PRX / F / 01
Middle school math
Number, ratio, geometry.
Open the syllabusEarly ACT math
Three courses for PreACT math
Our ACT course covers the format; the other two build the algebra and functions that most of the math section rests on.
United States · Grades 8 to 10 · ACT's early assessments
PreACT is ACT's early test for students in grades 8 to 10, given by schools as a first look at the ACT and a predicted score. There are now four versions, and through the 2026-27 school year they are being rebuilt to match the enhanced ACT: math questions drop from five answer choices to four, the PreACT math section grows to 45 minutes, and science becomes a school-level option. This page sets out what ACT publishes about each version and the math section, explains how scores relate to the ACT, and offers problems we wrote. (PreACT here is the ACT test, not the JavaScript library of the same name.)
Live math teaching since 2020 · 10,000+ students · original practice, never ACT items
In short
PreACT is a family of ACT assessments for grades 8 to 10: PreACT 8/9, PreACT, PreACT 9 Secure and PreACT Secure. Each tests English, math, reading and science on the ACT's 1 to 36 scale, with a lower top score, and predicts ACT performance. The new PreACT math blueprint, from fall 2026, has 36 items in 45 minutes with four answer choices. Our ACT Math Prep course takes students through this section live online, in a group batch or 1-on-1.
Early ACT math
Our ACT course covers the format; the other two build the algebra and functions that most of the math section rests on.
Four versions
ACT now publishes four PreACT assessments. Two are for practice and planning; the two Secure versions can also be used for placement and accountability.
| Version | Grades | Format | Total time | Top score on the 1 to 36 scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PreACT 8/9 | 8 to 9 | Paper or online, multiple choice | 130 minutes | 30 |
| PreACT | 9 to 11 | Paper or online, multiple choice | 160 minutes | 35 |
| PreACT 9 Secure | 8 to 9 | Online, multiple choice | 155 minutes | 32 |
| PreACT Secure | 9 to 11 | Online, multiple choice | 160 minutes | 35 |
Source: PreACT Assessments, ACT, read 31 October 2026. ACT's FAQ gives the new PreACT blueprint as 160 minutes with science and the earlier one as 130. PreACT and ACT are ACT trademarks; we are not connected with ACT.
ACT says PreACT assessments "offer 8th, 9th, and 10th graders an early experience with ACT test items" and provide a predicted ACT score. They are "Anchored on the ACT College and Career Readiness Standards."
Schools choose when to give PreACT 8/9 and PreACT, "anytime between early September to late May." The two Secure versions run in a four-week fall window in September and October and a six-week spring window in March and April.
ACT says schools, districts or states can use PreACT 9 Secure and PreACT Secure "for program placement, high-stakes, or accountability purposes", and its enhancement page mentions uses such as dual enrollment.
If your child's school uses a Secure version for placement, the score matters more than a practice PreACT would. Ask the school which version it gives and how it uses the result.
The 2026 changes
Yes. ACT says the PreACT assessments "are aligning with the Enhanced ACT", on a timetable that runs from spring 2026 to a PreACT 8/9 date ACT has not yet announced.
| Assessment | New blueprint | English, Math, Reading Composite | Science optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| PreACT 9 Secure | Spring 2026 | Spring 2026 | Spring 2026 |
| PreACT Secure | Spring 2026 | Spring 2026 | Spring 2026 |
| PreACT | Fall 2026 | Fall 2026 | Fall 2026 |
| PreACT 8/9 | Not yet announced ("TBD") | Fall 2026 | Fall 2026 |
ACT lists "Reduced Answer Choices for Math Questions (5 to 4)". With four options, elimination is a little easier, and a blind guess has a 1 in 4 chance instead of 1 in 5: our arithmetic.
The new PreACT math section is 36 items, 32 of them scored, in 45 minutes, against 36 items in 40 minutes on the earlier PreACT blueprint, according to ACT's FAQ.
From fall 2026 the Composite is "calculated using English+Math+Reading", the same as the enhanced ACT, so math is one of three parts of the Composite rather than one of four.
Science becomes optional, but ACT is clear that the choice is the school's or district's, "not at the individual student preference level."
ACT also explains that each section now includes embedded field test items: "Operational items are scored, while embedded field test items are not." They look like ordinary questions and are mixed in, so a student should treat every question as if it counts.
