GMAT Focus Edition: What Changed From the Classic GMAT
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 04, 2026 • Graduate & Professional School
The GMAT Focus Edition replaced the classic GMAT on January 31, 2024, dropping the essay for three sections scored 205 to 805.
🎓 Sections: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Data Insights
⏱️ 2 hours 15 minutes total, 64 questions
No more Analytical Writing Assessment or Sentence Correction
Data Insights replaces Integrated Reasoning and absorbs Data Sufficiency
You can bookmark and revisit questions within a section before time runs out
Why the GMAT changed
The Graduate Management Admission Council retired the classic GMAT and made the GMAT Focus Edition the only version of the exam starting January 31, 2024. The redesign cuts test time, removes the essay, and adds a section built around interpreting data, matching how business schools say they want to evaluate applicants now.
The three sections
| Section | Questions | Time | What it tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Reasoning | 21 | 45 minutes | Algebra and arithmetic problem solving |
| Verbal Reasoning | 23 | 45 minutes | Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning |
| Data Insights | 20 | 45 minutes | Multi-source reasoning, tables, graphics, and data sufficiency |
That adds up to 64 questions across 2 hours 15 minutes, with no separately timed essay section.
Quantitative Reasoning dropped geometry from its scope, and Verbal Reasoning dropped Sentence Correction, so both sections focus more narrowly than the classic GMAT did. Data Sufficiency questions, which used to sit inside Quant, now live in Data Insights alongside table analysis, graphics interpretation, two-part analysis, and multi-source reasoning.
Scoring on the new scale
The Focus Edition reports a total score from 205 to 805, in 10-point increments, calculated from performance across all three sections. Each section also earns its own score from 60 to 90, in 1-point increments, so schools can see how you performed in each area rather than only your combined result.
This total scale replaced the old 200 to 800 range, so scores from the classic GMAT and the Focus Edition are not directly comparable number for number.
What else changed
The Analytical Writing Assessment essay is gone entirely, so you no longer write a critique of an argument as part of the exam.
A Question Review & Edit tool lets you bookmark questions and change a limited number of answers within the same section before time runs out, something the classic GMAT did not allow.
You choose the order you take the three sections in in at the start of your appointment, picking from preset orders.
You get an unofficial score report at the test center right after you finish, before the official score posts to your account.
Cost and registering
Registration pricing varies by delivery format and country. Check current GMAT Focus Edition fees directly on mba.com before you schedule a test date, since prices and available test centers change.
Should you take the Focus Edition
The GMAT Focus Edition still fits applicants targeting MBA and specialized business master's programs, especially ones with a strong quantitative or finance focus. If your target schools also accept the GRE, compare both exams' format and question style against your strengths before you commit to a prep plan.