How to Prepare for the ACT

At this stage you should familiarise yourself with the question types and areas of focus, as well as answer strategies and marking criteria. It is also important at this early juncture to sit a preliminary practice exam to have a baseline score you can work towards improving. By taking an initial test, you can also determine the areas that need the most and least attention.
Remember, though: even if you excel on one of the four tests, don’t start neglecting that section as you need to maintain this performance right to the very end.

Try to work on practice questions up to an hour a day, with half of your time devoted to your weakest area. Being consistent with your routine and setting aside the same time every day for ACT practice will help to ensure you don’t miss a session. You should aim to take mock tests on alternate weekends, review your answers, keep a log of your mistakes, and compare your responses to the mark scheme. Make sure you understand why the answers are what they are.

Hopefully by now you’ve started to perform better in your weakest area, but it’s still likely to be the one requiring most attention. That’s completely normal. Everyone has a section they’re best and worst at. If you have started to see an improvement, you might want to think about reducing the time spent on the weakest section from half your dedicated time to a bit less, but don’t worry if you feel you still need to give it most attention.

If you can, try to spend up to two hours per day on test preparation and continue to take a mock exam every other week. You will have identified gaps in your knowledge and know better where to direct your efforts now. If you feel unsure of scientific or mathematical concepts, look them up and familiarise yourself with them. The same goes for graphs, tables and charts: many students don’t find these intuitive, so it’s vital you feel at ease when reading them. This only comes with exposure and practice!

At this stage you are most likely to be aware of what to expect and the sorts of questions you will be asked. Don’t take your foot off the pedal though. It’s tempting to think you’ve done so much preparation already that you can ease-off, but this is when students start to undo all the good work through lack of practice. Remember: this is a marathon, not a sprint!

Continue with practice questions every day for up to two hours if you can, spending most time on your weakest areas. It’s not always easy to find time in the day to do this, but it’s better to do little and often than a huge amount in one sitting as your concentration will flag and your skills will start to decline during the gaps in practice. Sitting a mock test under exam conditions every week at this stage will help you to get used to that ‘exam room feeling’ and provide you with an up-to-date assessment of your performance. Use these results to inform your future preparation and try to remember where you went wrong on the previous attempts.

Now is the count-down, but don’t panic! It’s vital you remain calm and continue with regular practice. If you can spare more than two hours per day, great! If not, try to do up to two hours of practice questions, reviewing answers against the mark scheme, and as many timed papers as possible. As the exam looms, it’s important you develop time-management skills for how you’re going to allocate those precious minutes and seconds in the test. The ACT is as much about using your time effectively as it is about discipline-specific questions, and this is where so many come unstuck. Have a strategy to employ if you find yourself stuck on a question and ensure you don’t waste any opportunity to bag those precious marks.

By now you should be very familiar with what the test expects, how it is organised and run, and how you will use the time available on the day. It will be beneficial to review your understanding of foundational concepts and what each question type is evaluating. Remember: mark schemes are a good place to understand the exam from the inside.

As long as you need. Everyone’s different, and we all have our individual strengths and weaknesses. You’ll find some things come more naturally to you than they do to others, and vice versa. Equally, we all have different lives and commitments, so we can’t all give an equal amount of time to preparation. For these reasons, it is unhelpful, not to say impossible, to answer this question definitively.

That said, you will find competing advice from different sources, but most commonly students spend between four and six hours per week in the first couple of months of preparation and increase this as the exam draws closer.

The most important consideration is that you give yourself enough time to prepare adequately and, whatever you do, do not cram at the last minute.

An initial challenge, before preparation has even begun, is getting to the stage where you’re prepared to prepare. With all your competing commitments, it’s easy to prioritise what already takes up your time and delay introducing a new and, let’s face it, demanding activity into your life.

This is an understandable attitude, but it’s not one that will help in the long run. Try to be realistic about how much time you can devote to preparation and don’t try to overdo it or set yourself unrealistic targets as you will become demotivated if you don’t meet them. You can always devote more time to ACT preparation if your schedule allows.

