A perfect 36 on ACT Reading means getting a perfect (or near-perfect) raw score on the section’s scored questions. On the current Enhanced ACT, that means 36 questions in 40 minutes, spread across four passage units. Only 27 of those questions actually count toward your score, but you can’t tell which ones, so your goal is simple: answer all 36 correctly.
If you’ve seen older guides that describe 40 questions in 35 minutes, those describe the retired version of the test. The ACT changed significantly starting in 2025 (the “Enhanced ACT”), and Reading is one of the sections that changed the most: fewer questions, more time, and a bigger role in your Composite score. This guide reflects the current test.
Whether you’re aiming for that perfect 36 or just want to raise your score a few points, this post walks through everything: the format, the scoring, the question types, how to read on the ACT, and specific plans for gaining 2, 4, or 6 points.
Table of Contents
- The Least You Should Know About ACT Reading
- Timing on ACT Reading
- Scoring on ACT Reading
- ACT Reading vs SAT Reading and Writing
- Skills Tested in the ACT Reading Section
- Question Types on the ACT Reading Test
- Try an ACT Reading Practice Question
- How to Read on ACT Reading
- Common Struggles on the ACT Reading Test
- Guide to Improving Your ACT Reading Score 2, 4, or 6 Points
- How to Get a Perfect 36 on the ACT Reading Test
- Where Can I Find More Examples and Resources?
How to Use This Post
There’s a lot of information here, so let’s make the most of your time.
If you’re new to ACT Reading, start with The Least You Should Know About ACT Reading, then look at Timing and Scoring. Taking a free ACT practice test first is a smart move: it shows you your strengths and weaknesses before you start studying.
If you have some experience with ACT Reading, jump to Question Types on the ACT Reading Test to make sure you have them down, and brush up on How to Read on ACT Reading. Then try a practice question to test your skills.
If you’re already scoring well and want those last few points, go directly to the Guide to Improving Your ACT Reading Score 2, 4, or 6 Points, or straight to How to Get a Perfect 36 if you’re feeling ambitious.
Ready? Let’s go!
The Least You Should Know About ACT Reading
ACT Reading is one of the three sections that make up your ACT Composite score, along with English and Math. This is a big change from the old test: on the Enhanced ACT, Science is optional and no longer counts toward the Composite. Your Composite is now the average of English, Math, and Reading alone.
Here’s the current format at a glance:
| ACT Reading (Enhanced ACT) | |
|---|---|
| Questions | 36 (27 count toward your score) |
| Time | 40 minutes |
| Passages | 4 passage units: 3 single passages + 1 paired set of two shorter passages |
| Passage types | Literary Narrative and Informational (topics span the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences) |
| Counts toward Composite? | Yes (one third of it) |
Why do only 27 questions count? Every ACT section includes embedded field-test questions: unscored experimental items the ACT is trying out for future tests. They look exactly like real questions, and you cannot tell which is which. The practical takeaway is to treat every question as if it counts.
A lot of students wonder why the ACT has both an English test and a Reading test. They test very different things. ACT English tests grammar, usage, and rhetorical skills within passages. ACT Reading tests reading comprehension: how well you understand what a passage says, what it implies, and how it’s put together.
If that’s all you needed, great! If you want the full picture of the test and how to ace it, read on.
Timing on ACT Reading
On the ACT Reading test, you’ll answer 36 questions in 40 minutes. That works out to about 66 seconds per question, which is noticeably more breathing room than the old test gave you. More time per question is one of the genuinely student-friendly changes of the Enhanced ACT.
That said, don’t think about this section in per-question terms. Think in passage units. You’ll see four of them, so budget about 10 minutes per unit, including its questions.
Within each 10-minute block, here’s a split that works for most students:
- 2 to 3 minutes: skim the passage for the main idea and the shape of the argument (more on how to do this in How to Read on ACT Reading)
- 7 to 8 minutes: work the questions, returning to the passage to find evidence
Some students prefer to read more slowly and thoroughly up front. That can work too, but if you spend more than 3 to 4 minutes reading before starting the questions, practice carefully with a timer to make sure you can still finish. The passage is always right there; you don’t need to absorb every detail on the first pass.
