ACT Science Section Explained (2026): Is It Optional Now? Tips to Read Charts Fast
Chapters
- The Short Answer
- What Changed
- How Science Is Scored
- Should You Take It?
- What's on the Test
- Example 1: Spot the Trend
- Example 2: Read Between the Points
- Example 3: Controlled Variables
- Example 4: Up, Then Down
- Example 5: Two Viewpoints
- Our Chart-Reading Tips
- Recap
Audio from the Open Exam Hub video of the same name; the video shows the numbers and practice questions on screen.
ACT Science explained for 2026. Is ACT Science optional now? Yes: on the enhanced ACT (national online testing from April 2025, paper from September 2025, state and district testing from spring 2026), Science is an optional add-on. As of October 2026, act.org lists it at 40 questions in 40 minutes (34 scored plus 6 unscored field-test items), up from 35 minutes on the legacy test. Your Composite is now the average of English, Math and Reading only, and Science is not in your Superscore. Take Science and you also get a STEM score, the rounded average of Math and Science (ACT benchmarks: 23 Science, 26 STEM). Whether a college requires Science is each school's own decision, so check admissions pages. We cover the six passages, no calculator, the three formats (data representation, research summaries, conflicting viewpoints), the reporting categories and their weights, then work five made-up chart examples: spotting a trend, interpolation and extrapolation, controlled variables, an up-then-down bar chart, and two conflicting viewpoints. Chart-reading and pacing tips are our own advice. Independent guide, not affiliated with ACT, Inc.
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Chapters
0:00 The Short Answer
0:49 What Changed
1:33 How Science Is Scored
2:06 Should You Take It?
2:41 What's on the Test
3:32 Example 1: Spot the Trend
4:04 Example 2: Read Between the Points
4:30 Example 3: Controlled Variables
5:08 Example 4: Up, Then Down
5:37 Example 5: Two Viewpoints
6:09 Our Chart-Reading Tips
6:45 Recap
Exam facts are from the official ACT pages as of 2026-10-23. Fees and rules can change, so confirm on the official site before you enroll. Open Exam Hub is an independent study resource, not affiliated with ACT, Inc. Practice questions are not from a real exam. Narration is an AI-generated voice.
Music
"Fresh Air" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Friday Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Almost Bliss" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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"Carefree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Sound effects: Kenney (kenney.nl), CC0.
Images
"Laboratory equipment of modern chemistry classroom" by Belikov Maxim, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laboratory_equipment_of_modern_chemistry_classroom.jpg
"Lab glassware" by Tweenk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lab_glassware.jpg
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