How to Get a 28, 29, 30, 31, or 32 on the ACT®

Read time: 5 min  ·  Last updated: June 21, 2026

How do I get a 28? How do I get a 29? How do I get a 30? How do I get a 31? How do I get a 32?

First, you need an official score. Here's how to pull one – so make sure you do that first. You need to break it down by reporting category. Otherwise, if you don't, you won't know the actual sections you're weak on, and you're throwing darts at a board without being able to see the target. Not a very good method, but it's the one most people use, because access to this kind of knowledge hasn't been translated for people before I built this website.

So get your official score by following that guide, then check out these articles. This page assumes your son or daughter has a section score in the 28–32 range. That could mean math is sitting at 28–32 while other sections are higher or lower – work this page for whichever section falls in this band.

A note on what's here: this page covers only the standards that are new at the 28–32 level. The skills below 28 are assumed mastered. If they're not, start with the 24–27 band first, because everything here builds on that foundation. This is the band where the difference between a good score and a great one is precision, not raw content – the skills get subtle. The next step is to see which actual ranges within that score are lowest. If it's algebra, study algebra below. If geometry, study geometry.

English

The printed English reporting categories are Production of Writing (POW), Knowledge of Language (KLA), and Conventions of Standard English (CSE). The ACT's underlying TOD and ORG standards roll up into POW; KLA into KLA; and SST, USG, and PUN into CSE.

Production of Writing

  • TOD 601 — Determine relevance when considering material that is plausible but potentially irrelevant at a given point in the essay. Study this skill
  • TOD 602 — Identify the purpose of a word, phrase, or sentence when the purpose is subtle (e.g., supporting a later point, establishing tone) or when the best decision is to delete the text in question. Study this skill
  • TOD 603 — Use a word, phrase, or sentence to accomplish a subtle purpose (e.g., adding emphasis or supporting detail, expressing meaning through connotation). Study this skill
  • ORG 601 — Determine the need for transition words or phrases to establish subtle logical relationships within and between paragraphs. Study this skill
  • ORG 602 — Determine the most logical place for a sentence in a fairly complex essay. Study this skill
  • ORG 603 — Provide a subtle introduction or conclusion to or transition within a paragraph or essay (e.g., echoing an essay's theme or restating the main argument). Study this skill
  • ORG 604 — Rearrange the sentences in a fairly complex paragraph for the sake of logic and coherence. Study this skill

Knowledge of Language

  • KLA 601 — Revise vague, clumsy, and confusing writing involving sophisticated language. Study this skill
  • KLA 602 — Delete redundant and wordy material that involves fairly sophisticated language (e.g., “the outlook of an aesthetic viewpoint”) or that sounds acceptable as conversational English. Study this skill
  • KLA 603 — Determine the need for conjunctions to create subtle logical links between clauses. Study this skill
  • KLA 604 — Use the word or phrase most appropriate in terms of the content of the sentence when the vocabulary is fairly sophisticated. Study this skill

Conventions of Standard English

  • SST 601 — Recognize and correct subtle disturbances in sentence structure (e.g., danglers where the intended meaning is clear but the sentence is ungrammatical, faulty subordination and coordination of clauses in long or involved sentences). Study this skill
  • SST 602 — Maintain consistent and logical verb tense and voice and pronoun person on the basis of the paragraph or essay as a whole. Study this skill
  • USG 601 — Ensure subject-verb agreement in some challenging situations (e.g., when the subject-verb order is inverted or when the subject is an indefinite pronoun). Study this skill
  • USG 602 — Correctly use reflexive pronouns, the possessive pronouns its and your, and the relative pronouns who and whom. Study this skill
  • USG 603 — Use the appropriate word in less-common confused pairs (e.g., allude and elude). Study this skill
  • PUN 601 — Use commas to avoid ambiguity when the syntax or language is sophisticated (e.g., to set off a complex series of items). Study this skill
  • PUN 602 — Use punctuation to set off a nonessential/nonrestrictive appositive or clause. Study this skill
  • PUN 603 — Use apostrophes to form possessives, including irregular plural nouns. Study this skill
  • PUN 604 — Use a semicolon to link closely related independent clauses. Study this skill

Math

The printed Math reporting categories are Preparing for Higher Math (PHM) – itself split into Number & Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Geometry, and Statistics & Probability – plus Integrating Essential Skills (IES) and Modeling (MDL).

