When you're trying to prepare for the ACT, the last thing you want to worry about is finding ACT practice tests. To help make the process a little less stressful for you, we've compiled this huge list of sources for free ACT practice tests and questions.
Not all practice tests are created equal, though. For each test source, I'll talk about how you can use the practice material to best prepare for the ACT.
In order to prep effectively for the ACT, you need practice material. Ultimately, though, you might need more practice tests (and more supplementary materials) than you'd expect.
Let's talk about the three key reasons why you'll need an arsenal of tests and questions to go into the ACT 100% prepared.
One of the most stressful parts of taking any standardized test is sitting through potentially uncomfortable testing conditions. You have to stay focused and alert for several hours with few breaks, and you have to jump from section to section without breaking your stride.
Taking official ACT practice tests under realistic testing conditions helps prepare you for test day. This means sitting through an entire test in one go while carefully timing how long you spend on each section.
For this type of preparation, you should really only use official ACT tests.
This component of ACT prep is about building your knowledge of all the content that's actually tested on the exam. If you're working on specific subject prep, you'll need materials that test (and teach) understanding of subject-specific content.
Official ACT practice questions are the ideal for this sort of practice, but they're limited in number and should really be saved for "realistic" practice and/or strategy prep. Unofficial or supplementary materials can prepare you well when it comes to brushing up on content, even if they're not in strict, official ACT format.
ACT questions follow a very particular set of rules when it comes to style and logic. Although unofficial practice tests try to recreate this with their practice questions, it's rare to find an unofficial source that does a good job.
Official practice tests are important when it comes to familiarizing yourself with strategy required to do well on test day. The more comfortable you are with the various types of ACT questions, the more efficient and the more confident you'll be on the actual exam.
Now that you know why (and how) ACT practice materials are important, let's talk about where you can find the gold standard of ACT prep material: official ACT tests.
In this section, you'll find both recent and older ACT tests. You should focus on the most current ACT materials for your practice, though older tests will definitely be helpful if you need extra material.
The good news is that the format of the ACT hasn't changed that much over the past few decades, so older exams should still give you a good idea of what to expect on test day.
I'm not kidding when I say that official practice materials are the gold standard in ACT prep.
Free ACT practice tests are great for those study sessions where you sit down under realistic testing conditions and finish an entire exam. There is currently one full-length official ACT available for free online, in two different formats.
One format is a printable practice ACT that you can download, print, and take with pencil and paper. Since you'll be taking the actual ACT with pencil and paper, we recommend taking this version of the practice exam to get the most realistic testing experience.
There is also a computer-based version of the same ACT practice test that you can access through your MyACT account. Once you receive your scores for a question set, you'll move on to the next batch of questions. Unfortunately, these features make it impossible to take this ACT test under realistic timing conditions, but at least you can get some helpful practice with it.
ACT, Inc. also publishes official practice questions (separate from the official practice tests) on its website. These questions are great for working on strategy and content prep.
Additionally, Kaplan, a test prep company that has partnered with the ACT, provides free official prep materials including a half-length practice test, a short pop quiz, and an ACT question of the day.
There are other official ACT materials available for purchase:
As you might have noticed, there aren't unlimited official ACT tests available for practice. If you're planning on studying for 50+ hours, you'll need to find supplementary sources.
There are so many unofficial sources for ACT tests and practice questions, but these really vary in quality—you don't want to use just any practice questions you find online without vetting them first.
To help you find reliable sources for supplementary materials, I've compiled a list of resources here. There might be many other good sources out there, but this should get you off on the right track.
You should be especially careful with using free resources from test-prep companies since the quality of the material is often questionable. That being said, some companies offer practice tests or questions that might prove to be really helpful as supplementary materials.
Just be especially mindful (if you choose to work with these materials) about not treating these practice questions as you would official prep. In other words, don't rely too much on them for strategy or real test practice!
Varsity Tutors has a ton of free material—it seems that there are thousands of practice questions available—but this company isn't particularly careful about creating questions in the style of the ACT. You should be careful about not putting too much stock in the types of questions you use from this site.
