Categories
education

ACT Test Online

As you might have realized by now, you can take the act test online. This shiny new feature was introduced in September 2018, and because many people aren’t used to taking the test this way, we thought we’d do a piece on what you should expect.

What’s New?

In terms of content, test length, scoring and even test format, the act test online stays the same as the written form. In fact colleges don’t even discriminate between written and online tests because they consider them to be the same. If you’re taking the test abroad, you can be sure you’ll be taking an online version of the test. However, within the shores of the US, you’ll have to check with the ACT to see if you can take it online, or have to use paper and pen.

Perhaps the most obvious difference between taking the act test online and on paper is that test scores, for the non-written sections, are usually available between just 2 business days of taking the online test. The reason is simple. It’s easier for the computer to grade. Of course the written section still requires a great deal of attention, so there’s no improvement in the time it’ll take you to get it.

You get an erasable white board, and are responsible for bringing your own ACT acceptable calculator.

ACT Test Online Features

You get a ton of features, and knowing how to use them can help you on the D day. There’s a navigation bar that allows you skip and return to questions and even flag those you want to do over. You can highlight text, or even open a select line in a separate window and view it without any surrounding text.

You even get a magnifier on the off chance an image isn’t legible enough. You have the option of using an answer masker or an answer eliminator. The answer masker completely hides off all answers YOU KNOW are wrong, while the answer eliminator tentatively crosses off wrong answers but leave them in view.

Note that you can only move liberally between one section to another. Once the time expires for a particular section, you have to move on – as with the written exam. There’s an act test fact sheet. It contains a more comprehensive list of everything we’ve said so far. If you’re being extra cautious, It’s recommended that you look at it before the exam date.