What is RAW Score?

The GRE Verbal and Quantitative sections are scored based on raw scores for the test. Your raw score is the number of questions you answer correctly. GRE Verbal has 40 questions, as does GRE Quants. So the highest raw score you could get in either section would be 40.

The GRE has 3 sections namely

Structure of the Computer-delivered GRE General Test
Section	Number of Questions	Time
Analytical Writing (One section with two separately timed tasks)	- An "Analyze an Issue" task - An "Analyze an Argument" task	30 minutes per task
Verbal Reasoning (Two sections)	20 questions per section	30 minutes per section
Quantitative Reasoning (Two sections)	20 questions per section	35 minutes per section
Unscored or Research Section*	Varies	Varies

Structure of the Paper-delivered GRE General Test
Section	Number of Questions	Time
Analytical Writing (One section with two separately timed tasks)	- An "Analyze an Issue" task - An "Analyze an Argument" task	30 minutes per task
Verbal Reasoning (Two sections)	20 questions per section	35 minutes per section
Quantitative Reasoning (Two sections)	20 questions per section	40 minutes per section

The AWA sections have no raw scores and the scoring methodology is discussed later.

What do the final Sectional scores look like?

Scores Reported on the GRE® General Test
Section	Score Scale
Verbal Reasoning	130–170, in 1 point increments
Quantitative Reasoning	130–170, in 1 point increments
Analytical Writing	0–6, in half point increments

If no questions are answered for a specific measure (e.g., Verbal Reasoning), then you will receive a No Score (NS) for that measure.

ETS also makes available test-taker photos and essay responses on the Analytical Writing section of the GRE® General Test to designated score recipients in the ETS® Data Manager. Photos and Analytical Writing essay responses of all individuals who report their scores to institutions on or after July 1, 2014, are included in the ETS Data Manager. In the ETS Data Manager, the photo and essay responses from each GRE General Test administration you select from your five-year reportable history will be made available in the portal as part of your score record to the institutions you designated to receive your scores on or after July 1, 2014.

What skills do the GRE test?

The GRE General Test measures the test taker's ability to do the following:

Analytical Writing

• Articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively.
• Examine claims and accompanying evidence.
• Support ideas with relevant reasons and examples.
• Sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion.
• Control the elements of standard written English.

Verbal Reasoning

• Analyze and draw conclusions from discourse; reason from incomplete data; identify author's assumptions and/or perspective; understand multiple levels of meaning such as literal, figurative and author's intent.
• Select important points; distinguish major from minor or relevant points; summarize text; understand the structure of a text.
• Understand the meanings of words, sentences and entire texts; understand relationships among words and among concepts.

Quantitative Reasoning

• Understand quantitative information.
• Interpret and analyze quantitative information.
• Solve problems using mathematical models.
• Apply basic mathematical skills and elementary mathematical concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis.

The GRE Verbal and Quantitative sections are scored based on raw scores for the test. Your raw score is the number of questions you answer correctly. GRE Verbal has 40 questions, as does GRE Quants. So the highest raw score you could get in either section would be 40.

These 40 raw score points correspond to the 40 point range for official scores on the Verbal and Quantitative sections. Both of these sections are rated on a scale of 130-170 points in the final score report. However, your raw score won’t be exactly the same as your final official score. This is because ETS will adjust the points you earn for certain questions based on the relative difficulty of the questions.

How is GRE scored for AWA?

The two essay questions on the GRE’s Analytical Writing Assessment aren’t simply “right” or “wrong.” So you won’t get a raw score that corresponds to a 40-point score range. Instead, GRE AWA essays are rated based on a rubric. The rubric’s score range is 0 to 6, and scores are calculated in half-point increments.

Instead of being adjusted for relative difficulty, AWA essay questions are adjusted for differences between multiple scorers. Each AWA essay is given to a human scorer. At the same time, the essay is also submitted to a computer scorer– ETS’s e-rater scoring engine. If the human score and the computer score for an AWA essay are similar, the final score for the essay will be an average of the human and computer scores.

However, if the e-rater score is is a lot different from the human score, a second human scorer will step in and give the essay an additional rating. In that case, the essay score will be the average of the two human scores. Your score for the AWA section as a whole will be the average of your scores on both the Issue essay and the Argument essay.

How long are the scores valid?

For individuals testing on or after July 1, 2016, GRE® test scores are valid for five years after your test administration date. For example, scores for a test taken on July 3, 2016, are reportable through July 2, 2021.

For individuals who tested between August 1, 2011, and June 30, 2016, GRE test scores are valid for five years after the testing year in which you tested (as indicated in the GRE® Information Bulletin from that testing year). For example, scores for a test taken on May 15, 2015, are reportable through June 30, 2020.

GRE scores earned in August 2011 are reportable until June 30, 2017.