Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The GRE, or Graduate Record Examination, is a standardized assessment test developed and administered by the Educational Testing Services (ETS), a non-profit organization in the United States. 

It is designed for individuals seeking to pursue graduate education in countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and European countries. First implemented in the United States in 1936, the GRE is now recognized as a criterion for graduate school applications in more than 160 countries. 

The GRE aims to assess individuals who wish to apply to graduate programs in English-speaking countries, measuring their verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills acquired over an extended period of learning. 

The GRE is divided into two: the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test. The GRE General Test evaluates participants' verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills. 

On the other hand, the GRE Subject Test is conducted to assess participants' knowledge and proficiency in specific areas such as chemistry, mathematics, physics, and psychology.

Structure of the GRE General Test

If someone a few years above you has described the GRE as an afternoon-long ordeal, put that out of your mind. The test was shortened in September 2023, and it now takes about 1 hour and 58 minutes from start to finish. There is no unscored section any more, and no scheduled break.

Section	Questions	Time
Analytical Writing — one Analyze an Issue task	1 task	30 minutes
Verbal Reasoning, first section	12	18 minutes
Verbal Reasoning, second section	15	23 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning, first section	12	21 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning, second section	15	26 minutes
Total	54 questions plus 1 task	About 1 hour 58 minutes

Analytical Writing always comes first. The Verbal and Quantitative sections can then appear in any order, so do not read anything into which one you get next.

You take the test on a computer, and within a section you can skip a question, come back to it later and change your answer. That matters for how you pace yourself: a hard question early on does not have to cost you the rest of the section, so mark it, move on, and return with whatever time is left.

Analytical Writing

One task, 30 minutes. You are given a statement and asked to build your own argument about it, backing your position with reasons and examples.

Check your prep material here first. The GRE used to include a second essay, Analyze an Argument, where you picked apart someone else's reasoning instead of making your own case. That task no longer exists. If a book or course has you drilling it, that is preparation time you will not get back.

What the section is really measuring is whether you can express a complex idea clearly, support it with relevant reasons, examine the evidence behind a claim, hold a consistent line of argument, and write in controlled standard English.

Verbal Reasoning

27 questions in total, split into two sections of 12 and 15. It tests whether you can analyse a piece of writing and draw conclusions from it, reason from incomplete information, work out an author's assumptions and intent, tell the significant points from the incidental ones, and follow meaning at more than one level, including where the language is figurative rather than literal.

Vocabulary carries real weight in this section. That is the single biggest difference students notice between the GRE and other admissions tests.

Quantitative Reasoning

27 questions in total, again split into two sections of 12 and 15. It covers arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis, and asks you to interpret quantitative information and solve problems using mathematical models.

The maths itself does not go beyond what you meet at school. What makes questions hard is usually the reasoning wrapped around them, not the calculation at the centre.

What the 2023 shortening removed

Three things disappeared from the test when it was shortened, and each one changes how you should prepare:

• The second essay, Analyze an Argument. Analytical Writing is now a single task.
• The unscored section that used to be mixed in without counting towards your result.
• The scheduled break. The test now runs straight through, so plan your energy accordingly.

One thing was added rather than removed: official scores now arrive within 8 to 10 calendar days of your test.

GRE Subject Tests

Alongside the General Test, ETS offers Subject Tests for particular fields. There are now three: Mathematics, Physics and Psychology.

This is where older advice goes badly wrong. The Chemistry Test was discontinued after the April 2023 administration, and the Biology and Literature in English Tests were discontinued back in May 2021. If a guide or a well-meaning teacher points you towards a GRE Subject Test in one of those subjects, it no longer exists.

Since September 2023 all three remaining tests are computer-delivered rather than taken on paper, and they are offered at test centres worldwide as well as at home in most countries — which makes them far easier to sit than they used to be.

Subject Test	Testing time	Status
Mathematics	2 hours 50 minutes	Length and timing unchanged
Physics	Within 2 hours	Shortened in September 2023
Psychology	Within 2 hours	Shortened in September 2023

Mathematics Test

Around 66 multiple-choice questions covering calculus, algebra and real analysis, discrete mathematics, general topology, geometry and further topics such as complex variables. This is the one Subject Test whose length and timing did not change in 2023.

Physics Test

Covers classical mechanics, electromagnetism, optics and wave phenomena, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, atomic physics, special relativity, laboratory methods and a set of specialised topics. Shortened in September 2023 so it now fits within two hours.

Psychology Test

Covers biological, cognitive, social, developmental and clinical psychology, along with measurement and methodology. Also shortened in September 2023 to fit within two hours.

Scoring

General Test scores

Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are each scored from 130 to 170 in one-point steps. Analytical Writing is scored from 0 to 6 in half-point steps.

Your Verbal and Quantitative scores come from the number of questions you answer correctly. The essay is read by a trained scorer and also assessed by an ETS program called e-rater, which looks for features associated with proficient writing. Where the two disagree, a second trained reader settles it, and your final Analytical Writing score is the average rounded to the nearest half point.

Subject Test scores

Each Subject Test produces one total score on a 200 to 990 scale, in 10-point steps. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer: unanswered questions and incorrect answers simply do not earn marks, so there is never a reason to leave a question blank.

Since September 2023 the Physics and Psychology Tests also report percent-correct subscores — three for Physics and six for Psychology — on a 0 to 100 scale in one-point steps. These tell you how much of each content area you got right, which is genuinely useful if you are deciding whether to sit the test again.

How long GRE scores last

General Test scores are reportable for five years after your test date. Subject Test scores are reportable for five years following the testing year in which you sat them, where a testing year runs from 1 July to 30 June.

GRE or GMAT?

Both are accepted widely for graduate admissions, and plenty of business schools now take either. The honest answer is that the right test depends less on the exam and more on where you are applying, so start by checking what your specific programmes ask for rather than deciding in the abstract.

As a broad guide, the GRE is the more general of the two and is the usual choice for master's and doctoral study across engineering, the sciences and the social sciences. The GMAT is built specifically around business study, and some business schools still express a preference for it even where both are permitted.

There is a real difference in what the verbal sections reward. The GRE leans harder on vocabulary, while the GMAT leans more on grammar and sentence-level precision. If you are strong on one and weak on the other, that is worth weighing alongside the admissions requirements.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the GRE General Test?

About 1 hour and 58 minutes. The test was shortened in September 2023, and there is no longer an unscored section or a scheduled break.

Does the GRE still have two essays?

No. Analytical Writing is now a single 30-minute task called Analyze an Issue. The second essay, Analyze an Argument, was removed when the test was shortened, so any practice material built around it is out of date.

What is the GRE score range?

Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are each scored from 130 to 170 in one-point steps, and Analytical Writing from 0 to 6 in half-point steps.

Which GRE Subject Tests still exist?

Three: Mathematics, Physics and Psychology. The Chemistry Test was discontinued after April 2023, and the Biology and Literature in English Tests were discontinued in May 2021.

Are GRE Subject Tests still taken on paper?

No. Since September 2023 all three are computer-delivered, at test centres worldwide and at home in most countries.

How long are GRE scores valid?

General Test scores are reportable for five years after your test date. Subject Test scores are reportable for five years following the testing year, which runs from 1 July to 30 June.

When do GRE scores arrive?

Official scores for the General Test are delivered within 8 to 10 calendar days of your test.