An independent, unofficial guide to the current GRE General Test format — not affiliated with or endorsed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS).
Format last checked: August 2026. The GRE was significantly shortened in a redesign effective September 22, 2023: total testing time dropped from about 3 hours 45 minutes to under 2 hours, the "Analyze an Argument" essay was eliminated (leaving only "Analyze an Issue"), the unscored experimental section was removed, and the scheduled break was cut. Score scales (130–170 per section, 0–6 for writing) did not change. If you've seen older prep material describing a ~4-hour exam with two essays, it's out of date.
~118 minTotal testing time
260–340Combined Verbal + Quant scale
0–6Analytical Writing, scored separately
0Scheduled breaks
Section
Count
Time
Notes
Analytical Writing
1 task
30 min
One "Analyze an Issue" essay, on the official test — always administered first. Scored 0–6.
Verbal Reasoning
27 (two sections)
41 min
Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence, and Reading Comprehension, on the official test. Scored 130–170.
Quantitative Reasoning
27 (two sections)
47 min
Problem Solving, Quantitative Comparison, Data Interpretation, and Numeric Entry, on the official test. Scored 130–170.
How this platform's mock exam differs
To keep every question here 100% original (no ETS material is reproduced anywhere on this site), the mock exam runs a shortened but proportionally timed version: a 30-minute Analyze-an-Issue essay, then two Verbal sections (10 questions/18 min, 14 questions/23 min) and two Quant sections (10 questions/21 min, 12 questions/26 min) — fewer items than the official 27-per-measure count, but timed at the real per-section durations, so your pacing practice is realistic. The official GRE is section-level adaptive: your performance on each measure's first section determines whether the second section is easier or harder, which changes the score you can reach. This mock uses a fixed, non-adaptive question set instead, since true adaptive routing requires a much larger item bank than a single original mock can responsibly provide.
A note on scoring
The 130–170 section scores shown after a mock exam are an illustrative estimate built from a simple accuracy-to-scale mapping — not ETS's official, adaptive scoring algorithm, which weights performance by the difficulty level you were routed to. Analytical Writing cannot be auto-graded here; instead you'll get a self-assessment checklist based on ETS's published scoring criteria. Use all of it as a rough compass heading, not a guarantee.
Study Guide
Strategy notes for each section — general test-taking approaches, written for this platform.
Practice Bank
Untimed, with explanations. Filter by section or question type, answer, then reveal the explanation whenever you're ready.
Full Timed Mock Exam
Five sections taken in a fixed order — the real GRE doesn't publish a fixed order for the four Verbal/Quant sections, but always opens with Analytical Writing; this mock uses one consistent order to keep things simple.
Section 2 — Verbal Reasoning, part 1 (10 original questions, 18 min)
Section 3 — Verbal Reasoning, part 2 (14 original questions, 23 min)
Section 4 — Quantitative Reasoning, part 1 (10 original questions, 21 min)
Section 5 — Quantitative Reasoning, part 2 (12 original questions, 26 min)
Matching the real GRE's 2023 redesign, there's no scheduled break. Once you start a section, the clock runs continuously and auto-submits when it hits zero. Explanations are withheld until you finish all five sections.
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30:00
Score History
Saved on this device only (browser local storage) — nothing is sent anywhere.