ST2 Scoring, Composite & Superscore

Lesson

Every multiple-choice section of the ACT is reported on the same 1–36 scale: English, Mathematics, Reading and Science each get their own 1–36 score. The optional Writing section is different — it is reported on a 2–12 scale and never mixes into the 1–36 numbers.

The rounding rule, exactly as ACT states it

• A fraction less than one-half rounds down.
• A fraction of one-half or more rounds up.
• The one exception: an average lower than 1 rounds up to 1.

A useful piece of arithmetic: because you are always dividing three whole numbers by 3, the average can only ever end in .00, .33 or .67. A three-section Composite average never lands exactly on .5. The half-up rule bites elsewhere — on STEM, where you divide two numbers by 2.

STEM and ELA

• STEM = the average of Mathematics and Science. Reported only if you sat Science.
• ELA = the average of English, Reading and Writing. Reported only if you sat Writing.

So what you receive depends on what you sat. In every case you also get an individual score for each section you took:

• English + Math + Reading → Composite
• … plus Science → Composite and STEM
• … plus Writing → Composite and ELA
• … plus both → Composite, STEM and ELA

Superscoring

A superscore is the average of your best score in each section across multiple test attempts. The Superscore Composite uses English, Mathematics and Reading only — the same three sections as an ordinary Composite. Science is still reported and still feeds STEM, but it is not part of the Superscore Composite.

• You are eligible the moment you have tested more than once (September 2016 onward).
• Your best section scores can come from ANY test event — ACT states this explicitly, including a mix of legacy-blueprint and enhanced sittings.
• Your older scores are not restated. Scores from tests taken before the new Composite rolled out do not change.
• Not every college superscores. ACT says the number that do "is growing" — which is not the same as all of them. Check the policy of each school you are actually applying to.

Two things people get wrong about the raw score

There is no penalty for guessing. Your raw score in a section is simply the number of questions you answered correctly. A blank and a wrong answer are worth exactly the same — nothing — so there is never a reason to leave a bubble empty.

There is no single conversion chart. Raw scores are converted to the 1–36 scale form by form, precisely because difficulty varies slightly between forms: ACT notes that a raw 35 on one mathematics form can be about as hard to earn as a raw 37 on another. Official practice books print the table for that form. Any site advertising "the" ACT conversion chart is selling you a number it cannot know.