The big picture
Compare test scores and subjects over time.
Inside the digital ACT
What one test
can tell us.
A score is a starting point. The questions behind it tell your student's tutors where to go next.
Was a missed question a content gap, a rushed decision or a second guess? Did the clock run out, or did a few hard questions take time away from the rest? We can look at those possibilities together.
A closer look at our digital testing platform. Paper testing has a different workflow.
One example. Four different subject stories.
Illustrative student and results. Select any screen to see the original at full size.
01 / See the whole picture
Start with the student.
Then look inside the score.
One profile brings together the baseline exam, later mock tests, skills and assigned work. It gives your student's tutors a shared place to follow the story.
Progress, on one page
Jordan's baseline composite is 23. Their latest mock test is 25, against a target of 28. Those numbers tell us where the example stands. The subject and skill views help us ask what changed.
The detail underneath
Check the questions behind each skill, including how many there were.
The change from 23 to 25 is illustrative. It is not a claim about expected gains or the effect of tutoring.
Look at progress and the counts behind each skill
A percentage is more useful when we can see its size. One question can suggest something to check. A repeated pattern can support a more focused choice of practice.
Four subjects. Four different questions to ask.
The composite doesn't tell the whole story. The same report crosses subject, domain, skill, difficulty and timing.
Which rules need work?
Jordan gets 10 of 10 in Knowledge of Language, but 9 of 20 in Conventions of Standard English.
Where does the difficulty change?
Easy and medium Algebra are strong. The harder questions tell a different story.
What happened near the end?
Three questions were opened and left blank. None were unvisited.
Data or experiments?
Interpreting data is a strength. Experiments and arguments need a closer look.
What a baseline exam records, including testing conditions
The report keeps the score alongside how many questions were answered, answered-only accuracy, pace and session activity. Those are different measures, and they answer different questions.
The result, in context
- How much was completed?
- Jordan answered 164 of 171 questions. The answered count keeps blanks visible.
- How accurate were the answers?
- 105 of the 164 answered questions were right: 64% answered-only accuracy. Blank questions aren't in that denominator.
- What was the pace?
- About 56 seconds per question overall. The section and question views show where that time went.
The testing conditions
02 / Find what matters
The useful part is
how the views connect.
A hard question answered quickly tells a different story from a hard question that took three minutes. A wrong answer that becomes right tells a different story from a correct answer changed at the end.
A gap in the rule?
Review the skill and work through the reasoning on another question.
A decision under pressure?
Look at timing, return visits and answer changes before choosing what to practice.
Fast can be a clue, too.
In Sentence Structure, Jordan gets 2 of 8 right. Six hard questions take just 2 minutes 25 seconds altogether, about 24 seconds each.
That combination suggests two possibilities worth checking: rushing through difficult grammar, or not yet recognizing which rule to use. A focused review can help distinguish them.
Meanwhile, Knowledge of Language is 10 of 10. We can keep a strength in view while choosing a priority.
Solid until the questions get hard.
Jordan gets all 13 easy and medium Algebra questions right, then 1 of 4 hard Algebra questions. Across Math, the hard questions take more than 20 minutes, with 2 of 15 right.
That points toward checking the harder applications of familiar skills, alongside the time spent on them. It doesn't mean starting Algebra over.
See the hard-question score and time together
Strong with data. Still building with experiments.
Jordan gets all 15 easy and medium Interpretation of Data questions right, and 15 of 17 in that domain overall. Hard Scientific Investigation is 0 of 5.
The broader experiments-and-arguments result is 7 of 23. That is a more useful direction for practice than treating every Science question alike.
The one Variables question was skipped. The blank-question mark in the heatmap and the 0 of 1 in the skill snapshot describe the same event.
Where are the unearned points?
Of the 66 questions Jordan doesn't earn, 41 are hard, 20 medium and 5 easy. The hard total includes 37 wrong answers and 4 skipped questions.
The answer-change pattern differs by difficulty, too. Medium changes fix four answers and break none. Hard changes fix three and break four.
We can ask where time and review are helping, rather than applying one rule to every question.
Follow the clock
Every visit has a place
in the Reading story.
This chart follows all 36 questions in the order Jordan reached them. It shows the first pass, returns and how each visit ended. The full legend stays with the chart.
