The ACT® recently announced a limited digital ACT pilot program. This pilot is expected to occur in December 2023 and continue throughout 2024.
What’s Staying the Same?
The Digital ACT pilot is the same test as the pencil-and-paper ACT. There is no difference in terms of structure, scoring or content. Students will still be required to test at a designated testing site and will not be able to test from home. Whether you take the paper-and-pencil version or the digital version also does not change the impact on your college admissions or scholarship opportunities.
What’s Changing?
The only difference between the paper-and-pencil test and the new digital format is simply that it’s computer-based. ACT states that there are two goals with this change:
- Give students more choice to maximize performance and confidence by taking the ACT in the way that feels best for each student.
- An online option allows for additional accessibility options, including support for screen reader users, text-to-speech functionality, zoom, and answer masking.
Digital ACT Pilot Structure
The limited pilot is an opt-in pilot meaning that students can choose to register for the Digital ACT if they wish. The December Pilot is limited to 5,000 students at select locations. Students should always remember to register early for their desired test dates and carefully read all information provided to ensure they are selecting the test they wish to take.
If a students thinks they might want to register for the digital ACT and have the option to do so in their area, it’s always a good idea to take a practice digital test first to ensure the format is well-suited to them. C2 offers digital formats of!
Taking the SAT instead? The digital SAT is launching in spring 2024 and will be a different test than the current paper SAT. Learn more about the new Digital SAT here.
