GED® Test Length

The GED® test will be about seven and a half hours long with the timing for each subject area as follows:

The Reasoning Through Language Arts test is 150 minutes long and testing is broken down into three sections:

  • Section 1 (35 minutes*) tests all content
  • Section 2 (45 minutes) is the Extended Response portion of the test
  • Student break (10 minutes)
  • Section 3 (60 minutes*) tests all content

*The time allotted for sections 1 and 3 may vary slightly, but the total test time will always be 150 minutes.

The Mathematical Reasoning test is 115 minutes long and is one single section.

  • Part 1 – (first 5 test questions) calculator not allowed
  • Part 2 – (remaining 41 test questions) calculator allowed

Students must submit their answers before moving on to the rest of the test. These parts are not timed separately.

The Social Studies test is 70 minutes long and is one single section.

The Science test is 90 minutes long and is one single section. There are two Short Answer questions included on the test, but they are not timed separately. Students are expected to manage their time and spend about 10 minutes on each of the Short Answer questions.