Topeka ? Kansas students scored higher than the national average this year on the ACT college readiness exam.

The ACT consists of four tests in English, math, reading and science. Each is scored on a scale from 1 to 36, with scores averaged to create a composite score.

The average composite score in Kansas stayed flat this year at 22, slightly above the national average of 21.1.

Seventy-nine percent of Kansas graduates in the class of 2011 took the test, up from 75 percent last year. Nationally, 49 percent of this year’s graduates took the test.

Scores are generally highest in states with the lowest percentages of students taking the exam.

College-bound students in the Lawrence school district posted improved scores on the ACT exam for 2010-11, the district reported Wednesday.

In all, 462 students in district schools recorded an average score of 24, exceeding the state and national averages.

The district’s average was up from 23.6 a year earlier, 23.7 in 2008-09, 23.1 in 2007-08, and 23.4 in 2006-07.

Students at Free State High School averaged 24.2 last year, while students from Lawrence High School averaged 23.7.