What to Do When Your ACT Student Code Is Already Claimed

It can be unsettling to think that your ACT scores might be missing, but in most cases, the problem is easily resolved. This article will explain what to do if you cannot find your scores or if your target college claims they haven't received your score report.

Accessing Your Scores

Score reports are usually posted to your online ACT student account within 2 to 8 weeks after the test date. If you don't see your scores two weeks after the test, ACT is likely still processing them. However, if it has been eight weeks, there might be an issue with your answer sheet.

Common Reasons for Delay

Several factors can delay the posting of your scores:

Late Arrival of Answer Sheet: Your answer sheet might have arrived late from the test center.
Mismatched Information: The "Matching Information" you provided on the answer document doesn't exactly match the information on your admission ticket, or some information might be missing.
Outstanding Fees: You might still owe registration fees to ACT. If so, pay the fees as soon as possible.

Writing Section Delay

The writing section of the ACT takes longer to score than the multiple-choice section. If your multiple-choice scores have been posted but your writing score hasn't, it doesn’t mean that your writing score is missing.

Special Testing Situations

The process of posting scores online is different if you took the ACT through State and District, School, or DANTES Testing.

Test Center Issues

If there were any distractions or unusual events at your test center, or if you or someone else complained about something that happened during testing or at the test site, ACT has to investigate.

Archived Scores

If you are out of high school and your scores are from more than a year ago, they are in the ACT archives. There are fees associated with retrieving them.

Addressing Missing Scores at Your Target College

It's even more concerning when your target college can't find your scores. Here's how to handle the situation:

Verify the College Code

A college receives your score report only if you list its correct ACT College Code on your score request. If you used the four free reports you got with ACT registration, check the college codes you listed on your copy of the score report. Use valid ACT codes only. The College Code List and the Congressional Code List are available online to provide you with the most updated information. We can send your report only to the office designated by the college or agency, not to any other individual or office.

Contact the Admissions Office

During application season, admissions offices are often overwhelmed. The "missing" document simply hasn't been processed and logged yet. Call the admissions office to calmly and respectfully ask them to double-check whether your scores are already there.

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Check the College's Score Report Schedule

Your college might be receiving ACT scores on a slightly different schedule. Each college chooses how often to download score reports.

Lost Score Reports

Sometimes, ACT answer sheets disappear. For example, on June 13, tests vanished from Kings Park High School in Kings Park, NY, despite the test being administered by the ACT itself.

Sending Your Scores

While ACT automatically sends your scores to the places you requested when you registered, something may have changed since then.

Requests are processed after your tests have been scored and all scores for your test option-the ACT or the ACT with writing-are ready.

You can currently send scores from test events from September 2011 to current, as well as an available superscore. Scores from September 2018 to current are available to be sent to a high school as an additional score report. If your superscore is from these dates, you may also request to send your superscore. Currently, you may not request a personal copy of your score report.

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If you created your ACT account originally prior to September 2011, only scores from events you registered for in MyACT will be available.

Reports you request will include the ACT ID currently on your record. You can only request a correction to the identifying information on records for test dates in which the archive fee does not apply.

The nonrefundable archive fee is in place to cover the additional cost of searching and accessing databases to retrieve and send an archived score.

We can send your report only to the office designated by the college or agency, not to any other individual or office.

Understanding the ACT Superscore

Starting in April 2025, students who choose to take the online ACT test will have their ACT Superscore calculated using a new method that includes only English, math, and reading. For everyone else, this change will take effect in September 2025.

ACT Superscore Composite after the new enhanced ACT administration.

How the Superscore is Calculated

We’ll continue to show your highest scores for each subject section along with the test date, but your Composite score on your Superscore report will be based on the new English, math, and reading. This means a student who got their highest English their first time testing and on a legacy administration, their highest math on their second legacy administration, and their highest reading on the new enhanced ACT, would see those highest scores used to calculate their

Sending a Superscore

For sending a Superscore: If the scores are the same (e.g., your highest subject level mathematics scores across multiple tests are equal) then the most recent will be chosen for sending your superscore.For sending a Superscore: ACT does not compare your reporting categories when selecting the best score. In addition to the four institutions examinees selected upon registering, they can send scores to others, even after testing. Requests are processed after all scores for their test option, ACT (no writing) or ACT with writing, are ready.

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