ACT Scores:

You have the right to permanently remove a test score from your ACT record. From the ACT’s perspective, students own their scores, and may send the scores or delete them as they please (as long as those tests were not used to document participation in State and District Testing). Weeks or months or years after receiving an ACT score that falls below your expectations, you have the right to delete that testing record from your portfolio of ACT tests. The process is referenced on the ACT Test Scores page in response to the question, “Can scores be cancelled?” Here’s what it says online:

Outside of state testing and district testing, you may request to cancel scores for a particular test date. Contact us online and we will provide you a form to complete and return to us. We will then permanently cancel that score record for the indicated test date.          

Alternatively, you can call ACT – (319) 337-1270 – to request the special form to delete your scores; follow the prompts until scoring & reporting info. Once you get the form, complete it and mail to:

ACT Institutional Services
P.O. Box 451
Iowa City, IA 52243-0451

The tricky part comes if you have taken advantage of the four free college reports, and then wish to cancel the scores for that particular test. If you decided on test day to report your scores to various colleges, and then immediately after the testing wanted to cancel them without sending, you must submit a request by the Thursday after the Saturday test; so, you won’t see the scores before deciding whether or not to send them to colleges. In other words, the option to delete your test scores after receiving them needs to happen before you put in the order to send colleges your scores.

SAT Scores:

The College Board is not nearly as generous as ACT with cancellation requests. If you want to cancel an SAT score, the clock is ticking from the moment you finish your test. Unlike the ACT, you must cancel your SAT before you can see the scores and by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the Thursday after your test date. Students with disabilities are likely to have a slightly later deadline. The College Board policy is spelled out in detail on its Canceling Scores web page. While you can request cancellation while still at the test center, we advise waiting a day or two to seriously consider it. Still want to cancel the scores? Then, submit by the deadline an SAT Request to Cancel Scores Form or letter to the testing agency by fax (610-290-8978) or mail:

U.S. Postal Service Express Mail (U.S. only)

SAT Score Cancellation
P.O. Box 6228
Princeton, NJ 08541-6228

Other overnight mail service or courier (U.S. or international)

SAT Score Cancellation
1425 Lower Ferry Road
Ewing, NJ 08618