ACT’s remote proctoring launches this fall/winter for students in the U.S.
IOWA CITY, Iowa—In response to uncertainty and school cancellations due to COVID-19, ACT announced today it will offer a flexible schedule for summer 2020 test dates and remote proctoring for fall/winter 2020. 
“Our mission compels us to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to take the ACT test, particularly now as other admission information, such as grades, courses, and GPAs, may be missing or partial,” said Marten Roorda, ACT CEO. “The insights provided by ACT scores are more important to students and institutions than ever during this critical time, when colleges are forced to make decisions in such a disruptive climate.”
ACT is committed to providing options and flexibility to ensure that students can test and schools will have scores. The organization’s primary concern at this time is the health and safety of students and its testing staff.
As CDC and local guidelines for safety allow, ACT will offer its June and July national test dates as scheduled and will additionally provide makeup test dates for June and July. The makeup test date for the June 13 national test date will be June 20, and the makeup test date for the July 18 test date will be July 25. ACT will work with individual national test centers should they need to reschedule to the makeup test date and students will be notified in advance. Students may also make free test date changes from the June to the July national test date.
In addition to the three previously planned fall test dates on September 12, October 24 and December 12, ACT will also offer a remote proctoring option for the ACT test in late fall/early winter 2020, allowing students to take the test at their home on a computer, or at other safe and convenient locations. ACT will launch this option as part of its national testing program. The fee waivers ACT provides to students from low-income homes will apply to the remote proctoring option, and ACT is considering other ways to address access and equity issues.
In addition to the three previously planned fall test dates on September 12, October 24 and December 12, ACT will also offer a remote proctoring option for the ACT test in late fall/early winter 2020, allowing students to take the test at their home on a computer, or at other safe and convenient locations. ACT will launch this option as part of its national testing program. The fee waivers ACT provides to students from low-income homes will apply to the remote proctoring option, and ACT is considering other ways to address access and equity issues.
“During this time of crisis due to COVID-19, we understand that students need more flexibility in taking the ACT test, and these steps are intended to help students stay on track with college planning and career exploration,” said Roorda. “We aim to ensure that all those who want to take the test are provided with a safe environment and test options to do so. We are also committed to providing solutions that address the needs of the majority of colleges that require students to submit a test score to support their applications. And while some colleges are making temporarily test optional adjustments to admission requirements, we remain committed to helping provide scores for students who have planned to test and submit scores in preparation—and selection—in their college search.”
ACT’s new remote proctoring option coming in the late fall/early winter builds upon the extensive research and development work that underpins the new online ACT test option, section retesting and superscoring enhancements that will be available at national test centers starting in September 2020.
“We are working closely with our partners in higher education and relying on their guidance in the development of this new option to ensure that it will meet their needs for score integrity,” Roorda noted. “We’ve been exploring the option of remote proctoring for some time. We are pleased to be able to launch this experience that provides greater access to the test for students but also upholds critical aspects of test security and score validity for colleges and scholarship organizations.”
ACT is committed to ensuring the new remote proctoring option is accessible, affordable and protects the longstanding integrity of the ACT test. Colleges across the country rely on ACT scores for decisions about admissions, scholarships, course placement and career guidance and academic advising practices.
ACT will evaluate the remote proctoring solution as a possibility in the future for state and district testing programs and international administrations. More details about the remote proctoring option will be available in the coming weeks.
In addition to these new testing opportunities this summer, students will have multiple chances to take the ACT this fall:
- ACT will continue to offer fall testing for states and school districts across the U.S., as it has for the past four years.
- Students can take the ACT on campuses of hundreds of participating colleges with the ACT On-Campus solution.
- ACT will be offering its new individual section retest option this fall for those students who wish to retake only one portion of the exam.
