The ACT announced Tuesday, Oct. 8 that students will no longer need to retake the entire three-hour exam to improve their scores starting next year as well as the opportunity for online testing.

With the introduction of sectioned ACT testing, students will have the chance to take individual sections of the five-part test in English, reading, math, science and optional writing, which will then result in a “superscore” that combines the student’s best scores on each subsection.

The ACT discovered in research that superscoring serves to be highly more accurate in showing how students will perform in college than other scoring methods show. 

ACT spokesman Ed Colby said in a statement that it serves as an opportunity to save students both time and money while also offering the chance to focus their studies on specific sections. 

The cost of the test is $52 without the writing section and $68 including the optional test. ACT officials have said that testing on an individual section would be cheaper, but they have yet to decide on a price. 

The ACT is also offering an online-option for testing on days when the test is being administered nationwide. Online test results will be available only two-three business days after the test is taken compared to the two-eight weeks the paper test results take. 

The goals of these upcoming changes are to shift the test to fit what works best for students, according to Colby. 

The upcoming changes will be available to students on the September 2020 testing date. With the adjustments to the ACT structure, the standardized testing organization grows to more closely mirror its rival counterpart, the College Board’s SAT which currently offers subsection testing.