Your ACT composite score is a single number on a scale of 1 to 36 that represents the average of your individual section scores, rounded to the nearest whole number. It’s the headline number colleges see on your score report and the one most scholarship applications reference. For the graduating class of 2025, the national average composite score was 19.4.
How the Composite Score Is Calculated
The math behind the composite is straightforward. ACT adds up your scored section results and divides by the number of core sections to produce an average. That average is then rounded: fractions of one-half or more round up, and fractions below one-half round down.
Here’s a quick example. Say you score 28 in English, 25 in Math, and 30 in Reading. The sum is 83, and dividing by 3 gives you 27.67. Because .67 is above one-half, your composite rounds up to 28. If your average had come out to 27.33 instead, it would round down to 27. That single rounding point can make a real difference when you’re on the edge of a scholarship cutoff or an admissions target.
What the Enhanced ACT Covers
The current version of the test, called the Enhanced ACT, includes three core sections that feed into your composite score: English (50 questions, 35 minutes), Mathematics (45 questions, 50 minutes), and Reading (36 questions, 40 minutes). Each section is scored individually on the same 1 to 36 scale before being averaged into your composite.
Science is now an optional section on the Enhanced ACT, as is Writing. Neither optional section affects your composite score. If you take the Writing test, that score is reported separately and won’t raise or lower your composite. The same applies to Science. Colleges may still want to see those scores, but they sit outside the composite calculation.
What Percentiles Tell You
A raw composite number is more useful when you know where it falls relative to other test-takers. ACT publishes percentile data each year based on the most recent graduating class. For the class of 2025, the benchmarks looked like this:
- 25th percentile: 15 (roughly three out of four students scored higher)
- 50th percentile: 18 (the midpoint, meaning half of students scored above and half below)
- 75th percentile: 23 (only about one in four students scored higher)
A composite of 30 or above typically places you well into the top 10% of test-takers nationally, which is the range most highly selective colleges expect. A composite in the low 20s is competitive for many four-year universities, while scores in the mid-teens may still meet the minimum requirements at open-admission schools.
Composite Score vs. Superscore
If you take the ACT more than once, you’ll have a composite score from each sitting. A superscore takes your highest section score from across all your test dates and averages those together. So if you scored a 30 in English on your first attempt and a 32 in Math on your second attempt, a superscore would combine those individual highs rather than locking you into either single-session result.
Many colleges accept superscores, but not all do. Some only consider your highest single-sitting composite. Before you register for a retest, check whether the schools on your list superscore the ACT, because that determines whether improving one section on a second attempt can actually help your application.
How Colleges Use the Composite
Admissions offices use the composite score as a quick benchmark, but most also look at your individual section scores. A composite of 27 built on a 34 in Reading and a 20 in Math tells a different story than a flat 27 across the board. Engineering programs, for instance, tend to weigh the Math score more heavily, while humanities programs may pay closer attention to English and Reading.
Scholarship programs often use composite thresholds as a first filter. State merit scholarships, institutional awards, and private foundations frequently set a minimum composite, sometimes paired with a GPA requirement. Hitting a specific composite can be worth thousands of dollars per year, which makes it worth knowing where those cutoffs fall at the schools you’re targeting.
Strategies for Raising Your Composite
Because the composite is a simple average, improving any one core section by a few points can bump the overall number. If your Math score is significantly lower than your English and Reading scores, focused Math prep offers the most efficient path to a higher composite. Conversely, if all three sections are roughly even, you’ll need broader improvement to move the needle.
Timing matters, too. Most students first take the ACT in the spring of junior year, leaving room for a second attempt in the fall of senior year. That gap gives you a full summer to target weak areas. Since the composite rounds to the nearest whole number, even a modest improvement in one section can push a borderline average up by a full point.