Significant changes are coming for students planning to take the ACT in 2025.

The ACT, the standardized college admissions test offered to all Alabama high school students, will no longer have a mandatory science section.

But Madison teacher and ACT tutor Ashly Johnston still encourages students to show off science knowledge, especially if they feel weaker in core areas of English and math.

“I would definitely encourage students who don’t feel super confident about the other categories to go ahead and do that,” Johnston told AL.com.

Johnston anticipates that fewer students will prep and take the science portion. If they do, they will receive a separate “STEM” score.

Other major changes to the ACT are coming, including:

• Reducing the number of questions from 215 to 171. 
• Reducing the test length from 195 minutes to 125 minutes.
• Reducing the number of math answer choices from five to four.
• Shortening the reading passages.

Madison teacher and ACT tutor Ashly Johnston believes the changes will be beneficial and will improve student performance.

Hopefully, students won’t feel rushed to complete the test or get fatigued. These changes will “give people a better, comprehensive view of their ability,” she said.

Johnston, who’s been tutoring students and schools on standardized testing for more than 16 years, feels these changes mimic the SAT’s recent changes to “make it more manageable for students with the amount of time that they had.”

The SAT shortened its test and went all digital in 2022. The ACT will remain available on paper and digitally.

Johnston said standardized tests are “a needed and necessary evil; she believes colleges need a benchmark when considering students.

Michael Sibley, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said no new changes will impact Alabama in the upcoming school year.

Alabama students typically score lower than the national average on the exam, especially after enduring the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama noted an increase overall in ACT scores in 2023 from the previous year.

Can’t see the table? Check out the ACT graphic here.

While Auburn University and the University of Alabama don’t require an ACT score to apply, on average incoming students last year scored 26.

Details are available on the ACT.org website.