Pro tip: In practice, glance at the clock once per passage unit, not once per question. Constant clock-checking burns time and spikes anxiety. If you wear an analog watch on test day, reset it to 12:00 when the section starts so the math is trivial.
Scoring on ACT Reading
Like the other sections, ACT Reading is scored on a 1-36 scale. The ACT counts how many of the 27 scored questions you answered correctly (your raw score), then converts that number to the 1-36 scale. The exact conversion varies slightly from test date to test date, since the ACT adjusts for small differences in difficulty between forms.
This is where a lot of advice online gets confusing. Some sites say you can miss “one question at most” for a 36; others talk about a perfect raw score. Here’s how both can be true: you’ll answer 36 questions, but only 27 are scored, and the scale changes by form. On most forms, a 36 requires a perfect or near-perfect raw score on those 27 scored questions. Since you can’t identify which 9 questions are unscored, the only reliable plan is to aim to answer all 36 correctly.
Pro tip: If one question on test day seems strangely worded or unusually hard, it may be an unscored field-test item. Don’t let it rattle you or wreck your pacing. Give it a fair shot, pick an answer, and move on.
ACT Reading Percentiles
One useful way to evaluate a score is your national rank (percentile): the percentage of recent ACT-tested students who scored at or below your score. Here’s how ACT Reading scores translate, based on the official ACT national ranks currently in use (ACT-tested high school graduates of 2023-2025, used for tests from September 2025 through August 2026):
| ACT Reading Score | National Rank (Percentile) |
|---|---|
| 36 | 100 |
| 35 | 98 |
| 34 | 97 |
| 33 | 95 |
| 32 | 93 |
| 31 | 91 |
| 30 | 89 |
| 29 | 87 |
| 28 | 85 |
| 27 | 83 |
| 26 | 80 |
| 25 | 78 |
| 24 | 75 |
| 23 | 71 |
| 22 | 66 |
| 21 | 60 |
| 20 | 55 |
| 19 | 50 |
| 18 | 46 |
| 17 | 41 |
| 16 | 37 |
| 15 | 32 |
| 14 | 27 |
| 13 | 21 |
| 12 | 16 |
| 11 | 9 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 9 | 2 |
What Else Should I Know About ACT Reading Scores?
The average ACT Reading score is 20.1, according to current ACT national data. That’s the highest average of any section (English averages 18.6, Math 19.0, and Science 19.6). In other words, students generally find Reading to be one of the friendlier sections, which also means a high Reading score needs to be genuinely high to stand out.
Also worth knowing: ACT research sets the College Readiness Benchmark for Reading at 22. Students who reach it have about a 50% chance of earning a B or higher in typical first-year, reading-heavy college courses (like the social sciences). If you’re below 22, treat Reading practice as an investment in college itself, not just in test day. Regular reading outside of school, plus the strategies in this post, will move both.
To see how a Reading score combines with your other sections, try Magoosh’s ACT score calculator, and see what’s a good ACT score for the full scoring picture.
The Perfect 36 and Your Composite Score
Here’s something most guides haven’t caught up with: Reading now carries one third of your Composite, not one quarter. Since the Enhanced ACT dropped Science from the Composite calculation, every Reading point moves your Composite more than it used to.
The Composite is the average of your English, Math, and Reading scores, rounded to the nearest whole number. That rounding is good news for perfectionists: a 36 on two sections and a 35 on the third still averages to 35.67, which rounds to a Composite 36. A perfect Composite does not require three perfect sections.
And if you come up a point or two short on Reading? Any score in the 30s is impressive on a college application. One question on one test date is not the difference-maker it can feel like in the moment.
ACT Reading vs SAT Reading and Writing
If reading is one of your great strengths (or weaknesses), it may factor into which test you take. Virtually all US colleges accept either exam equally, so this is purely a question of fit. But the comparison has changed completely in the last few years, because both tests changed. The SAT went fully digital in 2024, and the ACT rolled out the Enhanced format in 2025.
