The Focus Edition, taught as the strategic exam it is. Section order, the review budget and Data Insights are where the points actually are.
The GMAT is the most widely accepted business school entrance exam, taken for more than 7,700 programmes worldwide. It is adaptive, it is short, and it gives you more control than any other test on this list.
There is only one version of the GMAT now. The Focus Edition became the sole exam worldwide on 1 February 2024, and GMAC generally just calls it the GMAT.
| Section | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Reasoning | 21 | 45 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 23 | 45 minutes |
| Data Insights | 20 | 45 minutes |
| Total | 64 | 135 minutes |
Plus one optional ten minute break, taken after the first or second section.
You choose which section to sit first. You can bookmark questions and return to them, and you can edit up to three answers per section during review. That is a real strategic lever and most candidates waste it. We drill section order and the review budget as part of the programme.
The total runs from 205 to 805, always ending in a five, in ten point steps. Each section is scored 60 to 90 in single point steps. The unusual range is deliberate: GMAC built it so that schools can tell a Focus Edition score apart from a score on the retired exam at a glance.
Do not convert old GMAT scores to new ones. GMAC states that comparing raw scores across the two exams is not meaningful and directs candidates to percentile rankings instead. Any coaching centre showing you a "700 equals X" conversion chart is doing something the exam board explicitly warns against.
Up to five attempts in a rolling twelve months, with no lifetime cap and a minimum of sixteen days between sittings. Online and test centre attempts both count toward the limit. GMAC notes that retakers improve by twenty to thirty points on average, which is worth knowing before you build a plan around a single heroic attempt.
Scores are valid for five years and are usually released within three to five business days.
Which section you sit first changes your stamina profile and your risk. We test both orders on you before you decide.
Data Insights is a third of your score and the least familiar to Indian engineering graduates. We weight it accordingly.
Three answer changes per section, used well, are worth real points. Used badly they cost you time. We make the decision rule explicit.
We do not publish a target score. GMAC deliberately steers candidates to percentiles rather than an absolute benchmark, and the meaningful target is the published class profile of the schools on your list. We set your target from those, in writing, at the start.
Five things are in every test preparation programme we run, whatever the exam and whatever the level you start at.
Every programme includes dedicated one to one sessions with your own teacher for the questions that came up after class. Booked when you need them, not parked until the next group session.
The recording reaches you the same day, every time. Miss a class for a school exam, a work trip or a bad week and you have not missed the lesson. It is also the fastest revision tool you will have in the last fortnight.
Not a question bank. Complete timed papers sat under exam conditions, marked the way the board marks them, with a per section breakdown so you know which paper is costing you the score and not just that your total is short.
Before you start, we set the target and the timeline. Midway, we reset it against your mock results. Before you book the exam, we confirm you are sitting the right version on the right date. Teaching without this is just hours.
If a group cohort is not right for you, the whole programme can run one to one. Your own teacher, your own pace, sessions timed around school or work, and a plan built only around your weakest paper.
Every programme is led by a subject trainer who works to the examining board’s own published criteria, not to a generic syllabus. Your mock papers come back with a per section breakdown and the specific reason each mark was lost.
We keep cohorts small enough that the trainer knows your weakest paper by name, and we pair every group programme with one to one time on it.
Picking the wrong exam costs a year. TAICF, our own assessment framework, reads your academic record, your target countries and your deadlines, then tells you which test your shortlist actually accepts and what order to sit things in.
How TAICF worksNo. The Focus Edition became the only version worldwide on 1 February 2024.
Five years from the test date.
Yes. Both test centre and online proctored delivery are available, and attempts at either count toward your five per rolling twelve months.
That depends entirely on your target schools. GMAC does not publish an official benchmark and actively points candidates to percentile rankings rather than a single number. We set your target from the published class profiles of the programmes on your shortlist.
GMAC prices by country, currency and delivery format, and the figures appear only after you select a country in its pricing tool. We will not quote a figure we cannot verify. Check mba.com for your location.
Most business schools now accept both. GMAT still carries more familiarity with MBA admissions committees and its Data Insights section maps closely to the MBA curriculum. GRE gives you flexibility if you are also applying to non-business master's programmes. If you are applying only to MBAs, GMAT is the safer default.
Book a free consultation at Gurugram or Dubai Silicon Oasis. We run a full-length diagnostic first, then build the plan backwards from your target score and your application deadline.
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