1. What Is GED?

GED, which stands for General Educational Development, is designed to assess your proficiency in the standard high-school subjects for anyone who are 16 or older and do not enroll in high school. Instead of checking your memorization of specific facts, dates or terms, in the GED test, you need to show your applied knowledge and skills associated with specific situations. If you pass the GED test, you will obtain a high-school equivalency credential.

2. What Is On The GED Test?

The GED test takes about seven hours total and covers the four primary high-school subjects namely Reasoning through Language Arts (RLA), Mathematical Reasoning, Science and Social Studies.

GED Section	Time	Format	What’s tested
Reasoning through Language Arts (RLA)	150 minutes	Section 1: 27 minutes Section 2: 45 minutes Student Break: 10 minutes Section 3: 60 minutes Note: The time to complete sections 1 and 3 may alter slightly, but the total time of three sections will always be 150 minutes.	The Reasoning through Language Arts assesses your reading and writing skills. You need to answer a total of 46 questions within 2.5 hours. Specifically, you need to: - answer questions based on single passages and on passages which are paired together (reading and thinking skills) - review given text and choose words and phrases to create a correctly written product (language skills) - produce an extended response to a writing prompt based on reading one or two passages or a passage accompanied by a graphic (writing skills) To pass the Reasoning through Language Arts, you need to get a minimum score of 145. * Reading: You will have to answer questions based on various types of reading materials. 75 percent of the questions are based on informational passages. These types of passages comprise workplace and community-based documents, general nonfiction and nonfiction associated with general interest social studies and science topics. 25 percent of the questions are based on literary texts. * Language: The language area evaluates your ability to create correct sentence structure, agreement (subject - verb and pronoun - antecedent), capitalization, punctuation, homonyms, and possessives. It also evaluates your appropriate word choice and removal of informal usage to fit the purpose of the writing task. * Extended Response: In the Extended Response section, candidates are required to read text materials and compose an extended response to a writing prompt by developing an argument and supporting your ideas with evidence from the text.
Mathematical Reasoning	115 minutes	Part 1 (first 5 test questions) - calculator is not permitted Part 2 (remaining 41 test questions) - calculator is permitted	The Mathematical Reasoning section assesses your capability to deal with mathematical problems and apply mathematics to various contexts. You will be given 90 minutes to answer about 46 questions which are based on: - Quantitative Reasoning (45%): This section is composed of problems with positive and negative whole number; data and statistics; geometric measurement; decimals and fractions; ratios, proportions and percents. You will need to obtain a minimum score of 145 to pass the Mathematical Reasoning test. - Algebraic Reasoning (55%): This section includes expressions, inequalities, quadratic equations, equations, linear equations, polynomials and patterns and functions. A wide range of formats will test your evaluating, solving and graphing skills in algebra.
Science	90 minutes		The GED Science Test assesses candidates’ ability to understand, interpret and apply science information. You will be given 90 minutes to answer 34 questions. Like the two sections above, you need to attain at least 145 scores to pass the GED Science Test. - Life Science (40%): includes health and nutrition, genetics and DNA, heredity and reproduction, evolution and natural selection, the organization of ecosystems, cell structures and processes, and human body systems. - Earth and Space Science (20%): comprises the structure of Earth, plate tectonics, weather and climate, the solar system, the universe, geological cycles and processes, renewable and nonrenewable natural resources - Physical Science (40%): includes properties and states of matter, chemical reactions, atoms and molecules, motion and forces, waves, electricity, energy and work, and magnetism.
Social Studies	70 minutes		In the GED Social Studies Test, you will be tested on the capability of understanding, interpreting and applying information. The total number of questions in this test is 35 and you will have 70 minutes to complete all. The questions are based on reading passages and interpreting graphics like charts, graphs, diagrams, editorial cartoons, photographs, and maps. You also need at least 145 scores to pass the Social Studies Test. - Civics and Government (50%): is composed of modern and historic governments, levels and branches of the U.S. government, the electoral system, constitutional government and the role of the citizen. - U.S. History (20%): includes Colonial America, American Revolution, Reconstruction into the modern era of industrialization, Civil War, two World Wars, Cold War and Civil Right Movement. - Economics (15%): is composed of the government and the economy, basic economics concepts and systems, and labor and consumer economics issues. - Geography and the World (15%) cover the relationship among resources, the environment, and societies and major stages in world history.

3. Free GED Practice Tests Online

GED Test Pro provides you with a number of free online GED practice questions covering 4 GED subjects: Mathematical Reasoning, Reasoning through Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. Each practice question is accompanied with a detailed explanation.

With GED Test Pro, you might sharpen your high school knowledge, enhance your confidence and readiness for your upcoming test. Now, let’s start to take GED online practice tests to get well-prepared for your GED exam.

3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About GED

3.1. How is GED scored?

Each GED subtest is scored on a scale from 100 to 200. You can receive four possible scores in the GED test.

- Not passing: This shows that you gained lower than 145 scores on any of the four tests. According to the rule, to pass the exam, you must answer at least 60-65% of questions correctly.

- Passing Score/High School Equivalency: This shows that you obtained at or higher than the minimum score of 145 in each test. You gained the high school equivalence-level knowledge.

- College Ready: This demonstrates that you attained the scores between 165 and 175 and you are ready for college and career.

- College Ready + Credit: This shows that you got a minimum score of 175 and you have already firmly grasped some skills that would be taught in college. This could be converted to credits which help to save your time and money during your time of studying at college.

3.2. Can I take the GED test online?

No, you can not take the GED test online due to the security issue. You must come to an official GED test center to take the GED exam.

3.3. How much does the GED exam cost?

From October 1, 2021, the GED test cost was raised from US$75 to US$80 per subject. Therefore, taking the four tests will cost you a total US$320.

3.4. Can I bring the calculator to the exam?

No. You are not allowed to bring any electronic devices into the testing room. Nevertheless, for the section permitting the use of calculator, it is available on screen, within the test.

3.5. Will passing the GED exam get me into university?

Almost all colleges and universities in the U.S. accept the GED certificate. Universities in many other countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, UAE, New Zealand, Thailand and South Africa also accept the GED credential.

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