GED Practice Test

The GED is a stepping stone to your dream school or the job you are trying to land. Having a GED certificate will help you to find a job and secure your tertiary education as long as you get a passing score.

For many people, this means that they must spend some time studying to pass. Among the most effective ways to prepare is to take the GED practice test.

Is the GED practice test harder than the real test?  No, not exactly. Many of the practice tests available are shorter than the actual GED tests. However, since it is shorter, you will have difficulty managing your time, and you might need to realign that in your strategy for acing the exam.

This article will cover more about the GED practice tests and the differences between them and the actual examination. There are also some references you can take a look at below to help you with your review.

What Makes for a Great GED Practice Test?

The GED practice test is a helpful tool as it gives you the actual test’s vibe. This can help you learn what topics you will be tested on and how much studying you will need to do.

However, there are practice tests that are not high-quality, and if you end up taking these kinds of tests, there’s a big chance of lowering your score.

This is because you will study the wrong topics and possibly neglect the areas you should be studying.

The best GED practice tests have the data closest to the actual GED exam in length, format, and difficulty. When you have a high-quality GED practice test, you will get the feeling of how quickly you should answer the questions to finish it at the right time.

This can also give you an idea of which subjects you should be focusing on, how the questions are phrased, and how well you will score on each subject.

As you are probably aware, the GED consists of four sections, and you need to pass all four sections to get your GED certificate. The test will be given on a computer, and each section has a specific time length:

• For Mathematical Reasoning, you have at least 115 minutes.
• For the Social Studies exam, you have 90 minutes.
• For Science, you have 90 minutes.
• For Reasoning Through Language Arts, you have a total of 15 minutes, including a 10-minute break.

In the next part of this article, you will find different options for taking your GED practice tests. It is recommended that every test-taker take the GED practice test or at least the most struggling sections.

Finding Official GED Practice Tests

If you can afford to buy an official GED practice test, you recommend doing so. This is because official practice tests are made by the same people who make the actual GED test.

This makes them your primary source of review, as some of the questions might appear in the actual test. It is also a gold standard, as it maintains the same format, content, and difficulty as the actual test.

GED Ready has the official GED practice test, and it is not that expensive, as it costs only $6 per subject. The practice tests are computer-based, and after you complete them, you will get your results and information on how likely you are to pass the exam.

Having this kind of practice test can give you a great feeling for the real GED, but there will always be some drawbacks.

The first drawback is that each section is only half as long as it would be on your actual GED test. This means that it will give you less practice and not allow you to learn how well you are holding up during a longer exam.

Next, you can take each practice test only once; then, you have to purchase multiple practice tests for each GED subject. This means that the official GED tests can get pretty expensive.

Finding the Best Paid GED Practice Tests

If you are not keen on the official GED practice tests, there are other resources to use, and they are still a good match to the actual GED tests.

Below are some of the best paid GED practice tests because they match the actual GED test questions’ format and quality. Assistance also comes in the form of textbooks that can be purchased as physical books or eBooks.

Kaplan GED Test Prep Plus

If you are searching for helpful practice tests and want to pay for only one GED practice test set, you should buy this Kaplan prep book.

It might not be the official source, but Kaplan works with the official makers of the GED to provide you with realistic practice tests. It costs only $20, and these practice tests are second only to the official prep materials in terms of quality.

The GED prep book comes with a full-length practice test—one in a book form and one in an online copy. It has more than 1,000 practice questions, both written and video lessons.

Test Prep Books: GED Preparation

If you are an aspiring GED test-taker and need some practice tests with in-depth explanations, you should consider getting this GED preparation book.

This is made by Test Prep Books and maybe the best choice for you as it includes one full-length practice test and different explanations for all the questions. It also offers different explanations for all the topics you need to know for the exam.

It costs only $18. If you are struggling to raise your score, you can use this book to learn the material you need.

5 Practice Exams for the GED by Princeton Review

Princeton Review has a GED prep book with five different practice exams consisting of 800 practice questions.

This is great if you are searching for a lot of GED practice, but here’s a fair warning: They are not as great as the Kaplan practice tests.

Some practice tests are shorter than the actual GED test, making it difficult to figure out if you are answering the questions quickly enough.

Other people reported that these practice questions are harder than the actual GED, so they ended up having to study topics that they didn’t know.

If you are looking for practice and have a limited budget of $15, this book can be useful but make sure that you know that this book has shortcomings.

Finding the Best Free GED Practice Tests

Not all people can afford to buy stuff online or pay for the official GED practice test. However, it is recommended that you get one of those if you can, as some of the free GED tests lack consistency when it comes to their content.

There are many free GED tests, and they can be categorized from good to pretty bad. Just make sure to select the free resources that work for you, as many are not updated with the exam’s newest version.

Here are some of the best GED practice tests that you can implement in your review:

Test Prep Toolkit

This is at the top of the list as one of the better free GED practice tests available for everyone. The only problem is that it is updated only for 2019, so you might need to consider that.

There are 25 questions per section, which is not as much of a practice as other free sites offer. The only difference is that this free site is the closest match you can get to the GED.

Union Test Prep

This is a solid practice test consisting of questions similar to what you will see on an actual GED exam. The only drawback is that it has some formatting differences compared to the actual examination.

You will see if you got the question immediately after selecting your answer instead of waiting until the end of the section.

Test Guide

The Test Guide is considered shorter than the actual GED tests, and it is more like a practice quiz. The good thing is that it is fully updated, and the tests are similar to the actual GED tests.

There are multiple tests for each section, and the site gives you different explanations and information related to the topic.

Conclusion

Overall, GED practice tests are a great guide if you are determined to ace your actual GED examination. You only need to find the one that works for you.

If you have the means, go for the official GED practice tests or spend some money on other paid GED practice tests. Otherwise, be sure to make the most out of the free practice tests available online.