ACT on Dec. 12, 2026: Register by Fri., Nov. 6, Late Deadline Nov. 29, Scores Dec. 17

The regular registration deadline for the Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026 ACT is Friday, Nov. 6 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time (CT), according to ACT’s 2026-2027 test dates page. That is 12:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Saturday, Nov. 7, by our conversion. Late registration closes Nov. 29 with a fee, and ACT lists online scores for Dec. 17. Below are a countdown, the fee math, the test-day timeline and a comparison with the Dec. 5 SAT.

ACT December 2026 deadlines and score dates

ACT notes that “deadlines occur at 11:59 pm Central Time.” The days left are counted from Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 (our math).

Step	Date	Days left from Nov. 3
Regular registration deadline	Fri., Nov. 6	3
Late registration deadline (late fee applies)	Sun., Nov. 29	26
Photo upload and standby deadline	Mon., Dec. 7	34
Test day	Sat., Dec. 12	39
Online initial score release	Thu., Dec. 17	44
Paper initial score release	Tue., Dec. 22	49

Dates are from ACT’s test dates and scores pages. The printable below puts the same rows on one sheet; the December 2026 printable calendar and November 2026 printable calendar hold the dates for the rest of the month.

When do December ACT scores come out?

ACT lists Dec. 17, 2026 for the online initial score release and Dec. 22 for paper. ACT’s scores page also says “ACT scores are typically released within a few weeks after your test date” and “Over 97% of ACT scores are available online within 1-4 weeks after your test date.” Check the scores page after the test for any change to the Dec. 17 date.

How much does the Dec. 12 ACT cost?

ACT’s fees page lists $70.00 for the ACT without writing and a $25.00 writing add-on, which “can be added or removed through the late deadline.” The late registration fee is $42.00. The totals below are our math from those figures.

Scenario	Total
On time, no writing	$70
On time, with writing	$95
Late, no writing	$112
Late, with writing	$137

Other fees from the same page: $49.00 to change the test form, test day or test center, and $75.00 for standby, which ACT refunds if you are denied admission on test day or the registration was cancelled because no photo was provided.

What time should you arrive for the ACT?

ACT’s test day page says to “plan to be inside the test center no later than 8:00 a.m. to allow time for check-in” and that “late arrivals cannot be admitted.” Upload your photo by Dec. 7, then print the admission ticket from MyACT.

Bring:

• A photo ID that “must be a hard plastic card - paper or electronic IDs are not accepted.”
• Sharpened No. 2 pencils with erasers; ACT says no pens or mechanical pencils.
• A permitted calculator, for the math test only (optional).

Testing time by section, per ACT:

Section	Questions	Minutes
English	50	35
Math	45	50
Reading	36	40
Science (optional)	40	40
Writing (optional)	1 prompt	40

Adding those up gives 125 minutes for English, math and reading, 165 with science and 205 with science and writing (our math; breaks not included).

Dec. 12 ACT or Dec. 5 SAT: which deadline comes first?

The SAT comes a week earlier, and its registration closes two weeks before the ACT test day. College Board lists Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026 at “7:45 AM Local,” with the registration deadline on Nov. 20 and late registration on Nov. 24 (“additional fees may apply”). It says “all registration deadlines expire at 11:59 p.m. ET, U.S.”

	ACT	SAT
Test day	Sat., Dec. 12, 2026	Sat., Dec. 5, 2026
Registration deadline	Fri., Nov. 6	Fri., Nov. 20
Late registration	Sun., Nov. 29 (fee $42)	Tue., Nov. 24 (fees may apply)
Deadline clock	11:59 p.m. CT	11:59 p.m. ET

Our SAT and ACT test dates for 2026-27 story lists every remaining exam. If you test on a school-year schedule, the AP exam schedule for 2027 has the May dates, and the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) dates for 2026-27 cover that exam.

ACT’s next dates after Dec. 12 are Feb. 27, 2027 (registration Jan. 22, late Feb. 9) and April 10, 2027 (registration Mar. 5, late Mar. 23).