Free Downloads for the ACT
Official ACT Preparation Materials Available for Free Download
The ACT website offers several preparation resources, some of them free to download. Preparing for the ACT Test is a PDF the organization updates each year; it includes an overview of the exam, a rundown of test-center rules, a full-length practice test that reflects the current test format, and instructions for scoring your practice test. ACT also posts a free preview of the Official Guide — typically its opening "About the ACT" chapter — which summarizes the test's content, question types, and the skills each section measures.
Other Free Official ACT Downloads
The ACT website also provides free downloads on other ACT topics. Test-takers may wish to examine the four-page Resources for Students and Their Families PDF. This document lists available ACT resources on college applications, choosing college majors, matching student interests with careers, and preparing for university life. Links to the relevant sections of the ACT website are included, allowing students to easily explore online ACT materials in each of these areas. Test-takers should also review the most recent edition of ACT's Terms and Conditions document, a PDF that outlines privacy policies, score reporting procedures, rules for registration and testing, and test security. For those interested in gaining a deep understanding of the ACT as an assessment, the ACT Technical Manual is worth reading. This document extensively covers ACT test development, test specifications, and issues related to test accessibility.
ACT Published Research Available for Free Download
Although some ACT publications are available only to member institutions, the organization offers much of its research (or summaries thereof) for free download. "Preparation Matters Most in STEM," for example, is an ACT "Issue Brief" that argues for policies to improve the quality of upper-secondary instruction in those disciplines. "Promoting Equity in Education," an "ACT Underserved Learner Initiatives Press Kit," outlines the steps the ACT organization has taken to accommodate underserved groups of test-takers. The Condition of College and Career Readiness is an annual report that features data on national attainment of ACT benchmarks, including statistics on benchmark achievement by race, underserved criteria, and intended college major.
Downloads of ACT Forms
The easiest way to acquire important ACT forms is via download from the ACT website. Common examples include the Additional Score Report Order Form (for students who want score reports beyond those included with the registration fee), the Student Identification Form (for test-takers who lack ACT-approved identification), and ACT policy documents for students requesting accommodated testing or English-learner supports. These forms are usually printed, completed by hand, and mailed to the ACT office in Iowa City, Iowa.
Online Review of ACT Prep Books
Online book repositories often have previews or full-text versions of official and unofficial ACT preparation volumes. These websites can help students learn more about official materials and evaluate the quality of unofficial titles. However, available full-text versions of ACT books are nearly always older editions that were written for now-discontinued iterations of the ACT assessments. Whether viewing these books in whole or in part, test-takers should verify the date of publication in the book itself and check this date against the most recent ACT changes. New editions of the Official Guide are published on a regular basis for this reason, and the publication of multiple editions of the same unofficial title can be (but isn't always) an indication of that title's quality.