When Do ACT Scores Come Out? Full 2023-24 Schedule

Knowing when ACT scores come out can help you get organized when applying to colleges. Students can typically expect to receive their ACT scores about 10-24 days after their test date.

Having your score is important for general college admissions, but it can also be used to qualify you for dual enrollment and scholarships.

What is considered a good ACT score for you depends on which colleges you’re trying to get into. The higher your score, the better. In general, aim for a score that is above the 50th percentile.

When ACT scores are released depends on your test date. Because the test is taken on a Saturday, results usually come out on a Tuesday.

While it normally only takes 10 days for ACT Inc. to release scores, it can take longer depending on your test date.

Source: ACT.org

Typically, it only takes 10-24 days for you to receive your results. However, scores for the essay portion are released around two weeks after the multiple-choice portion. This is because two trained readers manually score the ACT Writing section.

While you can manually send your results to universities, it’s best to have your scores sent automatically. You can choose schools to send your scores to when you register for the test. Colleges typically receive ACT scores 2-8 weeks after your test date.

Don’t be worried if you don’t receive your scores within the normal timeframe. It can take up to eight weeks for ACT scores to be released (though this is uncommon).

In some states and school districts, students may take the ACT during a school day. ACT scores are typically released in 10 days. However, ACT results for school day test-takers may take a bit longer — around three weeks. Just like with standard scoring, the results may be delayed up to eight weeks.

If your results take more than three weeks to arrive, don’t bug your school counselor. They might send the tests off, but they have no control over when the results appear online.

ACT State and District Testing is also offered on a schedule, with multiple potential test dates in the fall and spring. Check with your high school counselor for more information on your school’s ACT testing schedule.

ACT scores are posted once per day at 12 a.m. Central time — that’s 10 p.m. Pacific time, 11 p.m. Mountain time, and 1 a.m. Eastern time.

If results don’t appear at that time, wait until the next day or week to check. It is common for ACT scores to take extra time to show up. ACT Inc. should also send you an email when your results are available to view online.

Test-takers can find their ACT scores on MyACT. You need to use the login you created when you first registered for the exam.

Once you are logged into your account, click “Your Test Dates and Scores.” Then, choose “View Scores.” From there, you should be able to see your results.

It’s common for students to take the exam a few times to aim for better scores. Regardless, students may decide to send their ACT scores to colleges or scholarship organizations.

If test-takers want to have their results automatically sent to universities, they can arrange for it during ACT online registration. In step three of registering for the test, students can choose to have their test scores sent to up to four universities for free.

If you didn’t arrange for the scores to be sent automatically during your registration for the test, you must pay $18 for each test report, unless you qualified for an ACT fee waiver.

Because of the fee, many students opt to send their scores automatically. However, if you are trying to get into a competitive school, you may want to send your scores after you’ve seen the report to make sure they’re high enough.