Back-to-school season comes with a lot: schedule changes, senior meetings, parent questions, testing plans, classroom visits, and the steady stream of students asking, “Wait, when should I take the ACT?”
Good news: we’ve made it easier to find the ACT resources you need, when you need them.
The ACT Counselor Toolkit has been updated with a cleaner layout, better organization, and new materials counselors can use throughout the school year. Think of it as your ACT resource hub for helping students understand their options, prepare for test day, and take their next steps with confidence.
We know counselors do not have extra time to dig through multiple pages looking for one flyer, link, or talking point. The updated toolkit is organized around the work you are already doing, including:
You’ll also find test date posters and flyers, including Spanish-language options, that can be printed, posted, emailed, or shared with students and families as they plan for the year ahead.
One of the newest resources in the toolkit is Your Complete Guide to the ACT, a student-facing PowerPoint that walks students through the ACT journey in one place.
It covers ACT basics, key dates, registration, test-day prep, scoring, MyACT tools, and next steps. You can use it for classroom presentations, small-group sessions, family nights, advisory lessons, or those quick “Can you explain the ACT to me?” conversations that happen in the hallway between bells.
The toolkit also includes Test Prep Resources with Kaplan® to Share in the Classroom. These short mini-lessons are available for English, math, reading, and science and include an ACT question, answer, and key takeaways.
They are designed to be simple to use and easy to share with teachers, college and career staff, or anyone helping students build test-day confidence. You will also find ACT test tip posters with quick, section-specific strategies students can review before test day.
If students are asking how to practice, send them to the updated Free ACT Practice Tests and Test Prep page.
This page now includes two new practice tests, bringing the total to four, along with sample questions, videos, and other free prep materials. Whether students are preparing on their own, using resources in class, or just trying to figure out where to start, this page gives them practical options.
Back-to-school is also a great time to identify students who may qualify for ACT fee waivers and make sure they have what they need early.
ACT fee waivers help remove financial barriers for eligible students and include benefits such as up to two free ACT test registrations, free access to The Official ACT Self-Paced Course, Powered by Kaplan, free access to ACT My Answer Key (at no additional cost) on eligible test dates, unlimited additional score reports, and the opportunity to request college application fee waivers at participating institutions.
You can find more details in the How to Order ACT Fee Waivers 2026/2027 Quick Start Guide.
We will continue updating the Counselor Toolkit throughout the school year with new resources, timely reminders, and materials you can use with students and families.
Bookmark the page, share it with your team, and come back whenever you need ACT resources that are ready to use, easy to share, and built with busy counselors in mind.
Have questions or need support? Reach out to the ACT Counselor Outreach team at counselor@act.org.