The ACT, of course, is slowly rolling out its new (or what they call "Enhanced") ACT. To take this version, you would register for the online version of the April, June, or July ACT tests. After that (begining in September 2025), all tests (whether on paper or online) will be of this new/enhanced version.
Recently, I took the one practice test available to the public that is reflective of the new version. As a reminder, this new version consists of 50 questions to be answered in 35 minutes (as opposed to 75 questions to be answered in 45 minutes). Although the ACT's public stance has been that the "content" of the newer test will be the same as the classic, original ACT, my experience with the English test at least was not reflective of this. In my estimation, there are key differences. Some of these may not be reflective of widespread changes (after all, this is only 1 test, a rather small sample size), but they are worth keeping an eye on.
Difference Number 1: Less sentence placement, more phrases and words
In the classic ACT English test, there is no doubt that the number 1 most tested skill is a student's ability to place or arrange sentences based on the context of a paragraph or essay. While these questions still exist on the "Enhanced" English test (they made up a full 10% of the questions, or 5 out of 50), their prevalence has been dwarfed by similar questions that require students, instead, to place or arrange proper phrases (which made up 20% of the questions, or 10 of 50) or words (which made up 10% of the questions, or 5 out of 50).
That sounds like no difference at all, but it really is a big difference. It is much, much easier to choose which phrase (like a prepositional phrase or dependent clause) should go into a sentence based on the context provided by 1 or 2 sentences than it is to place a sentence based on the context of a paragraph or essay. This is just as true with words: choosing the correct word based on context is even simpler than choosing phrases and certainly a simpler process than choosing sentences.
Difference Number 2: No semicolons or colons at all
In the classic ACT English test, the most tested piece of punctuation was the comma, and that is still the case with the "Enhanced" version. However, the second-most tested was, without a doubt, the semicolon. Other punctuation marks (like em dashes, colons, and apostrophes) followed after in number of appearances.
However, on this practice test, there were no questions that required students to understand (to either get the question correct or, as far as I could tell or remember, eliminate wrong answers) how to use a semicolon or a colon. At all. Interestingly, there were 2 questions that required an understanding of em dashes, which are less frequently utilized in English writing than both the semicolon and colon. Perhaps this is a one-off, but maybe not.
Difference Number 3: Questions that Give Away the Game
One final major difference that I noticed on this test is that the questions themselves often give away the kind of thinking that previously the student had to have on their own. For example, instead of simply underlining a phrase and expecting the student to figure out on their own that what is needed is the proper transition between two sentences based on the context, the ACT asks the question like this:
"Which transition word or phrase is most logical in context?"
That doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is a big change.
Moral of the Story: What Does it Mean?
In my opinion, this means that the ACT English test is now easier. I can't say that about the "Enhanced" ACT Math test, which is just as difficult if not more so.
Why would the ACT make their English test easier? Well, quite frankly, my opinion is that reading comprehension and English skills are down nationwide, ACT scores are down nationwide (7 straight years of declining ACT scores), and thus the ACT is responding to this change with an easier test. My prediction is that English scores will rise over time (maybe ACT Reading too, though I haven't deeply analyzed that new test yet), and the ACT and school boards everywhere will celebrate this rise as if education is improving and children are more educated than they have been in recent years...but that isn't the case.
As always, the best long term preparation for the ACT English and Reading tests is to read. In the short term, continue diving into ACT English practice tests and analyzing missed questions in depth.
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