Students can take the shorter Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) for admission to graduate, business and law programmes and schools in several countries from Friday onwards, according to Educational Testing Service (ETS).

The shorter GRE test time has been cut by nearly half and is now under two hours compared to almost four-hours previously. Official GRE scores will also be delivered to test takers even faster than before, in just 8-10 days after the examination.

According to ETS, the GRE is now under two hours with quicker score reporting as a result of removal of analyze an argument task in the analytical writing section, reduced number of questions in the quantitative and verbal reasoning sections and removal of the unscored section.

ETS conducts GRE and TOEFL.

"The shorter GRE provides a better test taking experience, while continuing to be the most valid and reliable assessment of graduate-level readiness. GRE's widespread acceptance across graduate and professional programmes, including STEM, business and law, is a testimony of being an objective measure of cognitive skills that are the foundation of success across fields of study and profession," said Sachin Jain, Country Manager, ETS India and South Asia.

"We are confident that GRE test takers from India, one of the largest populations of GRE test takers in the world, will welcome a significantly better experience with the shorter GRE when showcasing their graduate-readiness to admission in...higher education institutions around the globe," he added.

Jain explained that the score scales will remain consistent, ensuring that graduate programmes can easily compare performance across individuals who test before and after September 2023.

The shorter GRE is also section level adaptive, allowing test takers to answer questions in the order that they choose and to change their answers as often as they need to.

More than 1,300 business schools in 94 countries accept GRE scores for MBA and other professional graduate programmes. GRE scores are valid for a period of five years which provides students with flexibility to explore their graduate and professional school options.

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