This PreACT cheat sheet strips ACT's grade 9–10 practice exam down to the facts examiners test most across English, Math, Reading, and Science. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Pair it with the rest of your free PreACT toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
PreACT exam at a glance
- Sections: English, Math, Reading, Science (ACT, Inc.)
- Questions & time: About 136 questions in roughly 2 hours 10 minutes
- Score scale: 1–35 per section; no pass/fail
- Composite (2025–26): Average of all four section scores, plus a predicted ACT range
- Cost: About $12 per student, ordered and administered by your school
What’s on the PreACT cheat sheet
- English (45 questions) — grammar, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, comma splices, FANBOYS, and cutting wordiness — the largest section.
- Mathematics (36 questions) — the must-memorize formulas — slope, Pythagorean theorem, triangle and circle area, mean/median/mode, and proportions.
- Science (30 questions) — reading graphs and tables, direct vs. inverse trends, interpolation and extrapolation, and experiment variables.
- Reading (25 questions) — main idea vs. detail, conservative inference, vocabulary in context, and matching evidence to the claim.
How to use it in your final week
- Lock in the English rules first — subject-verb agreement, comma splices, FANBOYS, and cutting wordiness — because English is the biggest section at 45 questions.
- Memorize the short Math formula list on the sheet (slope y = mx + b, Pythagorean a² + b² = c², triangle area ½bh, circle πr²) so you never lose time deriving them under the 40-minute clock.
- Skim the Science moves the night before: read the figures first, spot direct vs. inverse relationships, and save Conflicting Viewpoints for last — most answers come straight off the graphs.
- Do one timed section from the practice test after each review pass so PreACT pacing (about 2 hours 10 minutes across four sections) feels routine, and remember there's no guessing penalty — answer every question.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your PreACT practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
PreACT cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the PreACT cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no sign-up and no account. It sits alongside Career Employer's free PreACT practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so you can cram from one place and drill in another.
It condenses the highest-yield facts from all four sections — English grammar and punctuation rules, the Math formulas worth memorizing, Reading question-type moves, and Science data-interpretation shortcuts — plus how the 1–35 scale and Composite are calculated so nothing on test day surprises you.
There is no pass or fail. Each section is reported on a 1–35 scale (the ACT runs 1–36), and for 2025–2026 the Composite is the average of English, Math, Reading, and Science. ACT also gives a predicted ACT range and Readiness Benchmarks, so the goal is the highest scale score you can earn.
It reflects the 2025–2026 blueprint — about 136 questions across four sections — and flags the fall-2026 change where the Composite shifts to English, Math, and Reading with Science optional. We review it against ACT's official PreACT pages so the facts stay accurate.
Click the download button or the preview card at the top of this page and the PDF opens instantly. Bookmark the page so you can pull it up the morning of your school's PreACT administration for one last review pass.
References
- 1.ACT, Inc.. “PreACT — Test Overview.” ACT.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.ACT, Inc.. “PreACT Assessments — FAQs.” ACT.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.ACT, Inc.. “PreACT Scores (1–35 Scale, Composite).” ACT.org. ↑
- 4.ACT, Inc.. “Using Your PreACT Results (Benchmarks).” ACT.org. ↑
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