It’s human nature to want to focus on what you like and avoid what you don’t. Sadly, this isn’t an effective preparation strategy for the ACT. Once you’ve sat an initial exam to identify what you’re good at and what you need to work on more, design your plan around those weaker areas so they receive the majority (but by no means all!) your attention. It’s important not to forget about the aspects of the exam you find easiest as even these need regular practice.

The ACT is as much an exercise in time-management as it is a test of your subject-specific skills. This means performance can be significantly impacted by how you split your time in answering questions. It’s tempting to stay on a question until you feel you’ve answered it correctly, but every second spent on one question is a second not available for another.

If you feel you’re stuck, move on and come back to that question once you’ve tackled others. If, at the end, you’re still struggling with it and time’s running out, it’s always better to take an educated guess than to leave a question unanswered.

Read more about ACT test-taking techniques here.

This might sound obvious, but so many students forget about the test’s format and structure that they’re fazed on the day and have forgotten (or never even considered!) how they might work through the actual exam. Make sure you know how much time on average is available per question and per section, and what will be assessed in each. It’s also important to remember that different sections of the test account for more of the overall score than others, so keep this in mind when prioritising your time.

While it’s difficult to say with any certainty what you’ll be faced with on the day, it’s possible to prepare for the type of questions in various ways. It goes without saying that practice tests are vital for this, but another way to become more comfortable with the exam’s demands is to read around the subjects. Looking in detail at scientific studies will get you used to thinking hard about hypotheses, results and conclusions. Likewise, reading about the humanities, sciences, and literature will attune your mind to the way in which prose is structured and meaning is conveyed by writers.

Worried about starting your ACT prep late? Don't be. While you might not delve deeply into all topics, focus on practice tests and improving weak areas. Even with just a month left, aim for 1-2 practice exams weekly, prioritising your weakest subjects and consider adding open-book practices for a more active learning approach.

In addition to the Full-Length Linear SAT Practice Tests provided by the College Board and Khan Academy’s Official Digital SAT^® Prep, our SAT Book of Knowledge can help you familiarise yourself with the test structure, pacing, and the types of questions you can expect to encounter on test day and help you practice.

Your learning style and goals are unique, so approach each option with your own priorities and preferences as your primary considerations rather than being concerned by what your peers are using.

These study guides should be used in conjunction with flashcards and/or apps that you use for active recall.

Can I prepare for the ACT on my own?

The short answer is yes, but it depends on your learning style, motivation, and discipline. Self-study offers flexibility and autonomy, allowing you to tailor your study approach to suit your needs. However some students, even when following a guide such as this one, struggle to make and stick to an appropriate study plan.

This is when a structured courses may be very valuable. A-List ACT tutoring and ACT courses provide bespoke guidance and accountability which can help some students maintain discipline.

How should I manage my test anxiety?

A major challenge for some students is dealing with test anxiety. The importance of this assessment means that some anxiety is unavoidable and can be productive as long as it does not go unchecked. Ultimately, whatever your score, life will continue, and this isn’t your only chance at success.

Effective preparation is also key. In knowing that you did your best given your circumstances, you can feel a sense of pride regardless of your score.

An important part of this preparation that will reduce anxiety is the practice test taking. Seeing results as you progress will positively reinforce your motivation, in turn reducing test anxiety.

Should I revise with my friends or family?

Revising with other people can be a great way to make studying more fun and can lend itself to active recall techniques. However, it is crucial to ensure that your study sessions remain focused. It may be that your best friend is not your best study partner if you cannot focus together.

What should I do on the day of my test?

We believe that you should try to approach your test day as you would any other and stick to your usual routines: try to go to sleep and wake up at your usual times, consume caffeine if you usually do and exercise as you usually would. You want your body and mind to function in a predictable way.

To minimise anxiety on the day, we suggest making sure at least a day in advance you know where you will need to be, at what time and how to get there.

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