ACT
An ACT superscore takes your best score on each section from any of your test dates and builds a new composite from them. Whether a college uses it is the college's call. This guide shows how the arithmetic works and how to plan around it.
Instead of using the composite from one test day, a superscore uses your highest English score, your highest Math score and your highest Reading score, even if they came from different dates. It then averages those best section scores. With the rule used on this site, the composite is the average of English, Math and Reading, rounded to the nearest whole number. See how the composite works with Science optional.
On your first test date you score 26 in English, 24 in Math and 27 in Reading. The sum is 77 and the average is 25.67, so the composite is 26. On your second date you score 25, 28 and 26. The sum is 79 and the average is 26.33, so the composite is 26 again.
Your best sections are English 26, Math 28 and Reading 27. Their sum is 81 and the average is exactly 27, so the superscore composite is 27, one point above either single test date.
Policies differ. Some colleges superscore the ACT, some use your highest single composite and some consider all scores. A college also decides how it handles Science if you took it. Read the testing page on its admissions site, and for each college write down the rule. For the same reason as the SAT, read superscoring explained for how this plays out in retake planning.
ACT publishes information on its site about how scores and any superscore are reported to colleges, and what you can send. Because those details are set by ACT and can change, check ACT's current guidance, and use the college's page to learn what it will accept.
See whether to retake for a general decision process; the same logic applies to the ACT.
If you take both tests, you can compare the results with the official concordance. A superscore on one test does not need to match a superscore on the other. The conversion page shows how scores line up, and the superscore calculator handles the SAT side.
No. Some do, some use your highest single composite and some consider all scores. Check each college's testing page.
Treat it as a calculation that colleges make or that ACT may report on request. Check ACT and the college for how it is produced and sent.
Under the composite rule used on this site, Science does not change the composite. Check each college's policy on Science scores.
Last reviewed 2026-10-14. This guide is general information, not advice for your situation. Test and admissions policies change, so check the official College Board, ACT or college page for the current rule.
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