News release
Colton Fernandez, a junior at West Ranch High School, earned the highest possible ACT Composite score of 36 on the ACT test.
About one-quarter of 1% of students who take the ACT — formerly known as the American College Test — earn a top score, according to a news release from ACT.
In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2025, only 2,958 out of more than 1.38 million students who took the ACT earned a top composite score of 36, the release said.
The ACT consists of section tests in English, math and reading, each scored on a scale of 1-36, as well as optional science and writing tests. The ACT Composite score is the average of the English, math and reading test scores. The scores for ACT’s optional science and writing tests are reported separately and are not included in the ACT Composite score.
“Earning a top score of 36 on the ACT is a significant accomplishment that signals a student’s readiness for the challenges ahead,” ACT CEO Steve Tapp said in the release. “It opens doors to their future and is an achievement we’re proud to celebrate.”
The ACT test is a curriculum-based achievement exam that measures what students should have had the opportunity to learn in school. Students who earn a top Composite score have demonstrated mastery of the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in first-year college courses in the core subject areas, the release said.
Students who earn a 36 Composite score have met all four of the ACT College Ready Benchmarks, meaning they have a 50% chance of earning a B or higher in related first-year, credit-bearing college courses and a 75% chance of earning a C or better in those courses, according to the release.
ACT data show that students in college who have met at least three ACT benchmarks are more than twice as likely to graduate on time as students who have met none.
ACT test scores are accepted by major four-year colleges and universities across the U.S., and they are one of the many criteria that inform admissions, scholarship awards, and course placement decisions.