Four moments worth a closer look
Two kinds of unfinished
Skipped: opened, then left blank.
Unvisited: never reached.
Jordan's last three Reading questions were skipped. That is different from running out of time before seeing them.
What did those final Reading returns accomplish?
The question for the next attempt is concrete: how should Jordan decide between returning to a flagged question and completing the remaining questions?
Does more time always mean a better answer?
Time needs context.
On questions taking 91 to 150 seconds, Jordan gets 3 of 14 right. But on questions taking more than 150 seconds, they get 5 of 7 right.
A single time cutoff would hide that difference. Tutors can combine time with the skill, difficulty and question itself.
Correct, but slow
A possible chance to make a sound method more efficient.
Long, and still wrong
A possible sign to revisit the approach or recognize when to move on.
English shows why answer changes need a closer look
Jordan finishes the first English pass with about four minutes left. Eight returns take 3 minutes 11 seconds and fix five answers, while one previously correct answer becomes wrong. The overall benefit doesn't make every return useful.
From a pattern to a particular question
Open the question.
See what happened.
A result becomes more useful when your student's tutors can inspect the answer, the explanation, the sequence of visits and the tools used, all around the same question.
Six useful details on one screen
One question, three decisions.
Jordan first chooses A and flags Question 34. On a return they choose B, the correct answer. On the last visit they change to D.
The activity record shows that Jordan had eliminated D before ultimately choosing it. That gives a tutor something specific to ask about, rather than assuming the final answer reflects everything the student knew.
Reveal the layers that help
Response, Answer, Solution, Feedback and Annotations can be shown separately. A tutor and student can revisit the thinking before revealing the explanation.
Another lens, alongside Jordan's own attempt.
The Insights panel places the attempt beside the platform's question-level comparisons: the share answering correctly, time and answer-choice distribution.
In this example, 58% of students answer Question 26 correctly, in about 41 seconds on average. Jordan answers incorrectly in 14 seconds on one visit.
See the Behavior & tools detail
Three kinds of answer change.
- Wrong → right: seven changes help.
- Right → wrong: four changes hurt.
- Wrong → different wrong: four changes leave the result unchanged.
The list connects each change with the question, difficulty, time and tools. In Jordan's baseline, all four right-to-wrong changes are on hard questions, one in each subject.
A blanket instruction to always trust the first answer would miss the seven useful changes. A blanket instruction to revisit everything would miss the cost of the four harmful ones.
See the three-category summary
Work on the question itself
Make the reasoning visible.
The whiteboard gives tutors and students a place to circle the clue, connect ideas and write the rule beside the question. It is available in review sets, too.
Before a session
Tutors can mark up missed questions so the work is ready to discuss.
During a session
Pens, arrows, shapes, text and a laser pointer help show the reasoning as it happens.
When the student returns
Saved drawings remain with the question. A student's saved review-set whiteboard can also be viewed by staff.
Tool use is part of the story, too
Using a tool is different from using it well.
Jordan uses the calculator on 42 Math questions and gets 21 right, below their own Math average. Highlights and notes appear on 21 Reading questions, with 14 right, a little below their Reading average.
Those observations don't show that the tools caused the result. Tutors can open particular questions to examine how the tool was used.
Reading Question 20 is one example: Jordan uses the line reader for four seconds, chooses B and flags the question. Fourteen minutes later, they return and change to A, the wrong answer.
Follow Question 20's activity timeline
03 / Practice and check again
Use the test to choose
what comes next.
A report is most useful when it leads to purposeful work. Review sets revisit the thinking. Modules give students a full section under the clock. Later mock tests let tutors look for changes.
Review sets, from both directions
Tutors can assign a set from the questions a student needs to revisit. Students can also build their own, bringing missed, skipped, flagged or slower questions back into focus.
Tutor assigned
Choose questions by subject, skill, difficulty, result, timing and more.
Student built
Turn a test's missed or uncertain questions into another opportunity to work.
The whiteboard is available in these sets, and the student's drawings can be saved. Confidence prompts add another question: did the student understand the answer, or were they guessing?
How students create a review set, and what another attempt can reveal
The same question, a second attempt.
On the baseline exam, Jordan answers Question 26 with C in 14 seconds. In review, they choose D in 48 seconds and feel confident.
