GMAT · Guides · October 30, 2026 · 10 min read

GMAT Focus Edition: what changed from the classic GMAT, how scores compare and what it means for prep

The GMAT Focus Edition is the current GMAT. GMAC began delivering it on 7 November 2023, retired the previous version (the GMAT Exam 10th Edition) after 31 January 2024, and on 1 July 2024 dropped the word “Focus” from the name, so “the GMAT” today means this exam. Compared with the classic test it is almost an hour shorter (2 hours 15 minutes, 64 questions), has three equal sections instead of four, and no longer includes Sentence Correction, geometry or the essay. Scores run from 205 to 805 and cannot be compared point for point with old 200–800 scores; GMAC links the two scales by percentile instead.

Every exam fact below comes from GMAC (mba.com and gmac.com), checked on 30 October 2026. Confirm details on mba.com before you book, as GMAC updates policies from time to time.

Timeline: from announcement to “just the GMAT”

So if you see “GMAT Focus”, “GMAT Focus Edition” or simply “GMAT” in a school’s requirements, a prep book or a forum post written after 2024, they describe the same exam. Material that mentions Sentence Correction, Integrated Reasoning or a 200–800 scale is about the retired version.

Classic GMAT vs Focus Edition, side by side

The left column is the 10th Edition as GMAC itself described it in its 2023 webinar for schools; the right column is the current exam as described on mba.com in October 2026.

The single most important line in that table is the total score. On the classic GMAT, Integrated Reasoning and the essay were reported separately and did not count toward the 200–800 total. On the Focus Edition, the data section counts for exactly one third of your score. That is why Data Insights cannot be treated as an afterthought.

What was removed, and where it went

Sentence Correction

GMAC’s March 2023 announcement says Verbal “no longer incorporates sentence correction”. Grammar is not tested directly anywhere on the GMAT any more. Verbal is now Critical Reasoning (short arguments of usually fewer than 100 words) and Reading Comprehension. For non-native speakers this shifts the work from grammar rules to reading speed and argument logic.

Geometry

mba.com lists questions that require geometry among the content GMAC removed. The Quant section now covers arithmetic and elementary algebra through Problem Solving questions, and you cannot use a calculator. Coordinate work survives only where it belongs to algebra, such as lines and functions. Our GMAT syllabus lists the four content areas in detail.

The Analytical Writing Assessment

The essay is gone. There is no writing section of any kind, and schools that want writing samples get them from your application essays.

Integrated Reasoning became Data Insights

GMAC built Data Insights from two pieces of the old exam: the four Integrated Reasoning formats (Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, Two-Part Analysis) and Data Sufficiency, which moved out of Quant. Data Insights has 20 questions in 45 minutes and an on-screen calculator. Unlike Integrated Reasoning, it carries the same weight as Quant and Verbal. For the Data Sufficiency method, see our Data Sufficiency guide.

New features that change how you take the test

Question Review & Edit

You can bookmark any question while you work. When you answer the last question of a section with time left, a review screen lists all questions and your bookmarks; you can open as many as you like and change up to three answers. Two details from mba.com matter in practice:

• the review happens inside the same 45 minutes, and if no time remains you skip the review screen entirely;
• the limit is three edits per section, not three per exam.

In practice this means you can make a fast, reasonable guess on a question that is eating your time, bookmark it, and come back if you finish early. It does not mean you can leave questions blank: unanswered questions at the end of a section are penalised.

Choose your section order

Before the first section you pick the order of all three. Common choices are to start with your strongest section to settle nerves, or with your weakest while you are freshest. Test both in your mocks; the order that gives you the best result in practice is the right one.

One optional break

The break lasts 10 minutes and you can take it after the first or the second section. Most people take it; a short reset before the last 45 minutes usually helps more than it costs.

A more detailed score report

The Official Score Report, which arrives usually within three to five days, shows performance by section, content area, question type and skill, and how you managed time. It is free and included with every exam. You also pick the schools that receive your free score reports after you have seen your score.

How Focus Edition scores compare with old scores

Why you cannot compare the numbers

mba.com is explicit: because the score scale and the distribution of scores changed, comparing total or section scores between the two editions is “not appropriate”. A 600 on the old exam and a 605 on the new one look almost identical but represent very different performance. GMAC made every current total end in 5 precisely so the two can never be confused.

