The GED is made up of five sections and tests your proficiency in subjects that you would have had to pass in order to earn your high school diploma. With five multiple-choice sections testing your knowledge of reading, writing, social studies, math and science, the GED measures how much you know compared to your diploma-holding peers. Successful passage of each of the five subjects means you've earned your high school equivalency certificate.
Each section of the test is timed. The language arts section requires approximately three hours, including a block used to write an essay. The rest of the test is multiple-choice. The social studies test must be completed in 70 minutes, the science test in 80 minutes and the math section in 90 minutes. The math portion is split into two sections and you are permitted to use a calculator provided by the testing center on the first section.
Your standard score ranges from 200 to 800 for each section, while comparing your performance to that of a high school graduate. The passing score is set each year by the GED Testing Service at the level where 60 percent of graduating high schoolers score. In 2013, the minimum passing score is an overall average of 450 on each section. Additionally, you cannot score less than a 410 on any of the five sections. A total standard score of 2,250 or higher means you have successfully passed your GED.
Your percentile score will tell you what percentage of high school graduates earned scores equal or less than yours. For example, a percentile rank of 60 means that 60 percent of graduates earned your score or lower. It's important to remember when interpreting your results that a 60 percent does not mean that you got 60 percent of the questions correct. It means that for every 100 people that took the GED, you did better than 60 of them.