GRE Details: Educators
Current section: Scores > Score Reporting
Score Reporting
The following information covers GRE score reporting:
Become a GRE® Score Recipient
GRE General Test scores can be used by admissions or fellowship panels to supplement undergraduate records and other qualifications for graduate study. The scores provide common measures for comparing the qualifications of applicants and aid in the evaluation of grades and recommendations.
The GRE Subject Tests gauge undergraduate achievement in specific fields of study, and can help you more accurately forecast a candidate's potential for success in graduate school.
Undergraduate and graduate institutions and non-degree-granting organizations that award graduate fellowships are eligible for consideration as score recipients. Institutions and organizations that do not meet either one of these requirements are, in general, not eligible to be score recipients. The GRE Board retains the right to make exceptions to this policy in special circumstances.
To become a GRE score recipient, complete and submit the appropriate online form below.
For more information about how your institution can begin receiving GRE scores, call GRE Code Control at 1-609-771-7091 or e-mail codecontrol@ets.org.
Score Reporting Policies
Score reports for the computer-based General Test are released approximately 10-15 days after the test date to the test takers and to institutions of higher education granting the baccalaureate or higher degrees and approved graduate fellowship-granting sponsors designated by the test takers.
Score reports for the paper-based General Test and Subject Tests are distributed approximately four to six weeks after the test date.
GRE score reporting is cumulative. That is, if a test taker has taken one or more tests within the five-year period previous to the 2009-2010 testing year (July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2009), previously earned scores will be reported with the latest ones. Absences are not reported.
A test taker may choose to have only General Test scores, only Subject Test scores, or both scores sent to an institution. However, the test taker may not choose to have only those scores from a specific test date reported. Percentile ranks shown on score reports are based on the performance of the current reference group for each test regardless of when the scores were earned.
The percentile rank for any score may vary over the years depending on the scores of the group with which the score is compared. Thus, when two or more applicants are being compared, the comparison should be made on the basis of their respective scores; if percentile ranks are considered, they should all be based on the percentile rank tables in the most recent edition of the Guide.
GRE score reporting policies have been adopted by the GRE Board to encourage the appropriate use of GRE scores and to protect the right of individuals to control the distribution of their own score reports. Current GRE Board policy states that scores are reportable for five years.
Reporting Revised Scores
ETS routinely follows extensive review and quality control procedures to detect and avoid flawed questions and consequent errors in scoring.
Nonetheless, occasionally an error is discovered after scores have been reported. Whenever this happens, the specific circumstances are reviewed carefully, and a decision is made about how best to take corrective action that is fairest to all concerned.
Revised scores reported during the current year are reported directly to graduate schools and graduate fellowship sponsors as well as to students because such scores are likely to be part of current applications for admission.
Revisions to scores reported in the previous five years are sent to the affected students, who may request that ETS send the revised scores to any graduate schools or fellowship sponsors still considering their applications.
Confidentiality and Authenticity of GRE Scores
GRE scores are confidential and are not to be released by an institutional recipient without the explicit permission of the examinee. GRE scores are not to be included in academic transcripts. Dissemination of score records should be kept at a minimum, and all staff who have access to them should be explicitly advised of their confidential nature.
To ensure the authenticity of scores, the GRE Board urges that institutions accept only official reports of GRE scores received directly from ETS.
The GRE Program recognizes the right of institutions as well as individuals to privacy with regard to information supplied by and about them. ETS therefore safeguards from unauthorized disclosure all information stored in its data or research files. Information about an institution (identified by name) will be released only in a manner consistent with a prior agreement, or with the consent of the institution.
GRE Scores and Graduate Admissions
Many factors play a role in an applicant’s admissibility and expectation of success as a graduate student. GRE scores are only one element in this total picture and should be considered along with other data.
The GRE Board believes that GRE scores should never be the sole basis for an admissions decision and that it is inadvisable to reject an applicant solely on the basis of GRE scores. A cutoff score below which every applicant is categorically rejected without consideration of any other information should not be used.
Scores on the GRE General Test permit comparison of one applicant to a graduate school with other applicants for the same program at that institution as well as with everyone else who took the test.
The GRE Subject Tests provide an additional measure of applicants’ preparation for graduate school. For certain Subject Tests, subscores provide further information for consideration. These subscores, which reflect a student’s general strengths and weaknesses in the major areas on which the total score is based, aid in the interpretation of the total score.
Often the subscores can suggest areas in which the student may require extra work. A low subscore, however, may be the result of lack of exposure to a particular subfield. As a result, subscores should always be reviewed in relation to the applicant’s undergraduate history.
For admissions decisions, the weight to be given to GRE scores can generally be established by relating what the tests measure to the orientation, curriculum, and aims of the department. Specifically, the content validity of the tests for a graduate department should be determined by reviewing each test carefully and then making subjective decisions as to the weight, if any, the scores on GRE tests should receive in relation to other admission factors.
Score Reporting Services
The GRE Program provides test taker score data in various media to authorized GRE score recipients. These services are available:
- SCORELINK® Internet Delivery of Scores - Receive an institution's GRE scores approximately twice a week throughout the entire testing year via the Internet, saving delivery time, and eliminating the need to load CD-ROMs.
- Paper Score Report (free) - Paper score reports are issued after each of the major paper-based test administrations and approximately twice a week throughout the entire testing year. Institutions and approved fellowship-granting sponsors designated by examinees as score recipients can choose to receive either one or two sets of scores per examinee. Score reports can be sorted either alphabetically by the examinee's name within the institution or within the major field or the department designated by the examinee.
- CD-ROM - CDs provide a convenient way to merge students' GRE score data with other student data. Subscription to the service is for one testing year. Disks are produced approximately twice a month. CDs are formatted for IBM and IBM-compatible computers, and the data are in a standard ASCII file.
The fee for SCORELINK or CD-ROM service will be waived if you choose not to receive paper score reports.
For more information about these services, contact GRE Code Control at 1-609-771-7091 or by fax at 1-973-735-0392.
Institutional Summary Statistics Reports
GRE Institutional Summary Statistics Reports provide information on the GRE test performance of particular groups of GRE examinees. The reports are available to authorized individuals at institutions that receive GRE scores. Compare your institution's data with national averages. Compare your department's data with national department averages. Brief descriptions of the two reports follow:
Undergraduate Institution Summary Statistics Report ($75) — Based on GRE scores earned by examinees who indicated they were seniors at your institution or they had earned their bachelor's degree from your institution within the past two years. View Sample Report (PDF).
Graduate Institution Summary Statistics Report ($100) — Based on GRE scores sent to your institution by prospective graduate students. View Sample Report (PDF).
Both reports include:
Institution Reports — Include institutional totals for tests taken, number of examinees, number of scores reported, score distribution, mean and standard deviation for each group of 25 or more scores, and medians for reports that include 10 to 24 scores.
Department Reports — Include your institution's departmental breakdowns for all the categories that are included in the institutional reports.
Composite Reports — Compare your institution's departmental data with national departmental data.
Reports are available for the most recent testing year as well as previous testing years.
If you have any questions or would like to order reports, call GRE Code Control at 1-609-771-7091, fax 1-973-735-0392 or e-mail codecontrol@ets.org.
