Great news for students targeting fall test dates: ACT has announced three new test dates for students in the U.S. On top of that, the existing Sunday test dates are now open to all students, bringing the grand total to eight available dates from September-December.
Fall 2020 schedule
Here's the updated fall schedule for students in the U.S.
- September:
- Saturday, September 12 (existing)
- Sunday, September 13 (non-Saturday, existing)
- Saturday, September 19 (new)
- October:
- Saturday, October 10 (new)
- Saturday, October 17 (new)
- Saturday, October 24 (existing)
- Sunday, October 25 (non-Saturday, existing)
- December:
- Saturday, December 12 (existing)
ACT has not made any announcements about additional international test dates.
What does this mean for test-takers?
Fall ACT registration will open up the last week of July. In the meantime, if you're targeting one or more of the fall test dates, we recommend continuing your studies (typically 4-5 hours per week, using a variety of study methods). It's a great idea to take advantage of the extra study time now so that you can avoid cramming for the test when classes resume in the fall.
If you're currently targeting the July exam, you can stick to your current plan, but keep an eye out for test cancellation announcements, which ACT will release by the end of June. ACT plans to make July cancellation decisions on a site-by-site basis, just as they did for the June exam.
The good news is that if your July exam is cancelled, you'll now have additional opportunities for fall testing. It's likely that the number of available seats at individual test centers will still be limited due to social distancing guidelines, but the extra dates will help make up the difference.
What about test security?
It will be interesting to see how the additional dates affect ACT's ability to securely administer exams. Having an adequate number of exams has always been one of ACT's biggest vulnerabilities—ACT has resorted to reusing test forms in the past, a major problem when it comes to test security. If it's already a struggle to create enough exams to cover the existing dates across multiple time zones, the new dates will only magnify that challenge.
For further details, you can read ACT's full announcement here.
Need more individualized advice?
The recommendations above are general suggestions. If you have specific questions, reach out to our experts here. We’re happy to help in any way we can.
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