GRE Post October 2006

 The GRE® Program will introduce a revised GRE General Test in October 2006 that is designed to:-

* Increase test validity
* Provide faculty with the better information regarding applicant's performance
* address security concerns
* increase worldwide access to the test, and
* maker better use of advances in technology and psychometric design.

Changes planned include the following:

Verbal Reasoning:-

* Greater emphasis on higher cognitive skills and less dependence on vocabulary
* More text-based materials, such as reading passages
* A broader selection of reading passages
* Emphasis on skills related to graduate work, such as complex reasoning
* Expansion of computer-enabled tasks (e.g., clicking on a sentence in a passage to highlight it)
* Two 40-minute sections rather than one 30-minute section

Quantitative Reasoning:-

* Quantitative reasoning skills that are closer to skills generally used in graduate school
* Proportion of questions involving real-life scenarios and data interpretation increased
* Proportion of Geometry questions decreased
* Better use of technology (e.g., on-screen calculator)
* Two 40-minute sections rather than one 45-minute section
 

Analytical Writing:-

* New, more focused prompts that reduce the possibility of reliance on memorized materials
* The Issue and Argument tasks are each 30 minutes in length.
* Essay responses will be made available to designated score recipients.

Changes in the Verbal and Quantitative Score Scales:-

* The new score scales will have 40-50 scale points. The scales will increase in one-point increments and will be centered between 120 and 179. The actual score ranges will be finalized in 2006 based on field test results.
* A concordance table to compare old and new Verbal and Quantitative scores will be available.
* The Analytical Writing section will continue to be scored using a six-point holistic scale.

Changes in Test Delivery

* The GRE General Test will be administered on fixed administration dates.
* An expanded Internet-based testing network will be available worldwide.