Exam · Grad Entrance · Live
GRE
Conducted by ETS (Educational Testing Service)
Admission to graduate, business and law school programmes worldwide. ETS states the test is 'accepted at thousands of graduate, business and law schools worldwide' and measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills. Figures below describe the shortened GRE General Test in effect from 22 September 2023 onward, as published for the 2025-26/2026-27 cycles.
- Volume
- 3.4 lakh candidates a year
- Geography
- Global
- Syllabus topics
- 52
- Bank
- 4,800+ practice questions
- Access
- Exam Pro · ₹99/mo · 3-day trial · includes Explore Pro
Four instruments, one subscription.
- Syllabus map
- Previous year questions, where the bank exists
- Mock tests and weak-area diagnostics
- Five explanations on every question
- Explore Pro included with Exam Pro
How the paper is built.
- GRE General Test (single sitting)
No negative marking. ETS states 'the raw score is the number of questions you answered correctly' for Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning, so each correct answer contributes one raw point and wrong or unattempted answers neither add nor subtract. The raw score is then converted to the reported 130-170 scaled score by equating, which 'accounts for minor variations in difficulty among the different test editions as well as the differences in difficulty introduced by the section-level adaptation.' Because of equating and adaptation, a fixed raw-to-scaled conversion table does not exist. Analytical Writing is not marked this way: the essay is scored on a 6-point holistic scale by a trained analyst together with the e-rater scoring engine. Note: the integers above are raw-score points, not published 'marks' — ETS does not publish a marks total for the GRE.
There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so the break-even accuracy is zero — any answer is weakly better than a blank, and you should never leave a GRE question unanswered, however wild the guess.
The calendar, and who can sit it.
- Qualification
- ETS publishes no minimum academic qualification, degree requirement or work-experience requirement for the GRE General Test. The operative requirement on test day is acceptable identification.
- Attempts
- Once every 21 days, up to five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period (365 days). This applies even if scores were cancelled on a previous attempt.
- Nationality
- Open to candidates of any nationality. ID requirements depend on where the candidate tests and their country of citizenship; the primary ID must generally be a government-issued national/state/province identity card recognised by the country of citizenship or permanent residence, bearing photograph, signature and the full name as registered. ETS has a separate documented process for candidates with refugee or political-asylum status.