SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — This year’s Illinois high school graduates performed slightly better on the ACT college entrance exam than last year’s, in one of the final years test will serve as a mandatory state assessment.

Illinois students’ 20.7 average score on the four-subject test just edged the previous year’s 20.6, but it fell just short of the national average of 21. The test is graded on a 36 point scale.