ACT Score

How the ACT Composite Score Is Calculated

The ACT Composite score is the average of your English, Math, and Reading scores — rounded to the nearest whole number. Enter each of your section scores (each scored 1-36) and this calculator finds your Composite the exact way ACT, Inc. itself does, under the current scoring methodology ACT rolled out in 2025. Science is also collected below, since many students still take it — but it’s reported as its own separate score and no longer counts toward the Composite.

This is a genuinely different rule from the SAT, which SUMS its two section scores into a total rather than averaging — if you’re used to SAT scoring, don’t assume the same math applies here.

The Formula

$$\vC{\text{Composite}} = \text{round}\left(\frac{\vA{\text{English}} + \vA{\text{Math}} + \vA{\text{Reading}}}{3}\right)$$

The rounding follows the standard round-half-up rule. This calculator also reports a STEM score — the average of Math and Science, rounded the same way — alongside the Composite, matching ACT’s own current score report; the STEM score is a separate, supplementary figure and doesn’t feed back into the Composite either.

Worked Example

A student scores 24 on English, 27 on Math, 26 on Reading, and 23 on Science:

1. Sum English, Math, and Reading (Science is not included): $\vA{24} + \vA{27} + \vA{26} = \vB {77}$. 2. Divide by 3 to get the average: $\vB{77} \div 3 = \vC{25.67}$. 3. Round to the nearest whole number: $\vC{25.67} \rightarrow \vC{26}$ — the Composite score. 4. STEM score, reported separately: $(\vA{27} + 23) \div 2 = \vD{25}$.

Key Factors to Consider

• Science no longer factors into the Composite. ACT phased Science out of the Composite calculation during 2025 (online testing from April 2025, all testing modes from September 2025) — Science is now reported as its own separate 1-36 score, and a supplementary “STEM score” (the average of Math and Science) is reported alongside the Composite instead. If you’re looking at an older score report or an ACT prep resource written before 2025, it may still describe the old four-section average — that’s no longer how a current Composite is calculated.
• Superscoring is common but not universal. Many colleges will combine your best section scores across multiple test dates into a new, higher “superscore,” even though ACT itself reports each test date’s Composite separately — check each target school’s own policy, since not every college superscores.
• The optional Writing section doesn’t factor into the Composite at all. If you took the ACT with Writing, that score is reported separately on its own 2-12 scale and has no effect on the 1-36 Composite this calculator computes.
• A single retake strategy depends on which section is weakest. Since English, Math, and Reading are weighted equally in the Composite average, focusing retake preparation on your lowest-scoring one of those three typically yields the biggest Composite improvement per point gained, compared to further polishing an already-strong section.

Interpreting Your Results

Your Composite score means the most in context, not in isolation:

• Compare it against your target schools’ own published ranges. Most colleges publish a “middle 50%” ACT range for their admitted class — landing inside or above that range tells you far more about your competitiveness at a specific school than a generic national percentile does.
• A Composite alone doesn’t capture the full admissions picture. GPA, coursework rigor, essays, and extracurriculars all factor into most colleges’ decisions — a test score is one input, not the whole application.
• ACT and SAT scores can be compared using an official concordance table. If you’re weighing whether to keep retaking the ACT or switch to the SAT (or you already have scores from both), ACT and the College Board jointly publish a concordance table mapping ACT Composite scores to equivalent SAT totals — check act.org or collegeboard.org for the current version rather than an old chart, since these tables are updated periodically.
• Know which Composite a school will actually see. If you’ve tested more than once, find out whether each target school considers your single best test date, a superscore combining your best section results across dates, or every score you’ve ever reported — the number this calculator produces from one test date’s section scores may not be the number admissions officers ultimately use.

Common Mistakes

• Still using the old four-section average. Before ACT’s 2025 methodology change, the Composite really was the average of all four sections including Science — if you learned ACT scoring before then, or you’re using an older prep resource, double-check you’re not still including Science in the Composite math.
• Assuming ACT scoring works like the SAT. The SAT adds two section scores together into a sum; the ACT averages English, Math, and Reading into a Composite on the same 1-36 scale as each individual section. Mixing up the two methods when converting or comparing scores is a common error.
• Treating the optional Writing score as part of the Composite. Writing is reported separately on its own 2-12 scale and never changes the 1-36 Composite, no matter how well or poorly you did on it.
• Entering scores from more than one test date as if they were one sitting. This calculator computes the Composite for a single administration’s section scores — if you’re trying to estimate a superscore across multiple test dates, average each section’s own best score across those dates first, then apply this same formula.

Percentile Bands (Rough Reference)

These are commonly-cited historical approximations, not this year’s exact official ACT percentile data — check act.org for the current official percentile table.