The enhanced ACT composite is three sections now. What that changes, and what it doesn't.

July 25, 2026

Since 2025 the ACT composite is the average of English, Math, and Reading, with Science optional and never counted. That has produced a lot of confused advice. Here is what it actually means.

Since September 2025, the ACT composite has been the average of just three sections: English, Math, and Reading. Science is optional and does not count toward the composite whether you take it or not. That single change has produced a lot of confused advice online, including the idea that you can "drop Science to boost your score." Here is what actually changed.

Taking or skipping Science does not change your composite

This is the point that trips people up. On the enhanced ACT, the composite is English, Math, and Reading, full stop. If you take Science it produces a separate score, and it can feed a separate STEM score, but it never enters the composite. So there is no "drop Science to raise your composite" move. Science was never in it to begin with.

What did change is the formula, for everyone

What actually shifted is the composite formula itself, for every test taker. The old ACT averaged four sections including Science; the enhanced ACT averages three. A student whose Science score used to pull down a four-section average now has a composite built only from English, Math, and Reading. So compared with the old test, students with a weaker Science section tend to look stronger on the enhanced ACT. That is a real effect, but it is a feature of the new test, not a lever you pull.

Does the three-section composite beat the SAT concordance?

Some advice claims the shorter composite lets you outmaneuver the SAT-to-ACT concordance. Be skeptical.

• The official concordance tables are still the 2018 ones, and they concord by section as well as by composite. SAT Reading and Writing concords to ACT English and Reading; SAT Math concords to ACT Math. Science is not in those section maps, so removing it does not manufacture a cross-test advantage.
• Many selective colleges superscore and read your individual section scores, not just the composite. The composite is a summary; the sections are the evidence a reader actually weighs.

So should you take Science?

Because Science no longer affects your composite, treat it as a real choice rather than a default:

• Take it if a college on your list recommends or requires it, if you are targeting STEM programs that weigh it, or if it is one of your stronger sections and adds to your profile.
• Skip it if none of those apply. It cannot lift your composite, so there is no scoring reason to sit it.

The enhanced ACT composite is simpler than the rumors: three sections, with Science optional and reported separately. It is not a trick to game, so decide about Science on whether your colleges want it, not on a scoring loophole that is not there.