GRE Quantitative Reasoning: four formats, four content areas
GRE Quantitative Reasoning is 27 questions across two sections in 47 minutes, scored 130 to 170, with an on-screen calculator available throughout. The maths stops at secondary school: no trigonometry, no calculus, no proofs. What makes it hard is not the syllabus but the clock and the way questions are worded.
The two sections
| Section | Questions | Time | Per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quant 1 | 12 | 21 minutes | 1 min 45 sec |
| Quant 2 | 15 | 26 minutes | 1 min 44 sec |
Section-level adaptive, exactly as Verbal: the first section decides the difficulty — and therefore the scoring ceiling — of the second.
Format and content are different axes
| The four formats | The four content areas |
|---|---|
| Quantitative Comparison | Arithmetic |
| Multiple choice — one answer | Algebra |
| Multiple choice — one or more answers | Geometry |
| Numeric Entry | Data Analysis |
Any format can carry any content. A Quantitative Comparison question may be arithmetic, algebra, geometry or statistics — which is why treating it as a topic rather than as a way of asking leaves the underlying maths unprepared.
Data Interpretation is a set of questions sharing one chart or table. It is part of Data Analysis and uses whichever of the four formats suits each question.
The calculator helps less than it looks
A basic on-screen calculator is provided: four functions, square root, and memory. It will not factorise, solve, or handle exponents beyond squares, and reaching for it on a question designed to be reasoned is a reliable way to lose the time it was meant to save.
- Use it for awkward arithmetic, long division, square roots.
- Do not use it for estimation questions, Quantitative Comparison where the relationship can be seen, or anything where the numbers are clean.
Every Quantitative question type
GRE Quantitative — FAQs
3 questions
Yes, a basic on-screen calculator is available throughout the Quantitative sections. You may not bring your own.
No. The syllabus stops at secondary-school arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis.
No. Answer everything.
Quantitative on the other exams
Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.