Across the set, Jordan gets 7 of 10 right. A wrong answer despite confidence, or a correct answer made as a guess, gives a tutor a different starting point.
See the confidence prompt
Between tests: one full section at a time.
Homework is mostly modules: a full ACT section, timed like the real test, assigned by that subject's tutor. The purpose includes endurance, stamina, timing and pacing. Problem sets provide supplemental practice.
Math, under the clock
A full 45-question section with a 50-minute limit.
Assigned by the Math tutorScience, under the clock
A full 40-question section with a 40-minute limit.
Assigned by the Science tutorA focused skill check
A smaller set for a particular area the tutor wants to revisit.
Supplemental to module workThese assignment cards are designed examples, not platform screenshots.
See coursework recorded on Jordan's profile
Then check again
Did the pattern change?
Four weeks later, Jordan's example mock test composite is 25, compared with 23 on the baseline exam. English is up three points, Reading two and Math one. Science is reported separately and is up two.
The behavior changes matter alongside the scores. The mock test has five wrong-to-right changes and no right-to-wrong changes, compared with four harmful changes on the baseline exam.
These example changes illustrate a comparison the platform can show. They are not a prediction, a typical result or evidence of a tutor's effect.
Keeping families informed
What you'll hear from us.
You don't have to read all these screens. Your student's tutors do. Here is what families can count on.
A score report
The results for that test, and how they compare with every test before it.
Program consultations
Consultations you can schedule if you have questions or concerns.
Call, email or text
Answers to your questions by phone, email or text.
Questions families ask
Start with what
you're wondering.
Can we see progress across tests?
Yes. The profile brings baseline and later mock test results together. Subject and skill views add detail behind the overall change.
See Jordan's profileDoes the composite hide subject differences?
It can. The four subject cards show scores, pace, accuracy and domains separately, so tutors can look for different needs in each subject.
See the four subject storiesIs a low percentage always a pattern?
No. The count matters. One missed question is a different amount of evidence from repeated misses across many questions. The skill views keep those counts visible.
See the counts behind the percentagesHow can we tell a content gap from a timing problem?
We look at the skill, difficulty and time together, then open individual attempts or revisit them in a review set. The data helps frame the question; a number by itself doesn't establish the cause.
Explore the crossed viewsWhat happens when the student runs out of time?
The report distinguishes questions opened and left blank from questions never reached. The pacing chart shows the visits and returns leading up to those blanks.
Follow the Reading clockDoes spending longer help?
Sometimes. In Jordan's example, the longest time band is more accurate than the band just below it. Tutors can examine the actual questions instead of applying a single cutoff.
See the timing examplesShould students change answers?
Some changes help and some hurt. The report separates wrong-to-right, right-to-wrong and wrong-to-different-wrong changes. It also connects them with difficulty and time.
Explore answer changesCan tutors see more than the final answer?
Yes. The question review includes visits, answer changes, flags, tool use and the activity timeline, alongside the response and explanation controls.
Tour the question reviewWhat do the peer comparisons mean?
They show question-level comparisons available in the platform. In this showcase they are illustrative, and the peer population is not verified. They are not ACT national ranks.
See the question-level comparisonsCan students and tutors work directly on a question?
Yes. The whiteboard supports marks, text and other drawing tools. It is also available in review sets. Saved student drawings can be viewed by staff.
See the whiteboardCan students make their own review sets?
Yes. Both students and tutors can create review sets. The original attempt and the later review give tutors two views of the student's thinking.
See both routesWhat does homework look like?
Mostly modules: one full ACT section under its time limit, assigned by that subject's tutor. Problem sets supplement the module work.
See assignment examplesWhat will our family receive?
After every mock test, a score report with the results and comparison with every prior test. Families can schedule program consultations and ask questions by phone, email or text.
See the family updatesHow do we get started?
Every program starts with a free consultation. Test prep starts with a free baseline exam, so the plan begins with where your student is.
Book a free consultationHelpful pages from the official ACT site
For official score interpretation and test information, start with ACT's own resources. These are separate from the illustrative peer comparisons shown above.
- Understanding your ACT scores
- National ranks
- How superscores work
- ACT and SAT® score comparison
- Free official ACT preparation
Many colleges consider superscores. Each college sets its own rules.
A useful place to begin
Let's learn where
your student is.
Start with a free consultation. Test prep starts with a free baseline exam.