The math section
The same kinds of math as the ACT, at a lower level of difficulty. ACT publishes the reporting categories for the enhanced PreACT and PreACT Secure math sections.
| Reporting category | Operational items | Share of test |
|---|---|---|
| Preparing for Higher Math | 25 | 78% |
| of which Number and Quantity | 3 to 4 | 9 to 13% |
| of which Algebra | 5 to 7 | 16 to 22% |
| of which Functions | 5 to 7 | 16 to 22% |
| of which Geometry | 5 to 7 | 16 to 22% |
| of which Statistics and Probability | 3 to 4 | 9 to 13% |
| Integrating Essential Skills | 7 | 22% |
| Modeling (overlaps the others) | At least 7 | At least 22% |
Preparing for Higher Math is the newer content: algebra, functions, geometry, statistics and number and quantity at the level a student meets in high school courses.
Integrating Essential Skills is the earlier math used in harder combinations: rates, percentages, proportional reasoning, area and averages, often several in one question.
ACT says items in the Modeling category "overlap with and are counted in other reporting categories." At least 7 of the 32 scored items ask the student to turn a situation into math and interpret the result.
That is the skill we teach most deliberately, because it is the one ordinary homework practises least.
| Test | Math items | Minutes | Seconds per item |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enhanced ACT | 45 | 50 | 67 |
| PreACT and PreACT Secure | 36 | 45 | 75 |
| PreACT 9 Secure | 34 | 45 | 79 |
The PreACT gives a little more time per math item than the ACT. ACT says the math section's time grew "to better align with the enhanced ACT average time per question." For PreACT 8/9, ACT's FAQ lists 35 math items and says its enhanced blueprint "is coming soon". Calculator rules are not stated on the ACT pages we read, so ask the school what is allowed.
Scores and reports
On the ACT's own 1 to 36 scale, with a top score below 36, plus predicted ACT score ranges.
ACT says every PreACT version is "Aligned to the same 1-36 score scale as the ACT", with a top score of 30 for PreACT 8/9, 32 for PreACT 9 Secure and 35 for PreACT and PreACT Secure. Each also gives a STEM score.
A capped scale means a PreACT 8/9 score of 30 is the highest available, not a sign that 6 points were missed.
ACT says reports for all four assessments include predicted ACT score ranges, and PreACT 8/9 and PreACT 9 Secure reports also include predicted PreACT score ranges.
A prediction is a range, not a promise, and it describes the student as they were on test day. Two years of algebra later, the picture can be quite different.
ACT also says students who take PreACT 8/9 or a paper PreACT "may even opt to have their information shared with colleges and scholarship agencies." That choice is the family's; nothing on the test requires it.
Worked examples
Our own problems for three of ACT's reporting categories. They are not ACT items, and ACT's own practice is linked from the school's test materials.
| Step | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| 1. Name the variables | m = films rented in a month, C = monthly cost |
| 2. Fixed part and rate | Fixed 12, plus 0.5 per film |
| 3. The model | C = 12 + 0.5m |
| 4. Use it forward | 14 films: C = 12 + 7 = 19 |
| 5. Use it backward | A bill of 20.5 means 0.5m = 8.5, so m = 17 films |
| 6. Interpret the slope | Each extra film adds half a unit; the graph rises 1 for every 2 films |
| Step | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| 1. Multiply the numbers | 3.2 x 5 = 16 |
| 2. Add the exponents | 10^4 x 10^-2 = 10^2 |
| 3. Combine | 16 x 10^2 |
| 4. Normalise | 16 = 1.6 x 10, so the answer is 1.6 x 10^3, which is 1,600 |
| Measure | Value | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Mean | 375 / 7, about 53.6 | Pulled up by the single 200 |
| Median | 30 | The middle value, unaffected by the outlier |
| Better choice | Median | Six of seven students read 40 minutes or less |
Each example asks for a decision as well as a calculation: which variable is which, which form is normal, which measure is fair. That is what ACT's Integrating Essential Skills and Modeling categories describe, and it is why we teach younger students to explain their choice in a sentence before they compute.
Practice and plans
Ten problems we wrote across ACT's math reporting categories, with answers, then short plans for grade 8 and grade 10.
| # | Category | Problem | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Number and Quantity | Simplify 2^5 x 2^-3 | 4 |
| 2 | Number and Quantity | Write 0.00072 in scientific notation | 7.2 x 10^-4 |
| 3 | Algebra | Solve 5(x + 1) = 3x + 17 | x = 6 |
| 4 | Algebra | Solve x^2 - 9 = 0 | x = 3 or x = -3 |
| 5 | Functions | If f(x) = 2x^2 - x, find f(-2) | 10 |
| 6 | Functions | A line has slope -2 and y-intercept 7. Its x-intercept? | 3.5 |
| 7 | Geometry | Area of a circle of diameter 10 | 25 pi |
| 8 | Geometry | Interior angle sum of a hexagon | 720 degrees |
| 9 | Statistics and Probability | P(sum of 7) rolling two fair dice | 1/6 |
| 10 | Essential Skills | A runner covers 5 km in 25 minutes. Speed in km per hour? | 12 |
From PreACT to the ACT
Our summary of where each version sits, using ACT's published grades and score caps.
