The ACT is comprised of 4 sections: the English, reading, math, and science sections, the writing portion is optional and usually dependent on the college the student is applying to. (Please confirm the college requirements by reading IvyBound Consulting’s college blogs at https://ivyboundconsulting.com/blog/, or checking the website of the college itself.) As of September 2020 ACT test, the student may choose to retake a section (upto 3 sections) of the test in which they want to improve their test score(s), rather than having to retake the entire ACT.
This is HUGE! I have had students who have scored 36’s on the English and reading sections and retook the entire test to raise their math and science scores. Consequently, their scores on the math and science sections did improve; however, the English and reading sections sometimes went down from their original score of 36. Essentially, retaking the test was a wash when the composite score was calculated, especially when applying to colleges who do not superscore ACT exams (that’s many of them).