Read a GMAT score report from the top down. Start with the total (205–805) and the three section scores (60–90), each with its percentile rank. Then use the performance-insight charts (by content domain, question type and fundamental skill) to find where the points went, and finish with the time-management chart and the Review & Edit summary, which show whether pacing rather than knowledge cost you. GMAC includes all of this in the Official Score Report at no additional cost.
Many candidates still call this the "enhanced score report". On the current GMAT, the detailed insights are part of the Official Score Report itself. What follows describes the report as GMAC presents it in its own candidate materials; Studeous is not affiliated with GMAC.
Unofficial score first, then the Official Score Report
When you finish the test you can view your unofficial scores for the three sections and the total. You may not record, save, screenshot or print them. The Official Score Report follows in your mba.com account, usually within a few days; GMAC notes it can occasionally take up to 20 days. It carries your appointment details and the performance insights described below.
You decide which schools receive a score only after you have seen it. GMAC lets you send it to five schools free of charge within 48 hours of receiving the Official Score Report, and further reports are available for a fee. Scores can no longer be cancelled: instead, each school sees only the attempts you choose to send.
Part one: performance across the exam
Performance by Section
The first chart gives your total and section scores and a percentile rank for each. A percentile says what share of test takers you performed better than: at the 75th percentile, you outperformed 75% of them. GMAC builds these from recent years of results and updates them over time, which is why the current percentile tables are the right reference, not a figure quoted in an old forum post.
One caution before you read anything into small differences: every score carries measurement error. GMAC itself advises schools to be careful when comparing two applicants' totals directly, because there is a standard error of difference between scores. A few points between sections, or between attempts, may mean very little.
Performance by Program and School
This chart appears only if you send your score to one or more programmes. It compares your total-score percentile with those of test takers who sent their scores to the same programme within the past five years. It is the nearest the report comes to answering "is this score competitive where I am applying?", with one limit: it compares you with people who sent scores to that programme, not with those it admitted.
Part two: the section charts
For each section, the report breaks your performance down further. The first three charts in the table below give a percentile rank based on the most recent five years of data.
| Chart | What it shows | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Performance by Content Domain | Your percentile in each content domain within the section | Which areas of content are weakest? |
| Performance by Question Type | Your percentile on each question type within the section | Which formats cost you points? |
| Performance by Fundamental Skills | Your percentile on each fundamental skill within the section | Which underlying reasoning skills need work? |
| Time Management | Your time on each question, review time included, against the average expected time, with your result on each question | Where did your pace help or hurt? |
| Summary of Question Review & Edit | Your review activity in the section, including the time spent reviewing and editing | Did changing answers help? |
How to read the section charts, step by step
- Start with the section that has the lowest percentile. The three sections count equally towards the total, so the lowest percentile, not the lowest-sounding number, marks where there is most ground to make up.
- Read domain and question type side by side. A low percentile in one content domain points to content you need to relearn. A low percentile on one question type, whatever its content, points to how you handle that format. In Data Insights, for instance, a weak Data Sufficiency result next to sound Table Analysis and Graphics Interpretation results suggests a method problem rather than a numeracy one; our guide to the five Data Insights question types sets out that method.
- Use the fundamental skills chart as a cross-check. If the same skill is weak across several question types, the skill is what to practise, not any single format.
- Then open the time-management chart. Look at how your time was spread across the section. A pattern of long stretches well above the expected time early on, followed by rushed answers at the end, is a pacing problem that content study alone will not fix. Compare time with accuracy question by question, too: slow and right is a different problem from slow and wrong.
- Finish with Review & Edit. You can bookmark as many questions as you like and change up to three answers per section. The summary shows how long you spent reviewing and helps you judge whether your changes improved your performance. If edits rarely paid off, that time may be better spent finishing the section at a steadier pace.
Write down the two or three findings that recur across charts. A weakness that shows up in a domain, a question type and the timing chart at once is a far safer basis for a plan than a single low bar.
The GMAT Superscore on your report
Since 12 August 2026, Official Score Reports include a GMAT Superscore when you are eligible for one. It combines your highest section scores across your valid attempts on the current exam into a single figure. It is calculated automatically and does not replace any of your individual scores. Expired scores, and scores from the previous edition of the exam, are not included.
For anyone planning a retake, this changes the arithmetic. A retake aimed at your weakest section can raise your Superscore even if another section slips on the day, because the Superscore keeps your best result in each section.
Comparing a current score with an older one
If you, or a school, need to compare a current score with one from the previous 200–800 version of the test, do not convert by arithmetic. GMAC says both the scales and the score distributions have changed, so totals cannot be compared directly; its concordance tables link the two versions through percentiles. Our guide to how the GMAT is scored explains the current scale in more detail.
From report to plan
A score report describes one sitting under real conditions. The next step is to practise the specific weaknesses it shows, then measure again under the same conditions before you book another attempt. The Studeous GMAT practice tests run each 45-minute section on its published clock, report your result as a band on the 205–805 scale with section scores, and explain every question after scoring, so you can see whether the section that held you back has moved. They are independent practice material written by our own item writers, not GMAC's official tests.