On 28 March 2023 GMAC unveiled the GMAT Focus Edition, the biggest redesign of the exam in years. It would be nearly an hour shorter than the GMAT of the time, with three 45-minute sections.
Key facts
- Announced 28 March 2023
- Sections Quant, Verbal, Data Insights (45 minutes each)
- Removed Analytical Writing Assessment, Sentence Correction
- New Review and edit up to 3 answers per section
- Start Q4 2023 (7 November)
What changed
- Data Insights: a new section testing how well candidates analyse and interpret data. It combined the old Integrated Reasoning question types with Data Sufficiency, which moved out of Quant.
- No essay: the Analytical Writing Assessment was dropped.
- No Sentence Correction: Verbal Reasoning kept critical reasoning and reading comprehension only.
- Review and edit: candidates could revisit questions in the time left and change up to three answers per section, and bookmark as many questions as they liked.
- Section order: the three sections could be taken in any order.
Score reports
GMAC said candidates would get detailed performance insights at no extra cost, and could send up to five free score reports, choosing schools up to 48 hours after receiving the Official Score Report.
Timetable
Official preparation materials were due by the end of June 2023, registration would open in the third quarter and testing would begin in the fourth quarter. The existing GMAT would stay available until early 2024.
What this means
This announcement shaped the GMAT you take today. If you used older materials, drop Sentence Correction and essay practice and add serious Data Insights work. Data Sufficiency now sits in Data Insights rather than Quant, so look for it there in new practice tests. Use the official free practice exams to get used to bookmarking and changing answers within the time limit.