GMAT Focus Edition format explained: sections, timing, and scoring

The GMAT Focus Edition gives you three sections, 64 questions, and 2 hours 15 minutes of testing time, with no writing assessment. GMAC built the format around choices you make yourself: the order of the sections, whether to take the break, and which answers to revisit. This guide explains each part of the format, shows how GMAC turns your answers into a score, and lists what changed from the older GMAT.

The three sections at a glance

• Quantitative Reasoning: 21 questions in 45 minutes.
• Verbal Reasoning: 23 questions in 45 minutes.
• Data Insights: 20 questions in 45 minutes.

Every question is multiple choice. GMAC estimates an online appointment, check-in included, at about two and a half hours, so plan your day around that figure rather than the 2 hours 15 minutes of testing time.

What each section tests

Quantitative Reasoning

GMAC describes this section as a test of algebraic and arithmetic foundations and of how you apply them to solve problems. The section uses Problem Solving questions. Data Sufficiency, which appeared in the quant section of the older exam, now sits in Data Insights. GMAC designed the section so that it needs no calculator, and GMAC prohibits personal calculators at the test, so you do the arithmetic yourself.

Verbal Reasoning

GMAC says the section measures your ability to read and comprehend written material and to reason about and evaluate arguments. It does so through two formats, Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. Sentence Correction, which the older exam included, no longer appears.

Data Insights

GMAC describes Data Insights as a measure of your ability to analyze and interpret data and apply it to real-world business scenarios. The section builds on the old Integrated Reasoning section and adds Data Sufficiency. GMAC lists five formats:

• Data Sufficiency: you decide whether the information given is enough to answer a question.
• Multi-Source Reasoning: you answer questions that draw on several sources of information.
• Table Analysis: you answer questions about data that a table presents.
• Graphics Interpretation: you answer questions about a chart or graph.
• Two-Part Analysis: you choose answers for two related parts of one problem.

Data Insights is the one section where GMAC gives you a digital on-screen calculator. Use it for messy arithmetic, and skip it when estimation answers the question faster.

Section order and the optional break

You choose the order of the three sections. You might open with your strongest section to settle your nerves, or open with your weakest section while your energy is high. Pick one order before test day and rehearse it on full-length practice tests.

GMAC schedules one optional 10-minute break. If you overstay it, GMAC deducts the extra time from your next section, or the test administrator can treat your test as abandoned and cancel your score. In the online exam, the break starts on its own after 60 seconds unless you choose to skip it. Decide in advance whether you will take the break, and practice with that plan.

Bookmarking and Question Review & Edit

As you work through a section, you can bookmark any question you feel unsure about. When you reach the end of the section, the review screen lets you revisit as many questions as you like, and you can change up to three answers per section. Review happens inside the section’s 45 minutes, so a review plan needs spare minutes at the end.

Spend your three changes on errors you can prove, such as an arithmetic slip you now see or a misread number in a chart, rather than on second guesses. Bookmark generously while you work, then review the bookmarked questions in order of how quickly you can check them.

How GMAC scores the exam

• GMAC scores each section from 60 to 90.
• The Total Score runs from 205 to 805, and every total ends in a 5.
• GMAC weights the three sections equally, so each one carries a third of the total.
• Each section score reflects how many questions you answer, how many you answer correctly, and how difficult those questions are.

Equal weighting changes how you should study. A point you gain in Data Insights moves your total as much as a point in Quant, so a section you neglect costs you as much as a section you fear. After the exam, you see your score before you choose any recipients, and GMAC lets you send it to five schools for free.

What changed from the old GMAT

The exam before the Focus Edition had four sections: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Integrated Reasoning, and the Analytical Writing Assessment. The Focus Edition changes the format in six ways:

• No essay. GMAC removed the Analytical Writing Assessment, and every question is now multiple choice.
• No Sentence Correction. Verbal Reasoning now tests Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning.
• No separate Integrated Reasoning section. Data Insights takes over its formats and adds Data Sufficiency.
• Data Sufficiency moved out of the quant section and into Data Insights.
• A shorter test. GMAC calls the Focus Edition nearly one hour shorter than the exam it replaced.
• New controls and a new scale. You pick the section order, you can bookmark questions and change up to three answers per section, and every total now ends in a 5.

If you studied for the older exam, drop the Sentence Correction and essay work, move your Data Sufficiency practice into your Data Insights plan, and add timed practice with tables, graphs, and multi-source sets.

GMAX gives you practice in all three sections with an explanation after every answer. The free plan includes five practice questions and one rated match a day, so you can rehearse the format before you book a test date.