Here’s how the reading-focused sections compare now:
| ACT Reading | Digital SAT Reading and Writing | |
|---|---|---|
| Passages | 4 long passage units (single passages run roughly 650-850 words) | Dozens of very short passages (roughly 25-150 words) |
| Questions per passage | About 9 | Exactly 1 |
| Format | Same test for everyone (not adaptive) | Adaptive: your second module’s difficulty depends on your first |
| Reading and grammar | Separate sections (Reading and English) | Combined into one Reading and Writing section |
| Mode | Paper or online | Digital only |
The practical difference: the ACT tests sustained reading. You hold a long passage in your head and answer a set of questions about it. The digital SAT tests quick context-switching, jumping to a brand-new mini-passage on every question, with reading and grammar questions in the same section.
If you’re a strong distance reader who builds a mental map of a long text, ACT Reading plays to that strength. If you prefer short bursts and dislike keeping track of a long passage, the SAT’s format may suit you better.
The best way to decide is with data, not vibes: take a practice section of each, then compare your scores on a conversion chart. And since you’ll want to compare the whole tests rather than one section, our full ACT vs SAT guide covers the rest.
Skills Tested in the ACT Reading Section
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of question types, it’s worth understanding what this section is actually measuring. In short, ACT Reading assesses reading comprehension: your ability to find what a passage states directly, work out what it implies, and understand how it’s constructed.
The ACT organizes Reading questions into three official reporting categories:
- Key Ideas and Details (roughly half the questions): main ideas, stated details, sequence, comparison, and cause-effect
- Craft and Structure (about a quarter to a third): word meanings, author’s voice and purpose, text structure, and point of view
- Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (about a fifth to a quarter): evaluating arguments, connecting claims and evidence, and synthesizing paired passages
You don’t need to memorize these categories, but they’re a good reminder that the test goes beyond “find the fact.”
Why Do Colleges Care?
When you get to college, you’ll read a lot. No matter your major, the reading load will likely be much heavier than in high school, and often under time pressure. Admissions officers want evidence that you can handle it. That’s really all ACT Reading is: proof of comprehension at speed.
You’ve Already Started Preparing
The good news: your current coursework is already ACT Reading prep. You’re probably taking classes in each of the ACT Reading topic areas right now, and even courses like chemistry come with substantial reading.
Want to accelerate? Add regular reading outside of school, and vary it. General-interest magazines are great for humanities-style prose, and science journalism gives you natural-science practice. But just reading for pleasure isn’t enough by itself. As you read, think critically: What does the author believe? Why include that example? What does that word mean in this context? Reading with questions in mind is exactly the skill the ACT rewards.
Question Types on the ACT Reading Test
When you start studying for ACT Reading, it can feel like every question is a brand-new beast. Pay close attention as you practice, though, and a pattern emerges. Studying the question types is one of the highest-value things you can do, because each type has an approach that works best.
ACT Reading Passages
First, the passages themselves. Every test includes four passage units: three single passages plus one paired set of two shorter passages (some questions in the paired set ask about both passages). One passage may also include a graph, table, or figure with a question or two asking you to interpret it alongside the text.
On the Enhanced ACT, passages carry one of two official labels: Literary Narrative or Informational. (Any unit, including the paired set, can be either type.) But the informational passages still draw on the same familiar topic areas the ACT has always used, so it’s worth knowing all four flavors and what to watch for in each:
Literary Narrative Passages
Fiction (or fiction-like) passages that narrate events and reveal character. Watch for the passage’s mood or tone, the relationships between characters, and the emotions implied by what characters say and how they say it. The ACT loves asking how dialogue reveals character.
Social Science Passages
Nonfiction presenting research and ideas about society. Focus on names, dates, and concepts, and track which name goes with which idea. Watch especially for cause-effect relationships, comparisons, and sequences of events.
