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What does the GED Test consist of ?

With the exception of Part II of the Writing Skills Test, which requires an essay, all questions on the GED Test are multiple choice . The questions range in difficulty from easy to hard and cover a wide range of subjects. The subjects covered in the test are listed below. Click here for sample GED test questions.

What scores do I need now to pass the GED Test ?

After January 1, 2002 a student must achieve a minimum standard score of 410 points on all five tests and a minimum total standard score of 2,250 on the entire battery (average score of 450 on all tests).

In addition to the five GED Tests, Illinois residents are required to satisfactorily pass the Illinois State Constitution examination (Public Law 195). This test is pass/fail. No points are assigned.

GED Test Content:

Language Arts-Writing (Part 1)
Number of questions: 50  Time limit: 75 minutes  
Test Content:                                                                                                                                 30% Sentence Structure, 30% Usage, 25% Mechanics, 15% Organization

Language Arts-Writing  (Part 2)
Time limit: 45 minutes
 Test Content:
Write a essay on a given topic.

Social Studies
Number of questions: 50 Time limit: 70 minutes
 Test content:
25% U.S. History, 25% Civics & Government, 20% Economics, 15% Geography, 15% World History
Science
Number of questions: 50  Time limit: 80 minutes
 Test content:
45% Life Science, 35% Physical Science, 20% Earth and Space Science
Language Arts-Reading
Number of questions: 40  Time limit: 65 minutes
 Test content:                                                                                                                                     75% Literary Text, 25% Nonfiction Prose
Mathematics- (Part 1)
Number of questions: 25  Time limit: 45 minutes
-A Casio fx260 scientific calculator will be allowed and provided

Mathematics- (Part 2)
Number of questions: 25  Time limit: 45minutes  

Test content:                                                               
20-30% Number, Number Sense & Operations, 20-30% Measurement & Geometry,         20-30% Data, Statistics and Probability, 20-30% Algebra, Functions and Patterns.

Illinois State Constitution Test
Number of questions: 60  Time limit: 60 minutes
 Test content:
  • American Patriotism
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Constitution of the United States
  • Constitution of the State of Illinois
  • Proper display of the American Flag

Click here for further information on Test Content

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