How Did My Student Go From a 35 to a 32?

Everything You Need to Know About Score Variation on the ACT

By far, the most important thing students (and parents) need to understand about the ACT (which changed in 2025) is the wide range of score variation students may experience. Why is this the case? Because the new version of the ACT has an astounding number of field test items—questions that do not count towards a student’s final score but are used by ACT to gather student data to write better questions in the future.

Field test items are not new. SAT has them (though College Board calls them pre-test questions) and the previous iterations of the ACT also had them, though they were previously featured in a separate “Experimental Section,” so students knew which questions were and were not being counted towards their composite score.

Now, ACT students no longer have the luxury of knowing which questions will count towards their final scores. And, unlike the SAT, which only has 8 total field test items, the ACT has a total of 23 field test items—10 on the English section, 4 on the Math section, and 9 on the Reading section.

The newly optional Science section also features field test items (7 total) but because the Science section no longer counts towards a student’s overall composite ACT score, we will not be analyzing its impact (though, if you have questions about the ACT Science section feel free to reach out to us!).

So, what does it mean for students to have 23 of 131 total questions not count towards their ACT score? Well, it means that their final score drastically depends on which questions they happen to get right or wrong.

Put another way, even if your child misses the exact same number of questions on three practice tests, they may get three very different scores, which, in addition to being frustrating and discouraging for students, makes it challenging to judge growth and to predict a student’s likely score on test day. However, the good news is that there are some key steps you and your student can take to lessen the impact of score variability.

But first, let’s look at how ACT’s score variability plays out practically, section-by-section. (Note: The charts that follow use the October 2025 official scale; specific scaled scores may vary slightly from test to test, but the patterns hold.)

The Question Factor

The ACT English section consists of 50 total questions, but only 40 of them are scored—the remaining 10 are field test items. In the image below, we see four students who all got 8 questions wrong on the ACT English section. And yet, depending on which 8 questions they got right or wrong, their scores range from a 35 to a 29—a six-point discrepancy! (Remember, the ACT is scored 1-36)

Student A got lucky that 6 of the 8 questions they missed happened to be field test items, which, because those 6 questions were never going to count towards their score anyways, means that they only missed 2 scored questions, resulting in their score of 35.

Student D, however, was very unlucky that none of the questions they missed were field test items, meaning they missed 8 scored items, resulting in their score of 29.

Let’s see how ACT’s English score variability compares to the score variability of the SAT Reading & Writing Section.

The SAT is a modular adaptive exam, which means that, depending on how many questions students get right in Module 1, they will either be given a slightly easier or slightly harder second module. We call them Upper and Lower Module 2.

Students might incorrectly believe that because their accuracy on Module 1 questions determine the Module 2 that they receive, that Module 1 questions are “weighted more” than Module 2 questions. However, that is not the case. SAT weighs each question differently across all modules and there is no way to know which question might be worth more than another.

All of the students featured in the chart below received the Upper Module 2 and missed the same overall number of questions on the Reading & Writing Section. The only difference between the four students is which questions they got correct across both modules.

Although there is a 40-point range in scores among these four students, the SAT’s score variability is not as impactful as the ACT’s because the SAT Reading & Writing section is scored 200-800 (400-1600 for the overall test).

The Passage Factor

ACT’s English and Reading sections are most affected by the field test items (compared to the ACT Math section) because English and Reading questions are passage-based.

The ACT English section features 6 passages. Four passages will have 10 questions each and two passages will have 5 questions each. Field test items, therefore, are also attached to passages. Meaning either one English passage with 10 questions will not count towards a student’s final score, or two English passages with 5 questions each will not count.

For Reading, it is a bit simpler. There are four passages with 9 questions each. This means one of the four passages (and its 9 questions) will not be counted. However, as you can see below, because ¼ of the Reading section consists of field test items, the score variability is even greater, with an 8-point range in scores between Student A and Student D!

Is there any way of knowing which passages (and their accompanying questions) will be the field test ones? ACT initially stated that the first and last passages of any section would not be field tested (aka students could bank on the first and last passages always counting towards their final score) but later retracted that statement, casting doubt on the idea of there ever being a field test pattern students could follow.

Therefore, it is best for students to try equally hard on every passage and set of questions, at least until ACT releases an official statement that says otherwise. As always, we will keep you updated as we learn more.

The Good-ish News

Since the Math section has no passages, how does score variability impact the Math sections of the ACT and SAT? Thankfully, the news is better here because there are only 4 field test items (out of 45 total ACT Math questions) and every question is discrete with no relationship to another question.

Below, you’ll notice the score range between five students is 4 points—certainly not insignificant, but a bit less rattling than the English or Reading section score variability.

Overall, the ACT Math score variability is more significant than the SAT. However, now that you are a field test item expert, it’s time to add an additional variable: the modular adaptability of the SAT. When we analyzed the SAT Reading & Writing section, we looked at four students who all received the same second module.

Now, let’s take a look at two pairs of students who received different second modules: Lower and Upper. Here, even though all four students missed the same total number of questions, you’ll notice a greater variability in scores—120 points—than we saw on the Reading & Writing Section chart where all four students received the same second module.

The conclusion is ultimately the same: questions throughout the SAT sections (Reading & Writing; Math) and modules (Module 1, Module 2 Lower, & Module 2 Upper) are weighted differently and there is no way for us to know what each question will be worth so students should try hard on every question.

However, when we add second modules into the equation, the SAT score variability is a bit more significant. Not as dramatic as ACT, to be sure, but still something that SAT students should be prepared to encounter.

Now What?

First, it’s important not to panic. While we want students and parents to be informed, we do not want field test items to be a source of active stress. However, we do want this knowledge to be a factor in your students’ overall test preparation.

Most importantly, we want this information to help inform you and your student throughout the test preparation journey. Be prepared for score fluctuations. Don’t put too much stock into a single high practice test score or alternatively assume a low practice test score means no growth has occurred. Rather, put your energy into starting test preparation early and ensuring your student takes as many practice tests as possible before test day.

While it may be upsetting for a student to see their practice test score dip from their previous one, it is much better to ride that wave of practice test results, gathering as many data points as possible, focusing on the types of questions missed and working to fill in those skill gaps, rather than letting your child walk into test day overconfident because they only took 1 practice test that resulted in a high score.

Put another way, time and practice tests are the best tools in your student’s arsenal to combat score variation.

You may be asking what you as a parent can do to help your student most? ACT score variation will stir up strong emotions in students, both good and bad. Therefore, your role as a support system and as a sounding board will be more important than ever. If you have older children who took the ACT previously, know that your current ACT student may need simultaneously more encouragement and more reality-checks than your older children did.

At the end of the day, no matter the number of field test items, the ACT remains a standardized test that assesses the same grammar, mathematics, logic, critical thinking, and reading comprehension skills it always has. Focusing on skill growth remains the most effective method to help students drown out all the “testing noise,” keep motivation high, and ultimately help them achieve the scores they want.

Know what you and your student are up against but remember to keep your eye on the right ball. Despite this increase in field test items, the equation for ACT success remains the same: time + practice tests + skill mastery = score growth.