Humanities Passages
Passages that describe or analyze ideas or works of art, often from memoirs or personal essays. They can feel like fiction, but treat their claims as fact. Pay close attention to the author’s perspective; questions often ask how the author would likely respond to a hypothetical situation.
Natural Science Passages
Nonfiction explaining a science topic and its significance. Track cause-effect relationships and comparisons, and note any stated law, definition, or theory. If the passage defines something explicitly, there’s almost certainly a question about it.
Many nonfiction passages include technical terms. Don’t worry: the passage (or a footnote) will give you what you need. ACT Reading does not test difficult vocabulary for its own sake.
One more thing: you can do the passage units in any order. If fiction isn’t your thing, save the Literary Narrative for last. Work from your strengths.
The 8 ACT Reading Question Types
There are 8 basic question types on the ACT Reading test:
- Detail
- Main Idea
- Comparative Relationships
- Cause-Effect Relationships and Sequence of Events
- Inferences/Generalizations
- Meaning of Words
- Author’s Voice
- Author’s Method/Purpose
Here’s what you need to know about each.
Detail Questions
Detail questions ask you to (go figure) find details in the passage. Most involve nothing more than locating a word or phrase in the text, which makes them the friendliest questions of the bunch. The trick is that passages are long and detail questions often skip line references. If you can’t find the answer within about 30 seconds, guess, flag it, and move on. You’ll often stumble on the answer while hunting for other questions’ evidence.
Example: The passage states that, on average, students in 2015 applied to how many more colleges than students in 2005?
Main Idea Questions
Main idea questions ask for the primary message of a paragraph, a section, or the whole passage. Expect at least one on nearly every passage. After you finish reading, summarize the main idea for yourself in a few words before looking at the choices; that keeps you from being tempted by answers that capture only one part of the passage or subtly misstate it. For paragraph-level questions, the first and last sentences are often key.
Example: The main purpose of the third paragraph is to demonstrate the author’s:
Comparative Relationships
These ask how two or more people, viewpoints, events, or theories compare. They’re more high-level than detail questions, but not scary: you just need the gist of two things and the key difference (or similarity) between them.
Example: According to the author, the significant difference between the director’s opinion and the star actor’s opinion was:
Cause-Effect Relationships and Sequence of Events
The ACT categorizes these separately, but they behave the same way: both ask what happened before something else, or what caused something else. Like detail questions, the answer is stated in the passage. The one trap: the order events are discussed is not necessarily the order they happened.
Example: The narrator conveys that her dismissal from her first job directly resulted in:
Inferences/Generalizations
Typically the hardest questions on the test, because the answer isn’t stated directly. Here’s the most important rule on the whole exam: never infer too much. The correct answer goes only a tiny step beyond what the passage states. If you catch yourself building a case for how a choice could be true, stop. You’ve gone too far.
Example: It would be reasonable to infer that the boy was not surprised by the arrival of his mother because:
Meaning of Words
Also called vocabulary-in-context questions. You’re usually not being quizzed on hard words; instead, the ACT picks a common word with multiple meanings and asks which one fits this context. Two strategies work: (1) cover the word, fill the blank with your own word, then find the choice that matches; or (2) read each choice back into the sentence and see which makes sense. Watch out for the word’s most common meaning: it’s often the trap.
Example: As it is used in line 58, “combed” most nearly means:
Author’s Voice
These ask how the author or narrator feels about the subject. They’re hard to answer retroactively, so gather evidence as you read: strong adjectives, adverbs, and verb choices are your clues. Voice questions show up especially often on the Literary Narrative passage.
Example: The narrator recalls her childhood in a remote area of Canada with a feeling of:
Author’s Method/Purpose
These ask why the author built the passage a certain way, or what they’re trying to achieve. They’re less common, but be ready: pay attention to the passage’s structure and how each paragraph builds on the last.
Example: In the context of the whole passage, the author most likely chose to include the examples of the extinction of certain bird species in order to:
That’s a lot, I know. But if you label the question types in your practice (both the ones you get right and the ones you miss), moving among these categories becomes second nature by test day.