| Stage | Test | Top score |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 8 or 9 | PreACT 8/9 or PreACT 9 Secure | 30 or 32 |
| Grade 9 to 11 | PreACT or PreACT Secure | 35 |
| Grade 11 or 12 | The ACT | 36 |
Every question may be scored, even though some are field tests. Treat them all the same.
With four answer choices, ruling out one or two wrong ones is often enough to find the right one.
Ask which PreACT version your school uses, and whether it is for practice or placement.
A predicted ACT range is a starting point. School math over the next two years moves it most.
The catalogue
Live classes from middle school foundations to full ACT preparation.
PRX / F / 01
Number, ratio, geometry.
Open the syllabusPRX / F / 02
Algebra 1 in depth.
Open the syllabusPRX / F / 03
Modeling in Python.
Open the syllabusPRX / H / 01
Geometry to precalculus.
Open the syllabusPRX / H / 02
Data and chance.
Open the syllabusPRX / H / 03
For strong younger students.
Open the syllabusPRX / T / 01
The enhanced ACT.
Open the syllabusPRX / T / 02
If you sit the SAT too.
Open the syllabusPRX / T / 03
Functions in depth.
Open the syllabusHow lessons run
Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.
Weekdays
After school, linked to class math.
Weekends
Practice sections under a 45-minute clock.
1-on-1
Planned to your school's PreACT date.
ACT's reporting categories, in turn.
Situations into functions.
Elimination practised properly.
Calm work for eighth graders.
The same scale and categories.
Fifteen to twenty, or one to one.
Student work
Modeling is easier to see when you code it. Examples on student labs.
AI and ML
An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target.
AI and ML
A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student.
AI and ML
An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online.
Web app
A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.
Fees
Fees are charged per month in US dollars with nothing to sign up front. Prepare for one PreACT sitting, then decide about ACT preparation when the report arrives.
Free first class
USD 0
no card required
Group batch
USD 100
a month, billed in US dollars
One to one
USD 150
a month, billed in US dollars
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Questions families ask
It is ACT's early assessment for students in grades 8 to 10, given by schools. ACT says it offers an early experience with ACT test items and a predicted ACT score, in English, math, reading and science.
PreACT 8/9 is for grades 8 and 9, takes 130 minutes and has a top score of 30. PreACT is for grades 9 to 11 and has a top score of 35; its new blueprint takes 160 minutes with science.
ACT says the new PreACT blueprint, from fall 2026, has 36 math items, 32 of them scored, in 45 minutes. ACT lists 35 math items for PreACT 8/9, whose new blueprint is still to come.
Yes. ACT is aligning PreACT with the enhanced ACT: math questions go from five answer choices to four, the Composite uses English, math and reading, and science becomes optional at the school or district level.
On the ACT's 1 to 36 scale, with top scores of 30 for PreACT 8/9, 32 for PreACT 9 Secure and 35 for PreACT and PreACT Secure. Reports include predicted ACT score ranges.
PreACT 8/9 and PreACT are mainly practice and planning tools. ACT says schools, districts or states can use the Secure versions for program placement, high-stakes or accountability purposes, so ask how your school uses it.
The ACT pages we read do not state the PreACT calculator rule. Ask your school's test coordinator, and practise with the calculator your child will be allowed.
Lightly: one look at the format, steady school math, and a practice section under a 45-minute limit. The report is most useful when it reflects what the student really knows.
Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.
No. We are an independent online school. We describe PreACT from ACT's published pages and teach with our own problems.
Elsewhere on this site
More math help for grades 8 to 10.
Where PreACT leads.
The PreACT 8/9 year for many.
Algebra 1 and functions.
Geometry and the PreACT year.
The core of Preparing for Higher Math.
For students sitting both tests.
Part of the guide: US math placement and college readiness tests
More guides: US state math tests by state · US gifted and selective school tests · Homeschool and school math curricula guide · US math and coding competitions guide
Start here
Tell us which PreACT version the school gives and when. The teacher will start with modeling and whichever reporting category looks weakest.
See how we teach, or explore all our courses.
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