1.2 Exam Format, Scoring, and the National Career Readiness Certificate
Key Takeaways
- The assessment has 35 items: 30 scored plus 5 unscored pilot, with a 55-minute time limit in English and 70 minutes in Spanish, delivered online or on paper.
- Scale scores range from 65 to 90 and map to level bands: 65-71 is below Level 3, 72-76 is Level 3, 77-80 is Level 4, 81-82 is Level 5, 83-85 is Level 6, and 86-90 is Level 7.
- There is no single pass/fail percentage; the skill level you achieve determines your NCRC certificate tier.
- The 30 scored items split into Apply Instructions or Information (15 items), Identify Main Ideas and Details (10 items), and Identify Meanings and Definitions of Words and Phrases (5 items).
- NCRC tiers are Bronze (Level 3+), Silver (Level 4+), Gold (Level 5+), and Platinum (Level 6+), and all three NCRC assessments must meet that level.
1.2 Exam Format, Scoring, and the National Career Readiness Certificate
Quick Answer: You will answer 35 items in 55 minutes (30 are scored; 5 are unscored pilot questions). You receive a scale score from 65 to 90 and a level score from 3 to 7. There is no single pass/fail percentage — the level you reach sets your NCRC tier: Bronze (L3+), Silver (L4+), Gold (L5+), or Platinum (L6+), as long as your Applied Math and Graphic Literacy scores also hit that level.
Test Format at a Glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total items | 35 (30 scored + 5 unscored pilot) |
| Time limit | 55 minutes (English); 70 minutes (Spanish) |
| Delivery | Online (computer) or paper-based |
| Languages | English and Spanish (the Spanish route leads to the separate NCRC en Español) |
| Item style | Multiple choice, based on real workplace documents |
The 5 pilot items are not counted toward your score. ACT includes them to gather statistics for future forms, and you will not know which items are pilot, so you must treat every item as if it counts. Because 30 scored items are spread across five levels, each scored item matters — a single Level 5 or Level 6 item can be the difference between a Silver and a Gold certificate.
The Three Skill Areas and Their Weighting
The 30 scored items are distributed across three skill areas. Knowing the weighting tells you where to invest study time:
| Skill Area | Scored Items | What It Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Apply Instructions or Information | 15 of 30 (greatest weight) | Following steps, applying rules/policies to situations, using information to act or decide |
| Identify Main Ideas and Details | 10 of 30 | Picking out the central point, specific details, implied details, and the rationale behind a document |
| Identify Meanings and Definitions of Words and Phrases | 5 of 30 | Determining word, acronym, and jargon meaning from context or from a stated definition |
These counts come straight from Table 3.1 of the ACT WorkKeys NCRC Assessments Technical Manual (March 2026), which fixes the item distribution every form must meet. Apply Instructions or Information is the heaviest skill area at 15 of 30 scored items, so exactly half of your score depends on it. This is where higher-level items concentrate: applying a policy with exceptions, or deciding what to do when two instructions seem to conflict. A study plan that underweights this area will underperform, no matter how strong your vocabulary is.
Score Scales: 65 to 90 and Levels 3 to 7
You receive two scores. The scale score ranges from 65 to 90 and is the precise, fine-grained measure ACT reports. The level score ranges from 3 to 7 and is the practical measure employers and the NCRC use. Each level covers a band of scale scores; the lowest score in the band is the cut point you must reach to earn that level:
| Level | Scale Score Band | Cut Point | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below Level 3 | 65–71 | — | Did not reach the Level 3 standard |
| Level 3 | 72–76 | 72 | Least complex — short, simple documents; details stated directly |
| Level 4 | 77–80 | 77 | Moderately simple — slightly longer texts; some inference |
| Level 5 | 81–82 | 81 | Intermediate — multi-step instructions, more complex contexts |
| Level 6 | 83–85 | 83 | Complex — complicated policies, conditional logic, denser language |
| Level 7 | 86–90 | 86 | Most complex — intricate documents, exceptions, abstract reasoning |
The bands come from ACT's WorkKeys Scale Score Interpretation Guide. Note how narrow the Level 5 band is: a single scale-score point separates 81 from 83, so on this assessment the gap between Gold-qualifying and Platinum-qualifying reading is genuinely small. A higher level score means you can handle more complex workplace reading. Because each level builds on the ones below, you cannot reliably hit Level 6 or 7 without a firm grip on Levels 3 through 5.
The National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC)
The NCRC is the credential that ties the three WorkKeys assessments together. To earn a certificate, you must reach at least the target level on all three — Workplace Documents, Applied Math, and Graphic Literacy. The tier is set by your lowest level score across the three.
| NCRC Tier | Required Level | What It Signals to Employers |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Level 3 or higher | Foundational job-ready reading, math, and graphic literacy skills for many O*NET occupations (ACT publishes no percentage for this tier) |
| Silver | Level 4 or higher | Foundational skills for 71% of the occupations in the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database |
| Gold | Level 5 or higher | Foundational skills for 93% of O*NET occupations |
| Platinum | Level 6 or higher | Foundational skills for 99% of O*NET occupations; the highest tier |
The percentages above are the figures ACT states on its own NCRC digital badges. Note that ACT deliberately gives no number for Bronze, so treat any source quoting a specific Bronze percentage with caution.
There Is No Pass/Fail Percentage
A common mistake is to ask, "What percentage do I need to pass?" ACT does not publish a single pass/fail cutoff for Workplace Documents. You do not pass or fail the assessment — you achieve a level, and that level determines your NCRC tier. A candidate who needs a Silver certificate should target Level 4 or higher on all three assessments; a candidate aiming for Gold must reach Level 5 or higher on all three. Set your target tier first, then work backward to the level you need on this assessment.
Putting It Together: A Worked Example
Suppose you score Level 5 on Workplace Documents, Level 4 on Applied Math, and Level 5 on Graphic Literacy. Your NCRC tier is Silver, not Gold, because the certificate is set by the lowest level — Level 4 in Applied Math. To reach Gold, you would need to raise the Applied Math result to Level 5 while keeping the other two at Level 5 or above. This is why a balanced study plan across all three assessments beats over-investing in just one.
How many of the 35 items on the Workplace Documents assessment are scored, and how many are unscored pilot?
Which skill area carries the greatest weight on the scored portion of the assessment?
A candidate scores Level 5 on Workplace Documents, Level 4 on Applied Math, and Level 6 on Graphic Literacy. What NCRC tier does the candidate earn?