The concordance table

To compare, GMAC links the two scales by percentile in its concordance tables (the current edition was published in August 2026, based on tests taken from July 2021 to June 2026). Selected rows:

Some old scores link to two or three current scores because of how percentiles fall across score bins. The section tables work the same way: an old Quant 51 links to a current 89–90, and an old Verbal 40 to 84–85. Data Insights has no counterpart in the old exam, so there is no concordance for it.

The practical rule: compare percentiles, not scores. Our guide to a good GMAT score explains targets; the free GMAT score chart shows the official percentile for every current score next to its old-scale equivalent, and the score calculator estimates a total from three section scores. If you are coming from the GRE, the GRE to GMAT converter chains ETS’s prediction with the same concordance.

A few anchor points

On the August 2026 tables, the mean total is about 555, a 655 sits near the 90th percentile and a 705 near the 98th (mba.com rounds to whole percentages; the concordance tables give 97.5%). Section scores move in steps of 1 with a standard error of about 3 points; the total moves in steps of 10 with a standard error of 30–40 points. A 20-point difference between two attempts can be noise.

What happens to old 10th Edition scores

• They stay valid. mba.com: scores from the 10th Edition remain valid for five years from the appointment date. The last old scores therefore expire in early 2029.
• Schools still accept them. UCLA Anderson, for example, lists “the GMAT, GMAT Focus Edition, GRE, or EA” among accepted tests, and Darden accepts both the previous and the current edition (both pages checked 30 October 2026). GMAC’s own sample score report shows a candidate sharing Focus Edition attempts together with an older 10th Edition attempt.
• They do not count toward the Superscore. According to the mba.com help centre, the GMAT Superscore uses only valid attempts on the latest edition; 10th Edition and expired scores are excluded.
• Percentiles of old scores are frozen in a different population, so if a school compares you with the current class, it will look at the concordance, not the raw number.

If you hold an old score close to your target and it is still valid, you may not need to retest. If it is well below target, plan for the new format from scratch rather than trying to “convert” your old preparation.

What the Focus Edition means for your preparation

Drop the retired material

Older books and courses spend a third of Verbal on Sentence Correction and a chunk of Quant on geometry. Skip both. If you use pre-2023 Official Guides for practice, filter out those question types and treat their Data Sufficiency questions as Data Insights practice.

Give Data Insights a full third of your time

On the old GMAT many candidates barely prepared for Integrated Reasoning because it did not move the total. That habit is now expensive. Data Insights mixes calculation, reading and data interpretation; it has no partial credit on multi-part questions, and you cannot return to a previous screen. Learn each of the five formats until the interface is automatic.

Re-learn Data Sufficiency in its new home

Data Sufficiency now appears with a calculator and alongside tables and graphs, and some DS questions are verbal rather than mathematical. The method is the same, but the pacing is different: one Data Insights question averages 2 minutes 15 seconds, and some screens contain several parts.

Train Verbal as reasoning, not grammar

With Sentence Correction gone, Verbal rewards reading quickly and finding the gap in an argument. Practise Critical Reasoning by question family and build reading speed with dense English texts on science, economics and history. See the Critical Reasoning guide.

Practise with Review & Edit and section order

Use the bookmark and the three edits in every timed mock, so that on test day you know how much time you usually have left for review and which order suits you. Rehearse the optional break too.

Measure on the right scale

Use a diagnostic that reports on the 205–805 scale. GMAC’s free Starter Kit includes Official Practice Exams 1 and 2. In the Nomto course at /app/gmat the diagnostic is free, takes about 45 minutes (seven questions per section) and reports a score range with percentiles; full mocks follow the real structure, with section order, bookmarks and up to three edits per section. Our 8- and 12-week plan and the week-by-week GMAT study plan show how to fit all of this into a schedule.

Common questions

Is the GMAT Focus Edition the same as the GMAT? Yes. Since 1 July 2024 GMAC calls it simply the GMAT Exam; nothing but the name changed.

Can I still take the old GMAT? No. The last day was 31 January 2024.

Is the Focus Edition easier? It is shorter, not easier. It removes whole topics, but scores are scaled against a strong international population, and the total now depends on Data Insights as much as on Quant and Verbal. See is the GMAT hard.

Do schools prefer old or new scores? Schools accept both while they are valid and compare them by percentile. Check each programme’s admissions page.

Is there still an essay? No. There is no writing section on the current GMAT.

GMAT™ is a trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). This guide is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by GMAC. It describes the exam format and contains no official GMAT questions. Facts checked on mba.com and gmac.com on 30 October 2026.

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