Same reminder as the lower bands: IES and MDL are not separate question types. The ACT scores them as overlays. IES re-scores the easier, lower-grade-level content woven through every question; MDL re-scores any question that asks the student to produce, interpret, or evaluate a model. A single question can count toward a content category and IES and MDL at once. There's no "IES page" or "MDL page" to study – you raise both by mastering the content standards below and by drilling word-problem translation. At this band, the ACT folds algebra and functions together because they're closely connected, so some standards apply to both. Where a standard is modeling-heavy, I've marked it (MDL).

Number & Quantity

  • N 601 — Apply number properties involving prime factorization. Study this skill
  • N 602 — Apply number properties involving even/odd numbers and factors/multiples. Study this skill
  • N 603 — Apply number properties involving positive/negative numbers. Study this skill
  • N 604 — Apply the facts that π is irrational and that the square root of an integer is rational only if that integer is a perfect square. Study this skill
  • N 605 — Apply properties of rational exponents. Study this skill
  • N 606 — Multiply two complex numbers. Study this skill
  • N 607 — Use relations involving addition, subtraction, and scalar multiplication of vectors and of matrices. Study this skill

Algebra

  • AF 601 (MDL) — Solve word problems containing several rates, proportions, or percentages. Study this skill
  • AF 602 (MDL) — Build functions and write expressions, equations, and inequalities for common algebra settings (e.g., distance to a point on a curve and profit for variable cost and demand). Study this skill
  • AF 603 (MDL) — Interpret and use information from graphs in the coordinate plane. Study this skill
  • AF 604 — Given an equation or function, find an equation or function whose graph is a translation by a specified amount up or down. Study this skill
  • A 601 — Manipulate expressions and equations. Study this skill
  • A 602 — Solve linear inequalities when the method involves reversing the inequality sign. Study this skill
  • A 603 — Match linear inequalities with their graphs on the number line. Study this skill
  • A 604 — Solve systems of two linear equations. Study this skill
  • A 605 — Solve quadratic equations. Study this skill
  • A 606 — Solve absolute value equations. Study this skill

Functions

  • F 601 (MDL) — Relate a graph to a situation described qualitatively in terms of faster change or slower change. Study this skill
  • F 602 (MDL) — Build functions for relations that are inversely proportional. Study this skill
  • F 603 — Find a recursive expression for the general term in a sequence described recursively. Study this skill
  • F 604 — Evaluate composite functions at integer values. Study this skill

Geometry

  • G 601 — Use relationships involving area, perimeter, and volume of geometric figures to compute another measure (e.g., surface area for a cube of a given volume and simple geometric probability). Study this skill
  • G 602 — Use the Pythagorean theorem. Study this skill
  • G 603 — Apply properties of 30°-60°-90°, 45°-45°-90°, similar, and congruent triangles. Study this skill
  • G 604 — Apply basic trigonometric ratios to solve right-triangle problems. Study this skill
  • G 605 — Use the distance formula. Study this skill
  • G 606 — Use properties of parallel and perpendicular lines to determine an equation of a line or coordinates of a point. Study this skill
  • G 607 — Find the coordinates of a point reflected across a vertical or horizontal line or across y = x. Study this skill
  • G 608 — Find the coordinates of a point rotated 90° about the origin. Study this skill
  • G 609 — Recognize special characteristics of parabolas and circles (e.g., the vertex of a parabola and the center or radius of a circle). Study this skill

