The verbal portion of the exam tests your abilities in reading comprehension, sentence correction and critical reasoning and is scored on a range of 0 to 60. According to the official GMAT website, verbal scores above 44 points and below 9 points are rare. Your score on the verbal section is based upon the number of questions answered and how many of your answers were correct and how many were incorrect. Questions left unanswered will cause your score to decrease.
The quantitative section tests your abilities in problem solving and data sufficiency. Scores on the quantitative portion of the GMAT also range from 0 to 60, again depending on how many questions you answer and how many correct and incorrect answers you have. The GMAT website notes that student scores typically range between 7 and 50 on the quantitative section. Like the verbal section, any questions in this section that are not answered will cause your score to decrease.
The verbal and quantitative scores are converted to a combined scaled score that ranges from 200 to 800. The Graduate Management Admission Council notes that two-thirds of GMAT scores fall between 400 and 600.
The analytical writing assessment (AWA) section of the GMAT consists of two writing tasks and is used to assess your ability to communicate clearly and think critically in written English. Trained readers will assign scores to the two AWA sections (Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument), and the average of these scores represents your overall AWA score. AWA scores exist on a scale of 0 to 6 with half-point intervals. Your AWA score is separate from and has no bearing upon your verbal, quantitative or total score.
You will also receive a percentage, or percentile, score along with each section and total score. The percentage score can help you compare your GMAT performance with that of other test takers from the past three years from the date you took your test.