Try an ACT Reading Practice Question
The best way to make the question types stick is to use them. Here’s a real Magoosh ACT Reading practice question. It’s a main idea question on a humanities passage, so put that “summarize before you look at the choices” advice to work.
Now try one yourself:
How’d you do? Remember: on the real test, that would be one of roughly nine questions on the same passage, so the time you invest understanding the passage pays off across the whole set.
How to Read on ACT Reading
Here’s a strategy that helps in every single situation you’ll encounter on this section: learning how to read for the ACT.
Obviously, you already know how to read. But ACT Reading isn’t reading as you know it. On the official exam (and on every practice test leading up to it), it pays to approach the passages in a specific way.
Questions First
Even though you’ll spend most of your time on the passages, the most important things on the ACT Reading test are the questions. When you start a new passage unit, look at its questions first. They contain the key words you’ll need to find in the passage. Underline or mark any proper nouns the questions mention, and note any line numbers. These become your visual cues when you skim, and they save real time.
Skim the Passage (Intelligently)
Should you dive straight into hunting key words? Not quite. First, get a general sense of what the passage is about: read the opening sentences carefully, then move through the passage at paragraph level. You’re after the gist of each paragraph and the overall shape of the piece, not the technical details. Skip past jargon; if a question needs it, you’ll come back with a purpose.
This “intelligent skim” takes a week or two of practice to trust. Students who stick with it almost always end up faster and more accurate, because they read closely only where the points are.
Know the Question Types (and Do Them in Your Order)
You’ve already met the 8 question types above. Within each passage’s question set, do the ones you find easiest first. The ACT doesn’t reliably order questions from easy to hard, so don’t let one grinding question block three gettable ones behind it.
Save the Whole-Passage Question for Last
Passage sets often end with (or include) a question about the passage as a whole. Answer it last. After working through the other questions, you’ll have a far better grasp of the passage’s content and meaning, and what felt hard at first glance becomes nearly free.
Read Actively
Think back to the last time you read for fun. The author was in the driver’s seat, pulling you along with suspense. On the ACT, you’re in the driver’s seat: you read with a goal, because you’ve already seen the questions. As you move through the passage, keep asking: Does this answer a question? Which one? Do I need more than this to commit to an answer?
Active reading keeps you alert and focused. It won’t make the passages fun (they’re meant to be a little dry, sorry), but it will make you fast and precise. And with practice, it stops feeling like effort and becomes automatic. That’s a skill you’ll use in college far beyond test day.
Common Struggles on the ACT Reading Test
Because ACT Reading is so standardized, the problems students run into are predictable too. Let’s look at the big ones and how to beat them.
To start off, here are six great strategies for tackling ACT Reading:
Pacing on ACT Reading
The time crunch here isn’t as brutal as some sections, especially now that the Enhanced ACT gives you 40 minutes for 36 questions. But it’s not leisurely either. Mastering pacing is the first thing you can do to make ACT Reading manageable.
- Time yourself as you practice. Build the feel of a 10-minute passage unit until it’s second nature. If your reading/skimming pass regularly runs past 3-4 minutes, tighten it before test day.
- Take full, timed practice sections regularly. Simulate test conditions: quiet room, timer visible, no pauses. You can set a timer to go off every 10 minutes to internalize the rhythm of moving between passage units.
- After about 10 minutes, move to the next passage unit. Four units, 40 minutes. If a unit is running long, finish the question you’re on, guess on what’s left, flag it, and move. You can come back if time remains.
- Do the passages in any order. If Literary Narrative is your strength and Natural Science makes you nervous, start with fiction and save science for last. Practice will show you your best order.
- Bubble carefully if you skip around (on paper). Answering out of order is smart; putting answers in the wrong rows is heartbreak. Double-check question numbers as you go.
The Five Wrong-Answer Traps (and How to Eliminate Them)
Where do strong readers lose points? Usually not on comprehension, but on tempting wrong answers. The ACT writes distractors in predictable flavors. When you’re stuck between two choices, don’t try to prove one right; identify which trap the other one is:
- The Opposite. The choice reverses the relationship in the passage (says increases where the passage says decreases, or swaps who did what).
