Starting in Fall 2026, the PreACT moves to a new blueprint: the composite score is computed from English, Math, and Reading only, and Science becomes optional — the same change the ACT itself made.
The PreACT has one job: preview the ACT accurately. So when the ACT redesigned itself for 2025–26 — the Enhanced ACT, with an optional Science section and a composite built from English, Math, and Reading — the PreACT had to follow. That follow-through arrives in Fall 2026, when a new PreACT blueprint takes effect. This guide covers what is changing, why, what stays exactly the same, and how students and families should adjust — if at all. If you are new to the test, start with the PreACT format guide for the current structure, then come back here for what is about to change.
Two related changes define the Fall 2026 redesign. First, the composite score will be computed from English, Math, and Reading only. Today, the PreACT composite is the rounded average of all four section scores — English, Math, Reading, and Science. Under the new blueprint, Science drops out of that calculation. Second, and as a direct consequence, Science becomes an optional section rather than a required part of the core test.
For context, here is the 2025–26 PreACT structure that the new blueprint replaces:
| Section | 2025–26 (current) | Fall 2026 blueprint |
|---|---|---|
| English | 45 questions / 30 min · counts toward composite | Counts toward composite |
| Math | 36 questions / 40 min · counts toward composite | Counts toward composite |
| Reading | 25 questions / 30 min · counts toward composite | Counts toward composite |
| Science | 30 questions / 30 min · counts toward composite | Optional · not in composite |
| Composite | Rounded average of all 4 sections | Rounded average of English, Math, Reading |
The PreACT is not changing on its own initiative — it is catching up to its parent test. The ACT itself was redesigned for the 2025–26 cycle as the Enhanced ACT, and one of the headline changes there was making the Science section optional, with the ACT composite computed from English, Math, and Reading. We cover that redesign in full in our guide to the ACT changes for 2025–26.
Once the real ACT works that way, a PreACT that still folded Science into a mandatory four-section composite would be previewing a test that no longer exists. The whole value of the PreACT rests on full content alignment with the ACT: the sections mirror the ACT's sections, the score report predicts an ACT score range, and ACT prep materials double as PreACT prep. Keeping that mirror accurate is the entire rationale for the Fall 2026 blueprint.
There is a quietly useful side effect here. Because the Enhanced ACT makes Science optional, every student will eventually face the "do I take Science?" question on the real test. The redesigned PreACT puts that same question in front of you earlier, in a no-stakes setting — which makes it a low-cost rehearsal for the real decision, not just a scheduling detail.
It is easy to over-read a redesign. Most of what defines the PreACT experience carries forward unchanged into Fall 2026.
No scale changes accompany the new blueprint. The PreACT (grade 10) is scored 1–35, the PreACT 8/9 (grades 8–9) is scored 1–30, and the secure online state and district versions are scored 1–35 (1–32 for PreACT 9 Secure). The ACT itself remains 1–36. How those scales work — and how the composite is averaged and rounded — is covered in PreACT scoring explained.
The PreACT remains a school-administered test. Schools order it and pick their own test date inside a testing window — for 2026–27, that window runs roughly from mid-September 2026 through May 2027. There are no national test dates, so the person to ask about your date is your school counselor. Scores come back in as little as about 10 business days after materials are received.
The reporting mission does not change: a predicted ACT score range, a US percentile rank, college-readiness benchmarks by subject, a STEM score, and an interest inventory for career exploration. And the stakes stay exactly where they were — colleges never see PreACT scores. It is a diagnostic and a rehearsal, before the redesign and after it.
| Feature | Fall 2026 status |
|---|---|
| Score scales (1–35, 1–30, Secure variants) | Unchanged |
| School-day administration in school-chosen windows | Unchanged |
| Predicted ACT range, percentile, benchmarks, STEM score, interest inventory | Unchanged reporting mission |
| Colleges see your scores | Still never |
| Composite calculation | Changed — English, Math, Reading only |
| Science section | Changed — optional |
The new blueprint applies to PreACT testing from Fall 2026 forward, which means it lands on the students sitting for the test during the 2026–27 windows and after. Here is how that plays out by grade — note that the cohort implications below are our reasoning from the timeline, not an official ACT policy statement.
