Is the ACT Easier Than the SAT?

Quick Answer

To decide whether the ACT is the right test for you, you can take an official practice test to assess your strengths, weaknesses, and overall score. Then you can compare it to the admissions requirements of your top schools and your SAT score, if you have one.

Is the ACT Easier than the SAT Objectively?

No. Neither test is objectively easier. Like the SAT, the ACT is designed to spread students across a wide range of scores so universities can better understand how prepared you are for college-level work.

The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36 for each section, which combined make up a composite, or overall, score. For the class of 2025, the national composite average was 19.4 out of 36. In comparison, the SAT is scored on a scale of 400-1600, and, for the Class of 2025, the national average was 1029 out of 1600. Additionally, both the ACT and SAT test skills most students have covered by the end of 11th grade. What varies is how well each test’s format matches your strengths.

For many students, the biggest difference is pacing. The ACT gives you less time per question, which rewards fast, accurate work. SAT questions tend to be wordier and require multi-step reasoning, but you get more time to work through them.

So is the ACT easier than the SAT if you are bad at math? Not necessarily. The ACT covers more math topics, so students who are weaker in math may prefer the SAT’s more focused content.

What Makes the ACT Tougher for Some Students?

If you’re wondering about the ACT vs. SAT and which test you should take, know this: for many students, what’s difficult about the ACT isn’t the complexity of the content.

Instead, students tend to struggle with:

Exam timing: You get only 125 minutes on the Enhanced ACT compared to the 134 minutes you get on the Digital SAT. On average, across the core ACT sections (Math, Reading, and English), that translates to about 57 seconds per question, whereas you get about 82 seconds per question on average on the Digital SAT. With less than a minute per question, you have to move fast on the ACT to earn a good score.

Question volume: There are 131 questions on the Enhanced ACT (171 with the optional Science section) compared to the 98 questions on the Digital SAT. That means more ground to cover with less time per question. For students who struggle to move at a quick, steady pace without sacrificing accuracy, the sheer volume of questions on the ACT can be overwhelming.

Higher proportion of difficult questions: The Enhanced ACT cut down the exam’s total questions from 215 to between 131 and 171, depending on whether you take the Science section. However, reducing the number of questions doesn’t necessarily make the ACT easier. The ACT states that it has specifically designed the Enhanced ACT to maintain the rigor of the longer exam.

What’s the Enhanced ACT Like?

The Enhanced ACT is a shorter, redesigned version of the old ACT, now called the Legacy ACT. This new version of the ACT cuts down on question volume from the Legacy ACT and makes the Science section optional while maintaining the exam’s underlying academic skills and difficulty level. The Enhanced ACT is still scored on the same 1-36 scale as the Legacy ACT.

Because the Enhanced ACT’s total question count was reduced more than the test’s total timing, you’ll get 11% to 27% more time per question depending on the section. On Math, multiple-choice questions now include only 4 answer choices instead of 5, bringing them in line with the Digital SAT. ACT Reading and English passages are shorter now, but they’re still multi-paragraph texts that can be longer than Digital SAT Reading passages.

Finally, the Science section is now optional on the Enhanced ACT, making it more similar to the Digital SAT, which includes no science.

While the Enhanced ACT allows more time per question and includes fewer questions overall, it’s still a faster-paced exam with less time per question on average than the Digital SAT. The shorter length doesn’t mean it’s easier, either. The content and topics covered match the difficulty of the Legacy ACT, but some students might find that fewer questions make the exam more manageable.

What’s a “Good” ACT Score? ACT vs. SAT Scores

The Enhanced ACT is scored on a scale from 1 to 36. The ACT has three core sections every student must take: Math, Reading, and English. For the three core sections, you’ll receive a score between 1-36 points, and only those sections are figured into your overall composite score.

To answer the question, “How hard is the ACT?" we can look at the scores of everyone who took the ACT in a given year. That tells us what percentage of test-takers were able to earn an above-average score and how many students were unable to hit the average. Here’s how scores for the 2026-2027 test period break down by percentile:

*Based on ACT-tested high school graduates from 2024, 2025, and 2026

But what about ACT vs. SAT scores? Can comparing how students score on each exam tell you which one’s harder?

Unfortunately, no. Score comparisons can't tell you which test is harder, for three reasons.

Scores are designed to stay consistent from one test date to the next, not to reflect how hard a test felt. The ACT adjusts its scoring so that a given score means roughly the same level of performance whether you got an easier or a tougher version of the test. In other words, difficulty gets smoothed out before you ever see your score.

Percentiles only measure where you stand among other test-takers. A 1400 SAT and a 29 ACT may both land at the 93rd percentile, but that tells you how you rank, not how hard the questions were. A harder test and an easier test can produce very similar score distributions.

The students taking each test aren't the same group. Test-taking patterns vary by state, by school requirements, and by test selection. Comparing average scores would mean comparing two different groups of students.

So instead of asking which test is harder, ask which test is a better fit for you. Here are a few things you can consider:

How many questions you can miss. Look at each test's scoring guidance to see how many questions you could get wrong and still hit your target score.

Time per question. Compare the number of questions to the minutes allotted in each section. Some students thrive under the ACT's faster pace, while others prefer the SAT's more time per question.

Question style and structure. The tests differ in how they present reading passages and math problems, and students often find one format a more natural fit for their skills.

Your own practice scores. The most useful comparison is you versus each test. Take a full-length practice test for both the ACT and SAT, then convert each result to a percentile so you can see where you land.

How To Make the ACT Easier for You

If you’re still wondering, “Is the ACT easier than the SAT?” there’s good news: with effective test prep and consistent effort, you can do well on either test. You already know ahead of time what’s tested on each exam, how long they are, and how many questions you’ll have to answer.

To make the ACT easier, you can take everything you know about the exam and use it to prep for success. And the first thing you should do is take official practice ACTs to see how you score, where your strengths are, and the weak areas you need to improve.

Here are some things you can do to ensure your practice ACTs will help boost your score:

Simulate real test conditions. While untimed studying is an important part of ACT prep, nothing beats taking a real exam using the same conditions and timing that you’ll see on test day. As you practice, you’ll figure out a pace that works for you, which parts of the exam trip you up, and what types of questions you need to drill in order to manage your time efficiently during the exam.

Drill your mistakes to eliminate them. Drilling every topic that pops up on the ACT might seem like a good approach, but focusing your prep on drilling the areas you struggle with is your best bet at maximizing your score improvement. Your weak areas often result in wrong answers or skipped questions. When you drill those areas and master them, that means more points added to your overall score. Going through every question you get wrong will help you improve with each additional practice test you take.

Make a prep plan that works for you. There are tons of ACT prep options out there, from books, to self-paced courses, to one-on-one tutoring. Whether you choose to self-study or enroll in a paid course, making a plan and sticking to it is a great way to improve your test-taking skills and your score.