- Too Extreme. Words like “always,” “never,” “all,” or “completely” turn a reasonable idea into an overstatement the passage never makes.
- Not Mentioned. Perfectly plausible in the real world, entirely absent from the passage. If you can’t point to the evidence, it doesn’t count.
- The Rotten Spot. Mostly right, with one wrong word or detail. This is why you read the entire answer choice, every time.
- Right Idea, Wrong Place. True somewhere in the passage, but not where the question is pointing (on paired passages, often true of the other passage).
Train yourself to name the trap when reviewing your practice tests. Once you can name them, you’ll spot them live, and elimination gets dramatically faster.
Running Out of Time on ACT Reading
Despite best efforts, it happens. If you realize midway through the section that you won’t finish everything, zero in on the passage types you’re best at and give them your full attention.
If you only realize it with a few minutes left, all is not lost. Never leave a blank: there’s no penalty for wrong answers, so fill in something for every question. If you have any time to read the remaining questions, eliminate one or two obviously wrong choices first; even partial elimination meaningfully raises your odds.
At the End of the Day…
Don’t overthink it. As one of Magoosh’s ACT students, Ori C., put it: “Everything is simpler than it seems! Often, when I’m puzzled by a test question, it’s because I’m making it way more complicated than it needs to be. Ask yourself, ‘Does that sound right? Does that seem logical?’ If it does, it’s probably the answer.”
Thanks, Ori!
Guide to Improving Your ACT Reading Score 2, 4, or 6 Points
Because we read every day, the idea of “learning to read better” can seem strange. Can you really improve at reading? For ACT Reading, the answer is a resounding absolutely. This is a standardized test. It has patterns, and patterns can be learned. Here’s how to convert them into 2, 4, or even 6 more points.
Raising Your Score 2 Points
On ACT Reading’s compressed scale, 2 scaled points usually comes down to a small handful of additional correct answers. The fastest route is to stop improvising and systematize your approach:
- Find the author’s point of view as you read. Strike a balance between tracking the author’s opinion, each paragraph’s function, and where key details live (so you can come back to them).
- Mark up the passage. Underline anything that seems significant: opinion words, main-idea sentences, names, transitions. On paper, the test booklet is scratch paper; online, use the highlighting and note tools.
- For vocabulary-in-context, always go back to the passage. Common words take secondary meanings in ACT passages. The familiar definition is the classic trap.
- Always pre-phrase an answer. Predict your own answer from the passage before reading the choices, then match. Don’t stand at the answer choices weighing them against each other; that’s where time disappears and traps snap shut.
- Dumb down complicated questions. If a question confuses you, rephrase it as if explaining it to a younger sibling. What is it really asking?
Raising Your Score 4 Points
First, make sure you’ve absorbed the 2-point tips, the question types, and the reading method above. Four scaled points means several more correct answers per test, and the highest-leverage place to find them is the section’s hardest unit: the paired passages.
Every ACT Reading test includes one paired set: two shorter passages on related topics, with some questions about Passage A, some about Passage B, and a few about both. Students find this unit intimidating, but it rewards a specific protocol:
- Expect the passages to obviously compare or contrast. That’s why they were chosen. Read Passage A for main idea and key points; as you read Passage B, actively note how it agrees with, differs from, or reframes A. The questions will ask; there is almost always a “how do these compare” question.
- Read A, answer A’s questions; read B, answer B’s questions; then do the both-passage questions. This chunks the reading, and it protects you from distractor answers drawn from the passage you haven’t read yet.
- Jot down main idea, tone, and purpose for each passage. The both-passage questions live almost entirely at that big-picture level. Ten seconds of notes (“A: skeptical, informing; B: enthusiastic, persuading”) makes those questions dramatically easier.
- If pacing is an issue, do the paired set last. If time runs short, check which passage has more questions attached and read that one first to maximize the points available.
