How Long Are ACT Scores Valid? A Comprehensive Guide

For high school students navigating the college application process, standardized tests like the ACT play a significant role. A common question arises: how long are ACT scores considered valid? Understanding the validity period of your ACT scores is crucial for planning your testing strategy and ensuring your scores are accepted by your target colleges and universities.

General Validity Period

ACT scores are generally considered valid for up to five years from the date of the test. Most colleges and universities will accept scores from tests taken within this timeframe. So, if you took the ACT earlier in your high school career and plan to apply to colleges during your senior year, your scores should still be valid and acceptable for the admissions process, as long as they fall within the five-year window.

ACT scores, unlike many standardized tests, do not have an official expiration date and they are technically valid indefinitely. The organization retains registration records for five years and test scores permanently.

Institutional Policies

It's important to note that each college or university might have specific requirements or preferences for ACT score submission, so be sure to check with the individual schools to which you plan on applying. This will ensure that your scores meet their specific guidelines and keep you on track during the application process. Some institutions may have their own policies regarding the validity period of test scores. Some highly selective universities may ask for more latest SAT scores from the past one or two years.

Factors to Consider

While the ACT company doesn't impose an official expiration date, it recommends retaking the test after five years. This suggestion is based on the idea that academic skills can diminish over time if someone has been away from school for an extended period. Conversely, some ACT-relevant abilities might improve via experience in the workplace or in managing day-to-day life.

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Additionally, if your score is close to the 5-year mark, you might want to consider retaking the ACT, as more recent scores can better reflect your current academic abilities. Fifty-seven percent saw a composite score increase when they retook the ACT so the odds are in your favor that you could see an improvement too.

Sending Your Scores

When you select score recipients, you’ll have the option of sending either score reports from the specific test event or you can choose to send your superscore. Once all scores for a test event are available, they are sent to institutions you elect in MyACT.

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.

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. ACT can send your report only to the office designated by the college or agency, not to any other individual or office. Reports you request will include the ACT ID currently on your record.

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. 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.

Understanding Superscoring

Many colleges and universities practice superscoring the SAT, which essentially means combining your highest section scores from multiple SAT test dates, instead of looking at your overall score from a single test. It works well for students as colleges consider their highest potential based on their best performance in each individual section, across all the SATs that they would have taken.

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. 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 ACT Superscore Composite after the new enhanced ACT administration.

Score Verification and Cancellation

You can ask ACT to verify your multiple-choice and/or your writing test scores up to 12 months after your test date. For the writing test, ACT will verify that your essay was scored by two independent, qualiﬁed readers and by a third reader in the event that the two scores differed by more than one point in any domain. ACT will also verify that your essay was properly captured and displayed to readers. If a scoring error is discovered, your scores will be changed and corrected reports will be released to you and all previous score report recipients at no charge. We recommend contacting us within three months of receiving your score report. If an error is our responsibility and requires you to retest, there will be no fee.

ACT reserves the right to cancel test scores when there is reason to believe the scores are invalid. Outside of State testing and District testing, you may request to cancel scores for a particular test date. Contact us online and we will provide you a form to complete and return to us. ACT policies stipulate that no student may take the ACT more than 12 times, and any cancelled test registrations count toward this total. Additionally, it is not permissible for a student to take the ACT more than once on a single day.

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Score cancellation and forfeiture of registration fees are the main enforcement mechanisms for ACT policies on retesting and the associated waiting period. While a student may manage to register for the ACT more than 12 times and/or within the waiting period, those test scores will not be reported, and the fees will not be returned.

The Writing Test

ACT recently instituted a new scoring system for the ACT Writing test, and this method of assessment has been in place for all test administrations since September of 2016. The old Writing test scale of 1-36 was replaced by a system that reports four domain scores of 2-12 each as well as an average (also 2-12). Students who took the ACT before September of 2016 will probably not need to retest on the sole basis of the scoring system change as long as they are satisfied with their original Writing scores. ACT has published concordance tables that enable comparison of old ACT Writing scores with the current scoring system.

If you take the optional writing test, part of the process of scoring your essay includes review by at least one trained reader. You’ll see your multiple-choice scores, including your composite score as soon as they become available.

Retaking the ACT

There is a minimum waiting period of 60 days for students wishing to retake the ACT. ACT limits exam retakes primarily for reasons of test security. Allowing a single person access to the exam many times increases the possibility of various types of cheating, such as memorizing test questions and answer options for later distribution or taking the test on behalf of someone else.

The registration fees for ACT retesting are the same as the fees for initial test attempts (base fee of $50.50 or $67.00 with the Writing test, plus all additional services and surcharges).

There is nothing wrong with re-taking these tests. These days, I encourage my students to take them up to four times if they’re unhappy with their scores. You can take them up to twelve times if you have to. You don’t have to, but I just wanted to assure you that there is nothing wrong with taking these tests again. Okay? Okay.

Holistic Review

It’s important to remember that universities and colleges do a holistic review of your capabilities during the admission process that include factors like academic transcripts, your GPA, essays, extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation among others.

At Stanford, we review applications holistically, meaning every component of the application is valuable to us as we get to know each student. There are no minimum test scores required to be admitted to Stanford, and there is no score that guarantees admission.

Please self-report your highest ACT and/or SAT scores in the testing section of the application. We will review applications using either self-reported or official scores. You do not need to have official scores sent to Stanford for us to review your application. If you are offered admission and choose to enroll, official scores for ACT and/or SAT scores that you self-reported will be required. Stanford does not have a preferred exam (ACT vs.

We recommend students take the ACT or SAT well in advance of application deadlines. It is unlikely that scores from tests taken after the deadlines will arrive in time for review. The writing/essay sections of the ACT or SAT are optional for Stanford.

Getting Help

Depending on how long ago you took the ACT or SAT, you might not have been regularly using the skills necessary to do well on these tests. Brushing up is always a good idea, but to ensure you have a really strong application, it’s a good idea for you to work with a tutor. In fact, students who work with a tutor perform higher in the math and reading or writing portions of standardized tests. Working with a tutor can provide intensive practice in areas you’re struggling with and even boost your confidence when you’re trying to tackle something as monumental as retaking the ACT or SAT.

Partnering with a college consultant and a tutor will be important steps while you navigate this next chapter in your life. Remember to brush up on your high school skill set and that there is no shame in retaking the ACT or the SAT. Study hard and you’ll be well on your way to getting back an amazing standardized test score you’ll be proud to send off to the college of your dreams.

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