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All about the GRE General Test

One analytical essay and four section-adaptive sections, in under two hours.

The GRE General Test is accepted by graduate and business schools worldwide. Since the shortened format, the whole test runs one hour and fifty-eight minutes with no scheduled break.

It is section-adaptive: how you perform in the first Verbal or Quantitative section decides the difficulty of the second, and that difficulty feeds your scaled score.

  • Book a test centre appointment or the at-home delivery.
  • Sit one Analytical Writing task and four scored sections in one session.
  • See unofficial Verbal and Quantitative scores immediately after the test.

Flowy gives you one place for everything the GRE General Test format asks of you, and walks you through the preparation so test day holds no surprises.

The GRE General Test is open to any candidate who needs to prove their English for study, work or migration — there is no prerequisite beyond booking a seat.

Practice sets, full mocks and expert-reviewed feedback all sit under one login, so the hours you spend preparing land on the parts of the GRE General Test that actually move your score.

Important things you need to know about the GRE General Test format:

  • Total testing time is one hour and fifty-eight minutes.
  • Verbal and Quantitative are each reported 130 to 170 in one-point steps.
  • Analytical Writing is reported 0 to 6 in half-point steps.
  • The test is section-adaptive, not question-adaptive.
  • You may skip and return to questions within a section.
  • To know more about the format, try out a free mock test on Flowy.

To know more about the GRE General Test format — try out a free mock test on Flowy

Major aspects of different modules of GRE General Test structure

  • Section 1

    Analytical Writing

    30 minutes

    • Analyze an Issue
  • Sections 2-3

    Verbal Reasoning

    18 + 23 minutes

    • Reading Comprehension
    • Text Completion
    • Sentence Equivalence
    • 12 questions then 15 questions
  • Sections 4-5

    Quantitative Reasoning

    21 + 26 minutes

    • Quantitative Comparison
    • Problem Solving — multiple choice, one answer
    • Problem Solving — multiple choice, one or more answers
    • Numeric Entry
    • 12 questions then 15 questions
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How does the GRE General Test format test a candidate's knowledge from each module?

  • Analytical Writing

    The essay is scored for how well you build and support a position, not for which side you take. Flowy has an expert review every AWA score before it reaches your report.

  • Verbal Reasoning

    Vocabulary in context and argument analysis, under roughly ninety seconds per question — the format punishes re-reading.

  • Quantitative Reasoning

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis at secondary-school level, tested through comparisons and multi-select items that reward method over memorisation.

GRE General Test
Score Guide

  • 01

    Analytical Writing30 minutes

    • One task, thirty minutes. Scored 0-6 against the official rubric for position, reasoning and control of language.

  • 02

    Verbal Reasoning18 + 23 minutes

    • Passages of one to several paragraphs.

  • 03

    Quantitative Reasoning21 + 26 minutes

    • Quantitative Comparison
    • Problem Solving — multiple choice, one answer
    • Problem Solving — multiple choice, one or more answers
    • Numeric Entry

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