Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

GRE stands for Graduate Record Examination. Educational Testing Services (ETS), a non-profit organisation in the United States, writes it and runs it. Everyone sits the same kind of test under the same conditions, which is what standardised means, so your score can be set beside anyone else's. 

Graduate level means a master's or a doctorate. You sit the GRE if you want to study at that level in countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and European countries. The test first ran in the United States in 1936. Graduate schools in more than 160 countries now count it as part of an application, so wherever you end up applying, there is a good chance the score counts there. 

The test is aimed at you if you are applying to graduate programmes in English-speaking countries. It measures four things: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing and critical thinking. Those are skills you build up over years of study, not facts you can memorise the week before. 

There are two GREs. The GRE General Test is the one most people mean, and it covers verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing. 

The GRE Subject Test is the other. It checks how much you know in one specific field, such as chemistry, mathematics, physics or psychology. Read the Subject Test section below before you plan around one, because the list of subjects has changed.

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. It now takes about 1 hour and 58 minutes from start to finish. There is no unscored section any more, so nothing you answer goes uncounted, and there is 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. After that, Verbal and Quantitative can turn up in either order, so do not read anything into which one you get next.

You take the test on a computer. Inside a section you can skip a question, come back to it later and change your answer. Use that. If a question stalls you early on, mark it, move on, and return with whatever time is left. One hard question then costs you a little time, not the rest of the section.

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 pulled apart someone else's reasoning instead of making your own case. That task is gone. If a book or a course still has you drilling it, you are spending hours on something that will not appear on test day.

What this section measures is narrow enough to aim at. Can you express a complex idea clearly and support it with relevant reasons. Can you examine the evidence behind a claim, hold one consistent line of argument, and write in controlled standard English.

Verbal Reasoning

27 questions in total, split into two sections of 12 and 15. You have to analyse a piece of writing and draw conclusions from it. You have to reason from incomplete information, work out what an author assumes and intends, and tell the significant points from the incidental ones. And you have to follow meaning at more than one level, including where the language is figurative rather than literal.

Vocabulary carries real weight here. It is the single biggest difference students notice between the GRE and other admissions tests. So build word work into your preparation from the start, rather than leaving it to the last fortnight.

Quantitative Reasoning

27 questions in total, again split into two sections of 12 and 15. You are working with arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis, and the questions ask 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 a question hard is usually the reasoning wrapped around it, not the calculation at the centre. So when you practise, spend the time on working out what is actually being asked rather than on harder maths.

What the 2023 shortening removed

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

• The second essay, Analyze an Argument. Analytical Writing is a single task now.
• The unscored section that used to sit inside the test without counting towards your result.
• The scheduled break. The test runs straight through, so plan your energy for one unbroken sitting.

One thing was added rather than taken away. Official scores now reach you within 8 to 10 calendar days of your test. That is the number to count backwards from when you are lining the test up against an application deadline.

GRE Subject Tests

Besides the General Test, ETS also runs Subject Tests, each one in a single field. You have three to choose from now: Mathematics, Physics and Psychology.

This is where older advice goes badly wrong. The Chemistry Test was discontinued after the April 2023 administration. 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. They run at test centres worldwide and at home in most countries, which makes sitting one far easier than it 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

You get 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, so older timing advice still holds for this one.

Physics Test

You are tested on 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. It was shortened in September 2023, so it now fits within two hours. That is a long list for a short test, so plan your revision around the areas you have covered least rather than the ones you enjoy most.

Psychology Test

You are tested on biological, cognitive, social, developmental and clinical psychology, along with measurement and methodology. It was shortened in September 2023 as well, and also fits within two hours. Measurement and methodology are easy to overlook next to the content areas, so give them their own slot when you revise.

Scoring

General Test scores

Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are each scored from 130 to 170, a point at a time. Analytical Writing is scored from 0 to 6, in half points. You walk away with three separate scores, not one combined total.

Your Verbal and Quantitative scores come straight from how many questions you answer correctly. Two readers handle your essay: a trained scorer, and an ETS program called e-rater that looks for features associated with proficient writing. One of them is a machine, so write clearly and conventionally. If the two disagree, a second trained reader settles it. Your final Analytical Writing score is the average, rounded to the nearest half point.

Subject Test scores

Each Subject Test gives you one total score on a 200 to 990 scale, in 10-point steps. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer. A blank and a wrong answer earn you the same, which is nothing, so there is never a reason to leave a question unanswered. If you are out of ideas and nearly out of time, guess.

Since September 2023 the Physics and Psychology Tests also report percent-correct subscores on a 0 to 100 scale, in one-point steps. There are three for Physics and six for Psychology. A subscore just tells you how much of one content area you got right. That is genuinely useful if you are deciding whether to sit the test again, because it shows you where the marks went missing.

How long GRE scores last

General Test scores are reportable for five years after your test date. Reportable means ETS will still send them out for you within that window. Subject Test scores are reportable for five years following the testing year in which you sat them. A testing year runs from 1 July to 30 June. So check the date on a score you already hold before you count on it in an application.

GRE or GMAT?

You will find both accepted widely for graduate admissions, and plenty of business schools now take either one. Which is right for you 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. If you are heading for master's or doctoral study in engineering, the sciences or the social sciences, it is the usual choice. The GMAT is built specifically around business study, and some business schools still prefer it even when they accept both.

The two verbal sections reward different things. The GRE leans harder on vocabulary. The GMAT leans more on grammar and sentence-level precision. If one of those is your strength and the other is not, weigh that up 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 a single 30-minute task now, 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. Analytical Writing runs 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 reach you within 8 to 10 calendar days of your test.