GRE General Test: format and scoring

GRE General Test

The current GRE General Test runs about 1 hour and 58 minutes (118 minutes) across five separately timed sections: one 30-minute Analytical Writing "Analyze an Issue" task, two Verbal Reasoning sections (12 questions in 18 minutes, then 15 questions in 23 minutes) and two Quantitative Reasoning sections (12 questions in 21 minutes, then 15 questions in 26 minutes) — 54 scored questions plus one essay. Analytical Writing is always first; the Verbal and Quantitative sections may appear in any order after it. Verbal and Quantitative are section-level adaptive: the first section of each measure is of average difficulty and the difficulty of the second depends on performance on the first. Within a section the taker can move forward and backward, mark and review, and change answers. A basic on-screen calculator is available for Quantitative Reasoning only. Verbal and Quantitative are reported 130–170 in one-point increments and Analytical Writing 0–6 in half-point increments, with nothing subtracted for incorrect answers. The current format contains no unscored and no research section.

Version described

Shorter GRE General Test (format effective September 22, 2023; verified for the 2026–27 administration year)

Admissions cycle

2026–27

Sections and timing

Navigation rules

What you may and may not do once a section has started. Our timed practice enforces these on the server, not just in the interface.

• You can move backward and forward freely within a section.
• You can change an answer before the section is submitted.
• Once a section is submitted it cannot be reopened.

Scoring

Correct answer

1 point(s)

Wrong answer

No penalty

Left blank

0 point(s)

Reported scale

Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scaled score (each measure reported separately): 130–170This records the real reported GRE scale as a fact about the exam; we do not produce a score on it. ETS reports Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning 130–170 in one-point increments, each measure scaled separately, and reports Analytical Writing separately on a 0–6 scale in half-point increments. NS (No Score) is reported for a measure in which no question was answered, and for an Analytical Writing response with no text whatsoever.

• Raw score is the count of correct answers: "The raw score is the number of questions you answered correctly."
• No wrong-answer penalty: "Nothing is subtracted from your score for incorrect answers." An omitted question simply scores zero, so learners are coached to answer every question, matching ETS's own advice.
• All questions within a section contribute equally to the final score.
• No partial credit on any multi-answer item. Verbal select-one-or-more, Sentence Equivalence and multi-blank Text Completion are all scored all-or-nothing.
• A measure with no answered questions yields NS (No Score) rather than a numeric score.
• Analytical Writing responses are never auto-scored here. The ETS rubric is shown for self-assessment only.
• Percentile ranks are published by ETS only as summary statistics for a fixed reference window (test takers from 1 July 2022 through 30 June 2025) and not at raw-score granularity, so we ship no percentile lookup presented as ETS-equivalent.

What is tested

ETS’s own content domains. Our question bank is tagged against these, so a results page names the same skills the test maker does.

• Analyze an IssueThe entire Analytical Writing measure (one task)

  The single 30-minute Analytical Writing task: evaluate an issue, take a position and develop an argument for it with reasons and examples.

  Articulate and support complex ideas · Construct arguments · Sustain a focused and coherent discussion · Control the elements of standard written English · Evaluate an issue and consider its complexities · Develop an argument with reasons and examples supporting one's own position

• Reading ComprehensionAbout half of the Verbal Reasoning measure is passage-based

  Applies to BOTH Verbal Reasoning sections (verbal-1 and verbal-2). ETS does not publish a separate Verbal content-domain tree, so the three published question types are used as the Verbal domains.

  Understanding the meaning of individual words and sentences · Understanding the meaning of paragraphs and larger bodies of text · Distinguishing between minor and major points · Summarizing a passage · Drawing conclusions from the information provided · Reasoning from incomplete data to infer missing information · Understanding the structure of a text in terms of how the parts relate to one another · Identifying the author's assumptions and perspective · Analyzing a text and reaching conclusions about it · Identifying strengths and weaknesses of a position · Developing and considering alternative explanations

• Text Completion

  Applies to BOTH Verbal Reasoning sections. One to five sentences with one to three blanks; five choices for a single blank, three choices per blank for two or three blanks, scored all-or-nothing.

  Interpreting and evaluating a passage while reading · Reasoning from partial information to reconstruct a coherent whole · Selecting words or short phrases to fill one to three blanks · Using structural signal words (e.g. although, moreover) to infer meaning · Revising an interpretation as further text is read

• Sentence Equivalence

  Applies to BOTH Verbal Reasoning sections. A single sentence with one blank and six answer choices, from which exactly two must be selected, with no partial credit.

  Reaching a conclusion about how a sentence should be completed from partial information · Focusing on the meaning of the completed whole · Identifying two choices that produce complete, coherent sentences alike in meaning · Recognizing relationships among words and concepts

• Arithmetic

  Applies to BOTH Quantitative Reasoning sections (quant-1 and quant-2).

