ACT retakes boost scores for one third of test-takers
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
ACT reported that one in three students who took the ACT exam in 2026 took it at least twice, and those students increased their average composite scores by 1.1 points.
Students who retook the exam also improved their performance on the ACT College and Career Readiness Benchmarks, increasing their scores by 7 percentage points on their most recent attempt. They were also 7 percentage points less likely to fail to meet any of the benchmarks.
Many schools and districts fund these retakes, removing financial burdens for students and potentially improving both college acceptance rates and district accountability. Mississippi saw a particularly large impact, with students more than doubling the percentage meeting all three benchmarks after retaking the test. Over 1.46 million students in the graduating class of 2026 took the ACT at least once.
While ACT and SAT participation numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels, the class of 2026 showed improvement on the SAT compared to the previous year’s graduates.