Statistics & Probability

  • S 601 — Calculate or use a weighted average. Study this skill
  • S 602 — Interpret and use information from tables and charts, including two-way frequency tables. Study this skill
  • S 603 — Apply counting techniques. Study this skill
  • S 604 — Compute a probability when the event and/or sample space are not given or obvious. Study this skill
  • S 605 — Recognize the concepts of conditional and joint probability expressed in real-world contexts. Study this skill
  • S 606 — Recognize the concept of independence expressed in real-world contexts. Study this skill

Reading

The printed Reading reporting categories are Key Ideas & Details (KID), Craft & Structure (CS), and Integration of Knowledge & Ideas (IKI). The ACT's CLR, IDT, and REL standards roll up into KID; WME, TST, and PPV into CS; and ARG and SYN into IKI.

Key Ideas & Details

  • CLR 601 — Locate and interpret minor or subtly stated details in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • CLR 602 — Locate important details in complex passages. Study this skill
  • CLR 603 — Draw subtle logical conclusions in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • CLR 604 — Draw simple logical conclusions in complex passages. Study this skill
  • CLR 605 — Paraphrase virtually any statement as it is used in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • IDT 601 — Infer a central idea or theme in more challenging passages or their paragraphs. Study this skill
  • IDT 602 — Summarize key supporting ideas and details in complex passages. Study this skill
  • REL 601 — Order sequences of events in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • REL 602 — Understand implied or subtly stated comparative relationships in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • REL 603 — Identify clear comparative relationships in complex passages. Study this skill
  • REL 604 — Understand implied or subtly stated cause-effect relationships in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • REL 605 — Identify clear cause-effect relationships in complex passages. Study this skill

Craft & Structure

  • WME 601 — Analyze how the choice of a specific word or phrase shapes meaning or tone in complex passages. Study this skill
  • WME 602 — Interpret virtually any word or phrase as it is used in more challenging passages, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings. Study this skill
  • WME 603 — Interpret words and phrases in a passage that makes consistent use of figurative, general academic, domain-specific, or otherwise difficult language. Study this skill
  • TST 601 — Analyze how one or more sentences in complex passages relate to the whole passage. Study this skill
  • TST 602 — Infer the function of paragraphs in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • TST 603 — Analyze the overall structure of complex passages. Study this skill
  • PPV 601 — Infer a purpose in more challenging passages and how that purpose shapes content and style. Study this skill
  • PPV 602 — Understand point of view in complex passages. Study this skill

Integration of Knowledge & Ideas

  • ARG 601 — Analyze how one or more sentences in complex passages offer reasons for or support a claim. Study this skill
  • ARG 602 — Infer a central claim in more challenging passages. Study this skill
  • SYN 601 — Draw logical conclusions using information from multiple portions of two literary narratives. Study this skill

Science

The printed Science reporting categories are Interpretation of Data (IOD), Scientific Investigation (SIN), and Evaluation of Models, Inferences & Experimental Results (EMI).

Interpretation of Data

  • IOD 601 — Compare or combine data from a simple data presentation with data from a complex data presentation. Study this skill
  • IOD 602 — Determine and/or use a complex (e.g., nonlinear) mathematical relationship that exists between data. Study this skill
  • IOD 603 — Perform a complex interpolation or complex extrapolation using data in a table or graph. Study this skill

Scientific Investigation

Evaluation of Models, Inferences & Experimental Results

  • EMI 601 — Determine which complex hypothesis, prediction, or conclusion is, or is not, consistent with a data presentation, model, or piece of information in text. Study this skill
  • EMI 602 — Determine whether presented information, or new information, supports or weakens a model, and why. Study this skill
  • EMI 603 — Use new information to make a prediction based on a model. Study this skill

Once This Band Is Consistent

When your son or daughter is reliably scoring in the 28–32 range, the last layer of new standards – the hardest ones, the difference between a 32 and a perfect score – lives on the next page. Move on to how to get a 33–36.

We use cookies on our site. Learn more.
Chat on WhatsApp