The GRE score range, explained
The GRE General Test scores Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning from 130 to 170 each, in 1-point steps, for a combined total of 260 to 340. Analytical Writing is scored separately from 0 to 6, in half-point steps. Here is what the range means, how a section-adaptive test arrives at your number, and where a typical score falls. See your own number with the score calculator.
Every GRE score range at a glance
Three numbers, three scales. Only Verbal and Quant feed the total.
| Measure | Range | Increment |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal Reasoning | 130 to 170 | 1 point |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 130 to 170 | 1 point |
| Total (Verbal + Quant) | 260 to 340 | 1 point |
| Analytical Writing | 0 to 6 | 0.5 point |
The lowest possible scored total is 260, not 0: each section starts at 130. Analytical Writing sits outside the total and is reported on its own 0 to 6 scale.
How section-adaptive scoring works
The GRE adapts between sections, not between questions, and that shapes your final scaled score.
Each measure has two sections. How you perform on the first section determines the difficulty of the second: do well and the second section is harder, which raises the ceiling on the score you can earn. This is what section-adaptive means.
Your raw count of correct answers across both sections is then converted to the 130 to 170 scaled score, with the difficulty of the sections you saw factored in. That is why two people with the same number correct can land on slightly different scaled scores. Our mock tests use the same section-adaptive engine, so the score you see is realistic.
Because the second section adapts to the first, the first section matters more than its share of questions suggests. Treat it as the one to protect.
Where a typical score falls
The midpoint of the scale is not the midpoint of the test takers.
The numeric middle of each 130 to 170 scale is 150, but the average Quant score sits higher, near 158, while the average Verbal score sits near 151. So a 150 lands a little below the Verbal average and well below the Quant average. The total average is about 309.
This is why the same scaled score maps to very different percentiles in each section. To turn a score into a rank, see GRE percentiles, and for what to aim for, see what is a good GRE score.
Common questions.
Turn the range into your number
Estimate your scaled Verbal and Quant scores from how many questions you get right, using the same section-adaptive logic as the real test.