GED Test Overview

The GED (General Educational Development) Tests are a set of five subject tests designed to certify that a student has the academic skills normally acquired by completing a typical high school program of study. The GED Tests are always given in person at one of 3,400 testing locations nationwide. Candidates for the GED tests are individuals who have not earned a high school diploma.

The GED Tests are standardized regularly by testing a sample of graduating high school seniors. This standardization process sets the benchmark that candidates must achieve to earn a GED credential. Currently, students pass the tests by achieving a GED score higher than the top 60 percent of graduating high school seniors.
The GED credential is issued by the state (territory or province) that the student resides in. The GED credential is typically considered to be equivalent to a high school diploma.

GED Test Format

The GED Tests are made up of five subject area tests and one written essay. There are a total of 240 multiple choice questions and one essay. You are given a total of 425 minutes to complete the tests. The table below lists the sections of the test in more detail.

GED Test Areas

GED Test Area	Time Limit	Number of Questions	Summary
Language Arts, Writing, Part I	75 minutes	50 questions	Evaluates student’s ability to revise and edit workplace and informational documents. Covers areas such as: organization, sentence structure, usage, and mechanics.
Language Arts, Writing, Part II	45 minutes	1 essay	Evaluates the student’s ability to write an essay that explains, clarifies, or informs. Topics are general in nature and require no specialized knowledge.
Social Studies	70 minutes	50 questions	Measures a student’s knowledge of key history, geography, economics and civics concepts. Covers areas such as: U.S. History, World History, Civics and Government, Geography, and Economics.
Science	80 minutes	50 questions	Measures a student’s skill in understanding the key concepts in physical sciences. Covers areas such as: Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth and Space Science.
Language Arts, Reading	65 minutes	40 questions	Evaluates your reading comprehension. You will be given several passages and use your referring and reasoning skills to: identify main ideas, locate important details, understand sequences of events and make comparisons. Measures a student’s ability to comprehend, apply, analyze and synthesize information.
Mathematics	90 minute	50 questions	Covers basic mathematical skills that are typical for a high school graduate. You will be tested on: number operation and number sense; algebra, functions and patterns; geometry and measurement; and data analysis, statistics, and probability.