The Enhanced ACT’s core is 125 minutes — English, Math, Reading — with Science an optional 40 on top. Fewer questions, more seconds for each one. Here are the numbers, and what they mean for how you practice.
| Section | Questions | Minutes | Per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 50 | 35 | ≈ 42 sec |
| Math | 45 | 50 | ≈ 67 sec |
| Reading | 36 | 40 | ≈ 67 sec |
| Science (optional) | 40 | 40 | ≈ 60 sec |
Skip Science and the whole test is 125 minutes. Take it and you’re at 165. Either way, every section gives you more time per question than the old ACT did — which sounds like mercy and is actually a trap.
The old ACT was, above all, a race — plenty of students knew the material and lost to the clock. With roughly 42 seconds per English question and 67 in Math and Reading, the Enhanced ACT shifts the contest from raw speed toward accuracy under mild pressure. Guessing-by-necessity happens less; being genuinely unsure gets exposed more.
That’s why pacing drills alone age badly here. The practice that matches this format is skill-first: find the question types where you hesitate, fix those, and let the easier clock do the rest. It’s the shape Ribbit’s daily sessions are built around — each practice question is budgeted at its section’s published pace — with full-length mocks under the real section clocks when you want the dress rehearsal. This page is one chapter of the full guide to what changed.
The free 20-question diagnostic samples all four sections and returns an honest starting range — the place pacing work begins. No account needed.