is already correct and effective, you would choose "NO CHANGE." Some questions will ask about a specific sentence or phrase, while others might ask about a larger portion of the passage or the entire passage's structure. In the test booklet, questions that apply to a whole paragraph or the entire passage are often indicated with a number in a box or a special symbol, rather than an underlined segment. This signals that the question is asking about broader context or the passage's overall effect.

As you can see, the English section is very fast-paced and dense. You'll be reading and editing simultaneously. It's important to read the surrounding context for each question – not just the underlined phrase – because the best answer must fit smoothly into the passage as a whole. ACT English is not merely a grammar quiz; it's about effective writing. You will need to ensure that any changes improve clarity, correctness, and coherence without introducing new errors.

Question Types and Skills Assessed

The ACT English questions can be categorized by the skills and knowledge they assess. According to ACT.org, your English score is broken down into three reporting categories: Production of Writing, Knowledge of Language, and Conventions of Standard English. Each category corresponds to a set of English writing skills that the test targets. Below is a breakdown of these categories, including the approximate percentage of the 75 questions devoted to each:

Production of Writing (29–32% of questions): This category focuses on the rhetorical aspects of writing, meaning the content and organization of the passages. You'll need to improve or evaluate a text based on its purpose and focus. Typical tasks include making sure that the author's message is clear, that ideas are developed appropriately, and that the material included is relevant. Within this category, there are questions on:

• Topic Development: Identifying whether the content of a paragraph or the passage fulfills its intended purpose. For example, you might be asked if a certain sentence should be added or removed to improve the point the author is making. You need to judge relevance and whether the text meets its goal.

• Organization, Unity, and Cohesion: Ensuring the passage is well-organized and flows logically. These questions might ask you to choose the best transition word, decide the most logical order of sentences or paragraphs, or pick a more effective introduction or conclusion for the passage.

Knowledge of Language (15–17% of questions): This smaller category requires an ear for effective language use. These questions are all about precision and concision – saying things in the clearest, most appropriate way. You'll be asked to recognize redundant phrasing, wordiness, or awkward wording and replace it with something more concise. You also must ensure the style and tone of the passage remain consistent. For instance, if a passage is written in a formal style, the correct answer should not be too casual (or vice versa). A typical Knowledge of Language question might ask you to choose the most concise wording that doesn't change the meaning, or to select a word that better fits the context of the sentence (essentially testing vocabulary-in-context and diction).

Conventions of Standard English (52–55% of questions): This is the largest category, making up over half the English test questions. It covers the mechanics of writing: grammar, usage, and punctuation. You'll need a solid grasp of standard English rules to spot errors and correct them. Specific areas include:

• Sentence Structure and Formation: Checking for proper sentence boundaries (no run-ons or fragments), correct coordination and subordination, and parallel structure. You might be asked to fix a run-on sentence, combine sentences properly, or ensure a sentence is not unnecessarily clumsy or convoluted.

• Punctuation: Correct use of commas, periods, semicolons, colons, dashes, apostrophes, etc. These questions often involve fixing comma splices, deciding if a semicolon is needed, or determining the correct punctuation for clauses and lists.

• Usage and Grammar: Proper tense usage, subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, adjective/adverb usage, and idiomatic expressions. For example, you might need to choose between "its" vs. "it's," correct a misplaced modifier, or select the right verb form in context.

These three categories together encompass everything the ACT English section tests. Another way to think about the test is to divide it into mechanics vs. rhetoric. The Conventions of Standard English category is about mechanics (the technical correctness of the language), while Production of Writing and Knowledge of Language deal with rhetorical skills (the effectiveness of the communication). In older ACT descriptions, these were referred to as "Usage/Mechanics" and "Rhetorical Skills" subscores.

It's worth noting that all questions are passage-based, so even a grammar question will provide you with the context of a full sentence or more. This means you should use context to your advantage. For instance, a question might underline a verb; to decide the correct verb form, you may need to see the subject earlier in the sentence or check the tense of surrounding sentences. Or, a question might ask if a certain sentence is relevant – to answer, you'd need to understand the main idea of the passage. In summary, ACT English is assessing your ability to make a piece of writing clearer, more precise, and grammatically correct within the context of a passage.

Scoring on ACT English

After completing the English section, your performance is scored in a straightforward way. You earn +1 point for each correct answer, and no points are deducted for wrong answers – there is no penalty for guessing. This means you should answer every question, even if you're not entirely sure of an answer, since blank answers and wrong answers are treated the same (0 points) and a guess might earn you a point.

Your raw score is simply the number of questions you answered correctly out of 75. This raw score is then converted to a scaled score from 1 to 36 for the English section. The scaling adjusts for the difficulty of the specific test form so that scores are comparable across different test dates. For example, one test's raw score of 70/75 might convert to a 34, while on an easier test form 70/75 could be a 32 – it depends on the curve for that test. However, as a general rule, to score in the 30s (out of 36) you need the vast majority of questions correct. A perfect 75/75 is a 36, and usually even just a few mistakes (say 70/75) will still land in the low 30s on the scaled score.

Enhanced ACT Scoring (Starting April 2025): With the enhanced ACT format, your English raw score will be out of 50 questions instead of 75. The same scaling principles will apply, with scores still reported on the 1-36 scale. Additionally, the Composite score will now be calculated based on English, Math, and Reading only, with Science becoming an optional section reported separately.

ACT score reports will show your English section scaled score (1–36), and they will also show the three category scores (each as a percentage or number correct in Production of Writing, Knowledge of Language, and Conventions) to give you insight into your strengths and weaknesses. The English section score is also used in calculating your Composite score, which is the average of the four section scores (English, Math, Reading, Science) rounded to the nearest whole number. If you take the optional ACT Writing essay, you will get a separate Writing score, but the Writing score does NOT affect your 1–36 English score or Composite – it's reported separately. So, your mission in the English section is simply to get as many questions right as possible; there's no complex scoring formula beyond raw-to-scale conversion and no trick penalties to worry about.

Key Scoring Takeaways:

• Answer every question. Since there's no guessing penalty, never leave a bubble blank. It's better to guess on a tough question after eliminating a couple of choices if you can. A random guess has a 25% chance of being correct – much better than 0% for a blank.

• All questions are equal. Each of the 75 questions is worth one raw point. A hard question counts the same as an easy one. If you're stuck on a particularly tricky question, it might be wise to skip it and come back if time allows, rather than spending too long on it and potentially missing out on answering easier questions later in the section.

• Understand the score range. A 36 is the top score on English, and 1 is the lowest. Nationally, the average ACT English score tends to be around the high teens to low 20s. Competitive colleges often look for scores in the high 20s or 30s, but "good" depends on your goals. Whatever your target, improving your English section raw score by even a handful of questions can make a difference in the scaled score because of the compression at the top end of the scale.

• Use the reporting categories. After you take a practice test or the real ACT, review which types of questions you missed. The score report might show, for example, that you got 80% of Conventions questions right but only 50% of Production of Writing questions. That tells you to work more on rhetorical skills like organization and style. Use this feedback to refine your study plan.