GRE

Overview

The GRE General Test is a standardised admission test from ETS, a US-based testing body. Graduate schools, business schools and other advanced-degree programmes around the world, including many that Indian applicants target, use it alongside grades and other application material.

Since September 2023, the test has been shorter: one Analytical Writing task instead of two, no unscored experimental section, and a total running time of about 1 hour 58 minutes, down from the earlier 3 hour 45 minute format. It is delivered on computer, offered year-round, and can be taken at a test centre or at home with live online proctoring.

Who can apply

There is no minimum or maximum age and no fixed academic qualification to sit the GRE General Test — it is open to anyone planning graduate-level study. This is different from the separate GRE Subject Tests, which assume specific undergraduate coursework. You register with a valid, acceptable photo ID, and the name on your registration must match that ID exactly.

Exam pattern

Total test time is about 1 hour 58 minutes, with no scheduled breaks and no unscored section — every question counts toward your score.

Analytical Writing always comes first; the Verbal and Quantitative sections follow it, and their order can vary from test to test. Within Verbal and within Quantitative Reasoning, the test is section-adaptive: how you do on the first section of that type sets the difficulty, and so the score ceiling, of the second. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so attempting every question pays off. An on-screen calculator is provided for Quantitative Reasoning.

Syllabus

Verbal Reasoning

Reading comprehension, text completion and sentence equivalence questions. They test your ability to analyse and draw conclusions from written passages, reason from incomplete or partial information, recognise an author's assumptions and intent, distinguish major from minor points, and understand relationships among words and concepts.

Quantitative Reasoning

Arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis at a pre-college level — no calculus. Question types include quantitative comparison, multiple-choice (one or more correct answers), numeric-entry, and data-interpretation sets based on a chart or table.

Analytical Writing

One "Analyze an Issue" task, in 30 minutes. You take a position on a general statement about a topic of broad interest, then support it with relevant reasons and examples while keeping the argument well organised and focused.

Marking and results

Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are each scored from 130 to 170 in 1-point steps; unofficial scores for these two sections appear on screen right after you finish the test. Analytical Writing is scored from 0 to 6 in half-point steps by at least one trained human rater together with ETS's automated scoring engine; if the two differ by more than a set margin, a second human rater is brought in. Because of this, the Analytical Writing score is not available on screen at the end of the test.

Official scores, with percentile ranks for each section, are posted to your ETS account about 8 to 10 days after your test date, and ETS emails you when they are ready.

ScoreSelect lets you decide, after you have seen your scores, which test date's scores to send to each programme — either one specific administration or every score from the last five years. Programmes see only what you choose to send. Scores stay reportable for 5 years from the test date.

Important dates

The GRE General Test is not tied to fixed national dates. It runs year-round, both at test centres (more than 1,000 centres across 160+ countries) and as an at-home edition with live online proctoring, with openings on most days — you pick a date and time when you register.

You can retake the test once every 21 days, up to 5 times in any rolling 12-month period, whether or not you cancelled an earlier score.

Fees

For 2026, the GRE General Test fee is USD 249 worldwide (it rose from USD 220 on 1 August 2026), the same whether you test at a centre or at home.

• Four score reports can be sent for free if you choose the recipients on test day.

• An additional score report sent later costs roughly USD 40 per recipient.

• Rescheduling at least 4 full days before your appointment costs roughly USD 55; cancelling at least 4 days ahead refunds half the fee. Doing either inside that 4-day window forfeits the full fee.

How to apply

1. Create or sign in to an ETS account at ets.org.

2. Pick a test date and format — a test centre near you, or the at-home edition — and pay the fee to confirm your booking.

3. On test day, bring the same acceptable photo ID you registered with. For the at-home edition, set up a quiet, private room, a working webcam, and (under current rules) a second camera, such as a phone, positioned for a side view of your workspace.

4. At the end of the test, review your unofficial Verbal and Quantitative scores and choose up to 4 free score recipients.

After the exam

Official scores, with Verbal, Quantitative, Analytical Writing results and percentiles, appear in your ETS account in about 8 to 10 days. Use ScoreSelect at any point in the 5-year validity window to send further official reports to programmes you are applying to. If your score falls short, you can sit the test again after 21 days.

Preparation tips

1. Start with ETS's free POWERPREP Online practice tests — the only ones built from retired real GRE questions and the actual on-screen item types.

2. Build Verbal and Quantitative skills separately before attempting full-length practice — vocabulary-in-context work for Verbal, timed arithmetic and algebra drills for Quantitative.

3. Practise the Analyze an Issue task under the real 30-minute limit; structure and time management matter as much as the ideas themselves.

4. Sit at least one full practice test under exam conditions, with no extra breaks, before test day.