- Watch the signature trap: an answer choice that is true, but true of the other passage.
Raising Your Score 6 Points
Ready to take it further? Six points takes real work, but it’s absolutely doable. Your plan depends on where you’re starting:
- Scoring below 20? Add daily reading outside schoolwork; an hour a day is a great target. Read in a variety of areas, not just what you love, and read actively (see How to Read on ACT Reading). This builds the underlying skill the strategies sit on.
- Scoring in the 20s? Take more timed practice sections and keep an error log. Label every miss by passage type and question type. A pattern will jump out, usually within two or three tests. Attack that pattern with focused lessons and drills until it’s gone, then find the next one.
- Trying to break 30 (or hit 36)? Patterns get subtler up here. For every miss, identify exactly what went wrong: Misread the question? Fell for a trap (name which one)? Ran short on time? You may not find a pattern in question types anymore, but you will find one in your mistakes, and that’s the one that matters.
Pro tip: An error log doesn’t need to be fancy. Question number, passage type, question type, which trap got you, and one sentence on what you’ll do differently. Five minutes after each practice test is the highest-value five minutes in your prep. If you want structure and explanations built in, Magoosh ACT prep pairs every practice question with a video explanation, which makes the “what went wrong” step much faster.
How to Get a Perfect 36 on the ACT Reading Test
Aiming for a perfect score? I’m impressed by your ambition! Here’s what the students who get there actually do.
Set a study schedule and cover everything. Perfect scorers don’t skip topics because they’re “usually fine.” Make sure you’ve studied every question type and every passage type, with real practice on each. Being methodical matters more than being brilliant.
Use top-notch materials. At the 36 level, quality control matters. Practice with materials that mirror the current Enhanced ACT: 36 questions, 40 minutes, four passage units with a paired set. Materials written for the old 40-question format are still mostly useful for the reading skills, but their pacing drills and score arithmetic no longer match the real thing.
Get specific about your weaknesses. At this level you’re not missing questions randomly. If the fiction passage is what stands between you and perfection, here’s some targeted advice from Magoosh expert Kristin:
That’s the level of specificity you should demand from your prep.
Build endurance. Reading appears third on test day, after English and Math. It’s not enough to ace an isolated Reading section on a fresh brain at 4pm. Regularly practice Reading after completing full English and Math sections, so your test-day stamina is a known quantity.
Stay sharp on every question. With only 27 scored questions, there’s very little wiggle room, and you can’t tell which questions count. Treat all 36 as if they’re worth a point, because as far as you can know, each one is.
Finally: don’t beat yourself up if you land on a 34 or 35. (Don’t beat yourself up anyway, but especially not for this.) Remember the Composite math: with English and Math at 36, a 35 in Reading still rounds up to a perfect Composite 36. Scores in the mid-30s are outstanding on any application, and retaking the ACT is always an option if you want another shot.
Where Can I Find More Examples and Resources?
Congrats on all the work you’ve already put in by learning how ACT Reading works! Here’s how to take it to the next level.
Start with a free ACT practice test to benchmark where you are, and grab Magoosh’s free ACT eBook. Magoosh’s free ACT prep and flashcard apps are great for found-time studying. The official ACT website (act.org) is also worth a visit for test dates, registration, and official sample questions.
We’ve also made some of Magoosh’s ACT Reading lessons available for free. Take a look:
- Approaching Passages
- Wrong Answers
- Sample ACT Reading Passage
- Basic Strategies
- Using Key Words
- Line Reference
- Meaning of Words
- Main Idea
- Author’s Voice
A Final Word
Now that you’ve finished reading about ACT Reading, explore the other sections of the ACT:
- How to Get a Perfect 36 on the ACT English Test
- How to Get a Perfect 36 on the ACT Math Test
- How to Get a Perfect 36 on the ACT Science Test
- Scoring a Perfect 12 on the ACT Essay
And of course, if you want structured lessons, practice questions with video explanations, and a study schedule that adapts to your test date, consider Magoosh ACT prep for your journey to 36.



