Exam Overview

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An Overview of the Exam

Format, content, scoring, and registration

The GRE Psychology Test is one of the GRE Subject Tests developed and administered by ETS. It is separate from the GRE General Test, which measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. The Psychology Test measures knowledge of the discipline itself, drawn from the courses most commonly offered in an undergraduate psychology curriculum.

Format and Structure

The Test at a Glance
Feature	Details
Number of questions	Approximately 144 multiple-choice questions
Testing time	2 hours; there are no separately timed sections
Question format	Five answer choices (A–E); one best answer
Delivery	Computer-delivered, at a test center or at home where available
Administered by	ETS (Educational Testing Service)
Testing windows	Three two-week windows each testing year: September, October, and April
Total score	200–990, reported in 10-point increments
Subscores	Six percent-correct subscores (0–100), one for each content area
Wrong answers	No deduction; the score is based on the number answered correctly
Score reporting	Scores remain reportable for five years after the test date

Questions may ask for recall of factual information, analysis of relationships, application of principles, conclusions drawn from data, or evaluation of a research design. Some stimulus material, such as a description of an experiment, a graph, or a table of results, serves as the basis for two or more questions. Terminology, criteria, and classifications for psychological disorders follow the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR).

Content Areas

Questions are drawn from six content areas. The published outline states the number of questions in each area, and each area yields its own subscore.

Content Distribution
Content area	Questions	Share of test	Subareas
Biological	30	21%	Sensation and perception (9–11); physiological/behavioral neuroscience (19–21)
Cognitive	29	20%	Learning (6–8); language (4–6); memory (10–12); thinking (5–7)
Social	19	13%	Social cognition, attitudes, influence, group processes, relationships
Developmental	18	13%	Physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, and moral development
Clinical	23	16%	Personality (4–6); clinical and abnormal (17–19)
Measurement/Methodology/Other	25	17%	General: history, industrial-organizational, educational (7–9); measurement and methodology (16–18)

Where the Questions Come From

Biological and Cognitive — 41%59 questions on the experimental core of the discipline

Social and Developmental — 26%37 questions

Clinical — 16%23 questions on personality and psychological disorders

Measurement/Methodology/Other — 17%25 questions on methods, statistics, history, and applied fields

Scoring

The total score is determined by the number of questions answered correctly. That number is converted to a scaled score from 200 to 990 so that scores from different editions of the test are comparable. Because nothing is subtracted for a wrong answer, every question should be answered, including those on which you must guess.

The score report also gives a percentile rank, the percentage of recent test takers who scored below your scaled score, and six percent-correct subscores. A subscore is the percentage of questions answered correctly in one content area. Subscores from different editions are not equated, so they describe relative strengths on one administration and should not be compared across test dates.

Interpreting Your Score

There is no passing score. Each graduate program decides whether it requires the test and how it weighs the result, and competitive doctoral programs generally expect a higher percentile rank than master’s programs. Check the stated requirements and reported averages of each program to which you apply.

Registration, Fees, and Score Reports

Registration is completed online through an ETS account. During registration you choose a testing window, a test center or the at-home option, and up to four score recipients, whose reports are included in the test fee. The name on the registration must match the name on your identification document exactly.

Fees at the Time of Publication (U.S. Dollars)
Service	Fee
GRE Subject Test registration (worldwide)	$199
Rescheduling	$55
Changing the test center	$55
Additional score report, per recipient	$40
Score reinstatement	$50

Fee reduction. Eligible applicants with demonstrated financial need can request a voucher that covers half of the test fee.
Accommodations. Candidates with disabilities or health-related needs must have accommodations approved by ETS before registering.
Score availability. Scores are posted to the ETS account on the score reporting date published for each testing window, and ETS sends an e-mail when they are ready.
ScoreSelect. You decide which test dates’ scores are sent to each institution.
Retesting. A Subject Test may be taken once every 14 days, within the windows in which it is offered.

Test Day

The test is delivered on a computer. At a test center, arrive early, bring the identification that meets the requirements for your testing location, and expect secure check-in procedures. For the at-home option, your computer, room, and equipment must meet the published requirements, and a human proctor monitors the session online. At-home testing is not offered in every country.

Within the two hours you may move through the test in any order, skip questions, mark them, and return to them. All questions carry equal weight. The examination’s pace is 50 seconds per question, which leaves little time for prolonged deliberation over any one item.

Always Confirm Current Details

Fees, testing windows, identification rules, and at-home availability are set by ETS and can change. Confirm every administrative detail on the official GRE Subject Tests pages and in the GRE Information Bulletin before you register.

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