ACT to Offer Students Additional Summer ACT Test Date Options and ACT Test Online at Home

ACT’s test-at-home remote proctoring launches this fall/winter for students in the US

IOWA CITY, Iowa—In response to uncertainty and school cancellations due to COVID-19, ACT announced today it will offer a flexible schedule for summer 2020 test dates and test-at-home options for fall/winter 2020.

“Our mission compels us to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to take the ACT test, particularly now as other admission information, such as grades, courses, and GPAs, may be missing or partial,” said Marten Roorda, ACT CEO. “The insights provided by ACT scores are more important to students and institutions than ever during this critical time, when colleges are forced to make decisions in such a disruptive climate.”

ACT is committed to providing options and flexibility to ensure that students can test and schools will have scores. The organization’s primary concern at this time is the health and safety of students and its testing staff.

As CDC and local guidelines for safety allow, ACT’s flexible scheduling offered throughout the months of June and July will provide students with reschedule options—without change fees—for June 13 to June 20 and for July 18 to July 25. Students may also make free test date changes from the June to the July national test date.

In addition to three previously planned fall/winter 2020 national test dates in September, October and December, ACT will also offer a remote proctoring option for the ACT test, allowing students to take the test at their home on a computer. ACT will launch the test-at-home option in late fall/early winter 2020 as part of its national testing program.

“During this time of crisis due to COVID-19, we understand that students need more flexibility in taking the ACT test, and these steps are intended to help students stay on track with college planning and career exploration,” said Roorda. “We aim to ensure to all those who want to take the test are provided with a safe environment and the test options to do so. We are also committed to providing solutions that address the needs of the majority of colleges that require students to submit a test score to support their applications. And while some colleges are making temporary test optional adjustments to admission requirements, we remain committed to helping provide scores for students who have planned to test and submit scores in preparation—and selection—in their college search.”

ACT’s new remote proctoring option builds upon the extensive research and development work that underpins the new online ACT test option, section retesting and super scoring enhancements that will be available at national test centers starting in September 2020.

“We are working closely with our partners in higher education and relying on their guidance in the development of this new option to ensure that it will meet their needs for score integrity,” Roorda noted.  “We’ve been exploring the option of remote proctoring for some time. We are pleased to be able to launch this experience that provides greater access to the test for students but also upholds critical aspects of test security and score validity for colleges and scholarship organizations.”

ACT is committed to ensuring the new remote proctoring option is accessible, affordable and protects the longstanding integrity of the ACT test. Colleges across the country rely on ACT scores for decisions about admissions, scholarships, course placement and career guidance and academic advising practices.

ACT will evaluate the remote proctoring solution as a possibility in the future for state and district testing programs and international administrations.  More details about the remote proctoring option will be available in the coming weeks.

In addition to these new testing opportunities this summer, students will have multiple other chances to take the ACT this fall:

• ACT will continue to offer fall testing for states and school districts across the U.S., as it has for the past four years.
• Students can take the ACT on campuses of hundreds of participating colleges with the ACT On-Campus solution.
• ACT will be offering its new individual section retest option this fall for those students who wish to retake only one portion of the exam.

During this difficult time, ACT is also providing free digital learning and workforce resources to assist students, teachers, schools and workers impacted by COVID-19.

ACT is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people achieve education and workplace success. Grounded in 60 years of research, ACT is a trusted leader in college and career readiness solutions. Each year, ACT serves millions of students, job seekers, schools, government agencies, and employers in the U.S. and around the world with learning resources, assessments, research, and credentials designed to help them succeed from elementary school through career. To learn more, visit www.act.org.