  Properties and types of integers: divisibility, factorization, prime numbers, remainders, odd and even integers · Arithmetic operations, exponents and roots · Estimation · Percent · Ratio · Rate · Absolute value · The number line · Decimal representation · Sequences of numbers

• Algebra

  Applies to BOTH Quantitative Reasoning sections.

  Operations with exponents · Factoring and simplifying algebraic expressions · Relations, functions, equations and inequalities · Solving linear and quadratic equations and inequalities · Solving simultaneous equations and inequalities · Setting up equations to solve word problems · Coordinate geometry: graphs of functions, equations and inequalities, intercepts and slopes of lines

• Geometry

  Applies to BOTH Quantitative Reasoning sections.

  Parallel and perpendicular lines · Circles · Triangles, including isosceles, equilateral and 30-60-90 triangles · Quadrilaterals · Other polygons · Congruent and similar figures · Three-dimensional figures · Area · Perimeter · Volume · The Pythagorean theorem · Angle measurement in degrees

• Data Analysis

  Applies to BOTH Quantitative Reasoning sections. Inferential statistics is out of scope.

  Basic descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, interquartile range, quartiles and percentiles · Interpretation of data in tables and graphs: line graphs, bar graphs, circle graphs, boxplots, scatterplots and frequency distributions · Elementary probability: probabilities of compound events and independent events · Conditional probability · Random variables and probability distributions, including normal distributions · Counting methods: combinations, permutations and Venn diagrams

What ETS does not publish

We could not verify the following from an official source. Rather than guess, we switch off any feature that would depend on them, and we say so here.

• Whether a completed section is permanently locked. ETS documents free navigation WITHIN a section but never states that the taker cannot return to a prior section. Our cross-section lock is a product decision required for section-level routing and must not be presented to learners as an ETS rule.
• Whether the two sections of a measure are delivered adjacently. ETS says only that Verbal and Quantitative sections "may appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section", so no canonical AW-V-V-Q-Q order can be claimed.
• The section-level adaptive routing algorithm: the statistic computed from section 1, the number of distinct difficulty levels available for section 2, and the cut thresholds. Our two-stage 70% rule is our own and is disclosed as such.
• IRT item parameters and item-pool calibration. No exam-accurate difficulty estimate can be attached to a bank item; our difficulty labels are editorial.
• Raw-to-scaled conversion tables for the 130–170 scale. No accurate scaled score can be produced, so none is shown.
• How the raw count and the delivered second section's difficulty are combined into the scaled score.
• e-rater feature weights, the human/e-rater adjudication rule and the discrepancy threshold for Analytical Writing. Automated 0–6 essay scoring cannot be made exam-accurate and is not offered.
• Whether any scheduled break exists in the current five-section format. Evidenced by absence — the only "break" text on the ETS structure page belongs to the pre-September-2023 format — but never stated affirmatively by ETS.
• Whether a paper-delivered GRE General Test is still offered in 2026. The ETS Verbal Reasoning page still refers to a "paper-delivered test" when explaining Select-in-Passage; this appears to be legacy text and was not confirmed elsewhere, so no paper mode is built.
• The exact per-section mix of question types (how many Reading Comprehension vs Text Completion vs Sentence Equivalence items in a 12- or 15-question Verbal section; how many Quantitative Comparison vs Data Interpretation items in a Quantitative section). ETS publishes only that "about half" of Verbal is passage-based.
• Whether the on-screen calculator is technically unavailable in Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing. ETS scopes it to Quantitative but never states it is blocked elsewhere, so those sections are marked calculator: "unverified".
• Character or word limits for the Analytical Writing response, and whether the ETS word processor displays a word count.
• Select-in-Passage has no value in the shared responseType enum, so this genuine GRE Reading Comprehension format cannot yet be delivered; sections that publish it are shipped without it.

Sources

Compiled by Examer from ETS’s published pages. Each source shows the date it was checked.

1. [1] GRE General Test structure and timing — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
2. [2] GRE General Test content overview — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
3. [3] Analytical Writing measure — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
4. [4] Verbal Reasoning measure — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
5. [5] Quantitative Reasoning measure — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
6. [6] How the Analytical Writing measure is scored — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
7. [7] Understand your GRE General Test scores — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
8. [8] GRE General Test strategies and tips — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
9. [9] GRE Information Bulletin (PDF) — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
10. [10] Interpreting Your GRE Scores 2026-27 (PDF) — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
11. [11] GRE sample questions, including Numeric Entry rules (PDF) — ETS, checked 2026-09-18
12. [12] Guidelines for Using the On-screen Calculator (PDF) — ETS, checked 2026-09-18