Comparison of the SAT and ACT

sat-act

Most colleges accept both SAT and ACT test scores. Use this comparison of the two tests to decide which is best for you or your student.

Last updated in October 2025.

	Digital SAT (Bluebook)	Paper ACT
Scoring	400-1600 Total Reading and Writing, 200-800 Math, 200-800	1-36 Composite 1-36 on each section
Timing	2 Hours and 14 min (without extra time) Students with extra time complete in one day	2 hours and 5 min. Students approved for double time will test over two days
Structure	Stage Adaptive. Each section has two stages. The difficulty of the second stage is based upon the performance on the first stage	Static/non-adaptive. Questions do not change based on performance,
Sections	2 Sections with 2 stages each Reading and Writing Stage 1 (32 min, 27 items) Reading and Wriiting Sage 2 (32 min, 27 items) Math Stage 1 (35 min, 22 items) Math Stage 2 (35 min, 22 items)	4 Sections English (35 min, 75 items) Math (50 min, 60 items) Reading (40 min, 40 items) Science (40 min, 40 items)
Math	Calculator and reference sheet built into platform/Bluebook.	May use approved calculator
Reading and Writing	54 passage and question sets One short reading passage per question	5 medium-length passages for English Reading includes 4 long passages with 10 questions each
Accommodations	All timing and audio (screen reader) accommodations will be supported in Bluebook. Students must be approved for accommodations 8 weeks prior to the test.	Timing and audio accommodations are supported. Students must be approved for accommodations 4 weeks prior to the test