ACT Announces Major Test Format Overhaul for 2026 Admissions Cycle

July 26, 2026 – As students prepare for the upcoming application season, the standardized testing landscape is shifting again. The ACT has announced a comprehensive overhaul of its exam format set to take effect for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle, introducing a significantly shorter test and a fundamental change to how the composite score is calculated. This development arrives amid a widespread reinstatement of test requirements at elite universities, making the timing and nature of these changes particularly consequential for competitive applicants.

According to details confirmed in recent updates, the new ACT will be condensed from three hours to approximately two hours. The test will feature fewer questions but grant students more time per question. Most notably, the ACT Composite Score will be revised to exclude the Science section, a departure from decades of precedent. These changes, referenced in a July 2026 video analysis of "SAT & ACT in 2026: What's New, What Changed, & How to Prepare," represent the most substantial format change the ACT has undertaken in recent memory.

The redesign coincides with a pivotal moment in admissions policy. As noted by multiple sources, including CollegeWise and PathIvy, a majority of top-tier universities, including the entire Ivy League and other elite institutions like MIT, Caltech, and Georgetown, have reinstated mandatory standardized testing for the 2026-2027 cycle. With schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth requiring scores, the performance benchmarks and preparation strategies for the newly formatted ACT become an immediate concern for applicants. Meanwhile, a smaller cohort of highly-selective schools, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, and Vanderbilt, remain officially test-optional, as reported by Oriel Admissions.

For families navigating this landscape, the advice is to verify testing policies directly with each target institution and to seek out the most current preparation materials that reflect the ACT's new structure. The changes underscore the dynamic nature of elite admissions, where policy shifts at both the institutional and testing-agency level can significantly impact application strategy within a single cycle.