ACT Exam Preparation Tips 2025: Helpful Tips And Strategies To Improve ACT Scores

ACT Exam Preparation Tips 2025: To do well in the ACT exam, candidates must understand the test format, subjects, question types, and time limits for each section. They should begin their preparation for the ACT Exam 2025 by taking a full-length practice test to identify the areas of improvement. Test-takers can also access free prep materials such as quizzes, sample questions, and the Enhanced ACT Online Practice by ACT, Inc., which supports flexible and reliable preparation.

When it comes to section-wise ACT Test tips, candidates must focus on grammar, punctuation, and writing style for the English section. The Math section requires problem-solving skills and attention to detail. For the Reading section, reading passages closely, taking notes, and identifying main ideas are the key tricks. The Science section involves analysing data, understanding experiments, and recognising different viewpoints. For those taking the Writing section, they must plan the essay, use strong examples, and review the response at the end to ensure a consistent flow of writing.

ACT Exam Preparation Tips 2025: General Tips

The best way to prepare for the ACT Test is to start from the basics, i.e., strengthen the knowledge from the high school course curriculum. Accordingly, candidates are advised to get familiar with the test by understanding the ACT Syllabus and ACT Test Format. Some general tips are highlighted below to help candidates begin their ACT preparation with confidence.

• Get familiar with the test format: Candidates should note the mandatory subjects, topics, and content areas of the ACT Exam, along with test duration and question types in each section.
• Identify the areas to improve: Students are advised to take a practice test first to identify the sections that are most challenging for them. With that, they should begin their preparation.
• Update knowledge with ACT Test Prep materials: ACT offers numerous opportunities for candidates to solve quizzes, practice tests, and access prep materials for free. So, students must use those to review the key content areas that make up a significant portion of the test.
• Solve “Enhanced ACT Online Practice”: This “Enhanced ACT Online Practice” helps candidates to be prepared for taking the test with greater flexibility, accuracy, and reliability.
• Use free ACT Practice Test and Test Prep Resources: These can be found at www.act.org. These are the ultimate guides that allow candidates to take a full-length practice test (including a writing prompt). Moreover, it also provides an overview of the ACT along with general test-taking strategies.
• Sign up for an official ACT live class: Candidates can join The Official ACT Live Online Class, Powered by Kaplan, where they can learn tricks of the ACT from a team of top-rated teachers who scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT.

For a better understanding of the ACT Preparation strategies, candidates can refer to the table below to check a 3-month study plan for the ACT Exam 2025:

Section-wise ACT Tips and Tricks

Each section of the ACT Syllabus 2025 tests different skills of candidates. For example, in the English section, candidates’ grammatical knowledge is tested, whereas in the Maths section, their data interpretation abilities are measured. Accordingly, the Reading section assesses candidates' reading skills and attention to detail. Therefore, to prove these abilities, candidates must follow unique strategies for each section, and these are as follows:

ACT Test Tips For the English Section

In the ACT English section, candidates need to answer 50 questions in 35 minutes. The questions are based on rhetorical aspects of texts, logical organisation of texts, sentence structure, formation, and punctuation. Check some important test tips for this section below:

• Each passage covers a variety of topics and writing styles. So, candidates need to be aware of the writing styles followed in each passage to answer questions by understanding the main context.
• Before responding to a question with an underlined or highlighted portion, candidates need to examine what is underlined or highlighted in the text.
• Some questions are based on rhetorical situations. In that case, candidates must identify by a question number in a box located at the appropriate point in the passage or by a highlighted asterisk in brackets.
• Test-takers must decide how the underlined or highlighted portion might be phrased best in standard written English.
• Reread a sentence using a selected answer.

ACT Test Tips For the Maths Section

The ACT Maths section includes self-contained questions to assess the skills of candidates acquired in courses taken up to the beginning of 12th grade. It demands knowledge of basic formulas and computational skills from students. Below are some tips to ace this section.

• Candidates must use the calculator wisely, as most problems can be solved without a calculator. So, they are encouraged to use good judgment as to when to use a calculator.
• Use scratch paper to solve a problem and look for the answer among the given choices. If the answer is not included, then candidates need to re-read the problem and solve it.
• Most of the questions involve several steps. So, candidates must solve a calculation by following the necessary steps, as many times questions are asked based on the part of the process instead of the final results.
• Avoid computation errors as they can result in an answer that is not included in the options.
• Try to spend a maximum of 1 minute per question, and in the last 5 minutes, candidates should review their answers.
• Read each question carefully and try to answer the easy questions first to save time for complex problems.

ACT Test Tips For the Reading Section

The Reading section tests candidates’ abilities to read closely, reason logically using evidence, and use information from multiple sources. Some effective tips to attempt this section confidently are as follows:

• Read each passage carefully to understand relationships between ideas.
• Try to take notes on important ideas in each passage.
• Determine implicit meanings and draw conclusions, generalisations, and comparisons.

ACT Test Tips For the Science Section

The Science section is optional, and it demands candidates’ ability to interpret, analyse, and evaluate information. Basically, it tests how well students can solve a problem with reasoning and problem-solving skills. The content of this section includes biology, chemistry, Earth/space sciences (e.g., geology, astronomy, and meteorology), and physics. The test tips to solve this section are as follows:

• Read the scientific material provided carefully.
• Candidates can read the entire text and examine any tables, graphs, or figures.
• They must take notes about important ideas.
• Consider the experimental design, including the controls and variables, because questions are likely to address this component of scientific research.
• Note different viewpoints in a passage to understand conflicting ones.

ACT Test Tips For the Writing Section

The Writing section is also optional, and it requires candidates to write an essay in 40 minutes. Let’s know the tricks of this section below:

• Candidates need to pace themselves as there is a time limit. Unlike in schools, they will not get any time to draft, revise, and recopy their essays.
• Candidates must carefully read and consider all prompt material.
• They must understand the issue and different perspectives on the issue.
• Establish the essay with arguments and main ideas.
• Inclusion of sound reasoning with examples can help in achieving a good score.
• Review the essay to make last-minute corrections.
• Candidates should not write in the margins.

ACT Practice Test and Resources

Candidates are suggested to solve the ACT Practice Tests once a week to track their progress. Besides, they can access the free ACT resources at www.myact.org. Below are some resources mentioned for candidates that can help them succeed in the ACT Exam.

• Free ACT Practice Test
• ACT Test Subject Practice Questions
• ACT Question of the Day
• ACT Official Online Practice Test
• Free ACT Practice Test and Study Guide for the Enhanced ACT
• Preparing for the ACT Study Guides

ACT Exam Preparation Tips 2025 FAQs