GMAT duration reduced by half hour
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has shortened the length of the GMAT exam by 30 minutes to make the testing experience more user-friendly.
The new exam will have a duration of 3.5 hours instead of the earlier four hours. The new format is available to test-takers globally since April 16.
The time shorter duration is a result of streamlining of the two lengthier sections of the exam, the quantitative and verbal reasoning sections. There are no changes to the exam’s analytical writing or integrated reasoning sections.
The way the GMAT exam is scored, the content of the exam, the question types and the average time per question are not
THE CONTENT OF THE EXAM AND SCORING PATTERN IS UNCHANGED
changing.
Similarly, the two optional 8-minute breaks or the two-minute Accept/Cancel Score screen at the end of the exam also remain unchanged.
“By shortening the exam by 30 minutes and putting the tutorial information online so test takers can access it prior to arriving at the test center, we believe candidates will feel better prepared, which can contribute to a better reflection of their true performance on the exam,” said Vineet Chhabra, senior director, product management, GMAC. “The content of the exam and the time per question remains unchanged.”
Explaining the rationale of this move, Chhabra said that this change does not alter the GMAT exam scoring as the number of scored questions will not change.
Further, the scoring algorithm also remains the same.
“There is no action or change required on the part of business schools and universities. We are providing candidates with a better testing experience, while providing business schools with the same high quality, fair and reliable scores,” he elaborated.
According to GMAC, these changes are based on the feedback shared by various stakeholders.
“The shortening was based on ongoing operational reviews of our systems and technology changes. We identified an opportunity to shorten the GMAT exam without impacting the way it is scored. We have also received feedback from test-takers that they feel rushed through the tutorial screens at the test center prior to starting their GMAT exam. Hence, we streamlined and simplified much of the content on several non-exam screens, and have made the tutorial available in advance,” Chhabra added.
“Additional time and content reductions were made on several non-exam screens at the test center, including the tutorial, select section order, and the section instruction screens that are displayed immediately prior to starting each exam section. The content has been streamlined and much of it is now available via an Online Tutorial that test takers are encouraged to review at their convenience prior to their test day,” he explained.