Another con is that you're pressured pretty hard to pay for their tutoring services.
That being said, you might find Varsity Tutors helpful if you need access to a ton of material (i.e., if you plan on studying for 50+ hours) or if you're a high scorer who wants to analyze official vs unofficial ACT questions.
An example of a Varsity Tutors practice question
Union Test Prep offers one free practice test that's administered online. Each question is presented (and graded) one at a time, which is very different from what you'll encounter on the actual ACT—the format of the exam reminds me more of the GRE than any college entrance exam, to be honest.
Fortunately, you don't have to register with Union Test Prep to access these questions.
An example of a Union Test Prep practice question
If you register with Kaplan, you can sign up for a free on-demand ACT practice test, which you can access anytime.
These practice tests are similar to their prep book (which I'll get to shortly)—good for an introduction to the test, especially for low scorers, but not so helpful for students who are already familiar with the exam or already getting relatively high marks.
The Princeton Review's system is pretty similar to Kaplan's: you can take a free ACT online practice exam if you register with the site.
This test-prep company has somewhat of a reputation for writing questions that are (conceptually) easier than what you'd see on the test, so this might not be the best option for high-scoring students who are looking to raise their scores.
Unofficial ACT prep books can be helpful when it comes to content review and practice. ACT, Inc. is pretty transparent about what concepts they actually test on the exam. If you have weak areas, instructional books and practice questions (even if they're not that similar to official ACT questions) can help you develop a better grasp of the material.
One of the downsides to ACT prep books is that they aren't free. You might be able to find these books at your public or school library if you'd rather not purchase them.
If you're looking for a more exhaustive list of the most helpful ACT books, especially for books by subject, check out our guide to the best ACT prep books.
Price: About $27 on Amazon
An excellent book for strategy, the Black Book teaches you to think about the ACT as a predictable, standardized test. It offers alternative strategies for students who might not understand all concepts in the same way.
If there's a downside to this prep book, it's that you have to be pretty self-motivated and self-driven in order to use it effectively.
Price: About $17 on Amazon
Barron's books are very thorough and cover a lot of content. This book especially is a good option if your ACT score is already high and you're aiming for perfect (or close to perfect). Some of the questions can be unrealistically (and unhelpfully) difficult, however.
Price: About $30 on Amazon
This all-in-one book covers all ACT sections and includes five full-length practice tests and answer explanations in addition to basic test strategies. It's even got a score improvement guarantee. If you're already pretty motivated to study and serious about improving your score, though, better options are available.
If you want to make the most of all these ACT materials, you'll want to make a plan for using them strategically. The major steps you will need to take to make a plan are below, though you can get more detailed info if you check out our guide on how long you need to study for the ACT.
These materials will be most helpful if you come up with a road map for using them before diving in.
Start by taking a recently released official ACT test to find your baseline score. Unofficial diagnostic tests won't help you understand where you'd need to improve on the actual ACT, so definitely opt for an official one at this stage.
Checking out schools (and their average ACT scores) will give you a goal score range to aim for.
If you're weak in specific strategy skills or content knowledge, you should primarily use unofficial supplementary materials to improve those areas. You can use these practice questions to drill skills or test knowledge without worrying about wasting official prep material.
Once you've spent a solid amount of time learning new skills and content, you can then test your performance using official ACT practice questions (not the full tests).
You can always find more unofficial prep materials, but since there's a limited number of official ACT practice tests, you'll want to use them wisely. We recommend using them to gauge your progress; this means taking them as full-length tests under realistic testing conditions.
You shouldn't stop there, though. Get everything you can out of those tests by carefully analyzing your answers and mistakes, so you know which skills and content areas you should focus on next.
Remember to save one or two official ACT tests for the end of your study program so you can familiarize yourself with a full-length exam before you take the actual ACT.
Now that you have tons of material to work with, you might want to start thinking about putting together a (more detailed) study plan and ACT strategy.
If you don't have too much time to study but still want to prepare as best you can, download those official ACT tests and check out our 20-hour prep program.
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