Sophomores testing in the 2026–27 window take the redesigned PreACT — and they are arguably the cleanest fit for it. The Enhanced ACT they will take as juniors or seniors already uses the optional-Science, three-section-composite design, so their PreACT experience previews exactly the test they will face.
Younger students in the suite take the PreACT 8/9 (scored 1–30). Testing from Fall 2026 onward, they meet the aligned blueprint from their very first exposure to ACT-style testing, which likely means they will never experience the older four-section composite at all — their entire arc, from PreACT 8/9 through the ACT, runs on the same three-section-composite logic.
If you took the PreACT in an earlier window, your composite was the rounded average of four sections, including Science. When comparing an older PreACT score against a newer one — or against a predicted ACT range — keep in mind that the two composites summarize different section sets. Treat cross-blueprint comparisons as approximate.
The practical prep implications are smaller than the headline suggests. Because the PreACT keeps full content alignment with the ACT, ACT prep materials still work for PreACT prep — that was true before the redesign and stays true after it. English, Math, and Reading remain the core of both tests, and they are where composite-moving prep effort goes.
This is the real decision the new blueprint creates, and there are legitimate arguments on both sides.
The case for taking it: Science-related reporting, including the STEM score, is part of what makes the PreACT diagnostically useful — extra signal matters if you are weighing STEM-leaning coursework or careers. Sitting for Science also gives you a live rehearsal with a section you may still choose on the Enhanced ACT, where Science is likewise optional. And because the PreACT is low-stakes and invisible to colleges, there is no downside risk to a rough Science performance: it cannot lower your composite, and nobody who matters for admissions will ever see it.
The case for skipping it: A shorter test day, and full focus on the three sections that actually produce your composite. If you already know you will skip Science on the ACT, rehearsing a section you will not take buys you little.
Neither answer is wrong. The honest summary is that Science on the redesigned PreACT is a free option — it costs testing time, carries no score risk, and pays out in information. How much you value that information is a personal call, and it is worth discussing with your counselor before your school's test date.
For most students: nothing dramatic. Keep prepping English, Math, and Reading as the composite core, decide the Science question deliberately rather than by default, and use the current format breakdown to set your pacing targets. The skills being tested are not changing — only the arithmetic of the composite is.
Because the PreACT has no national test dates, the redesign does not arrive on a single day everyone can circle on a calendar. It arrives with the 2026–27 testing cycle, and your personal date depends entirely on your school.
Schools order the PreACT and choose their own administration date inside the testing window, which for 2026–27 runs roughly from mid-September 2026 through May 2027. A school testing early in the fall and a school testing in the spring are giving the same redesigned test — the blueprint is set by the cycle, not by the month. After test day, scores come back in as little as about 10 business days after materials are received.
Since the school controls the details, your counselor is the source of truth for the specifics. Three questions cover most of what you need: When is our PreACT date? (there is no national calendar to check instead). Which version are we giving? — PreACT 8/9 for 8th–9th graders, PreACT for 10th graders, or a Secure online version for state or district testing. And how is the optional Science section being handled? — whether your school offers it, and whether the choice is left to individual students, is a school-level decision to confirm rather than assume.
The one confirmed reporting change is the composite itself: from Fall 2026, the composite number on your report reflects English, Math, and Reading only. Everything else about how reports are likely to look follows from the reporting design that carries forward — treat the details below as reasonable expectations rather than confirmed specifics.
The PreACT report's established components — the predicted ACT score range, US percentile rank, subject-level college-readiness benchmarks, the STEM score, and the interest inventory — remain the reporting mission of the test. Expect the predicted ACT range to read against the Enhanced ACT, since that is the test the redesigned PreACT is aligned to and the one you will actually take. For students who opt into Science, expect science performance to show up in the section-level and STEM-related reporting rather than in the composite.
For a component-by-component walkthrough of how to read the report — and how the composite averaging and rounding works in detail — see PreACT scoring explained.