GRE Analytical Writing Section Guide

The GRE General Test includes one Analytical Writing task called Analyze an Issue. ETS retired the second essay task, Analyze an Argument, for test dates from September 22, 2023 onward. A single 30-minute essay now makes up the entire Analytical Writing section. Your response earns a score from 0 to 6 in half-point steps.

This guide covers the timing, the 0-6 scoring rubric, and the human rater plus e-rater scoring behind your final score. It gives you a structure for a scoreable response under time pressure: a stated thesis, concrete examples, and engagement with an opposing view. It also shows how recent scores are distributed and how averages differ across intended graduate fields. The last section points you to ETS's published pool of issue topics for practice before test day.

What the Analytical Writing Section Covers Now

ETS shortened the GRE General Test for test dates from September 22, 2023 onward, removing the Analyze an Argument task, according to its 2023 announcement of the shorter format. The full test now runs under two hours. The current ETS Analytical Writing overview page lists one task: a 30-minute Analyze an Issue essay. No Argument task appears anywhere on the exam today.

Older prep material built around two essays no longer matches the test, so treat Argument-task drills as out of date. Everything in this section rests on one response to one issue topic. The Analytical Writing score is reported on its own 0 to 6 scale, separate from the 130-170 Verbal and Quantitative scales, per ETS's score-interpretation report. See our GRE exam guide for the full section-by-section breakdown of test day.

Essay Timing

You get 30 minutes total for the Analyze an Issue task, per the ETS Analyze an Issue task page. One timer covers reading the prompt, planning, writing and editing. Deciding the split before test day stops you from spending ten minutes on an opening paragraph. The plan below leaves room for a full argument and a final read.

• Read and plan, about 5 minutes: read the statement and the response instructions twice, fix your position, and list the two or three examples you will use
• Write, about 22 minutes: opening paragraph with the thesis, two body paragraphs of examples, one paragraph on the opposing view, short close
• Proofread, about 3 minutes: fix typos, repair broken sentences, and check the link between each paragraph and your thesis

Rehearse this split under a timer instead of improvising on test day. The rubric scores overall quality rather than length, so target a complete argument rather than a word count. If the clock runs short, finish the paragraph on the opposing view and cut your close to a single sentence, because an unfinished body paragraph costs more than a thin ending.

How ETS Scores Your Essay

Two scorers stand behind your Analytical Writing result. A trained rater applies a holistic 6-point rubric to your response. e-rater, ETS's automated scoring engine, scores the same response. The subsections below cover the rubric, the two scorers, and how scores are distributed across recent test takers.

The 0-6 Half-Point Rubric

ETS scores each essay on a 6-point holistic scale, in half-point increments, per its Analytical Writing scoring guide. A holistic score reflects the overall quality of your response rather than separate points added up for each element, as ETS states on its score-interpretation page. Half-point steps mean the reported scale runs 0, 0.5, 1.0 and so on to 6.0. The table below summarizes each score point.

The gap between the middle scores is development and clarity. A 4 shows competent analysis with acceptable clarity, while a 5 shows thoughtful, well-developed analysis with clear command of language. Moving up the scale comes from deeper work on two or three points, not from more paragraphs. A 0 is reserved for responses off the topic, in another language, or copied from the prompt.

Human and e-rater Grading

ETS evaluates your Analytical Writing response on a 6-point holistic scale, including a score from e-rater, an automated scoring engine, per its Interpreting Your GRE Scores 2026-27 report. A trained human rater also scores your response, and the ETS Analytical Writing overview page describes how raters evaluate essays. The human rater applies the score-point descriptors in the table above, published in the ETS Analytical Writing scoring guide. Four points about the scoring are set out on ETS's own pages.

• A trained human rater evaluates your essay, per the ETS Analytical Writing overview page
• e-rater, an automated scoring engine, scores the same response
• The score is holistic: one judgment on overall quality, not points added up element by element
• Your reported Analytical Writing score arrives in half-point steps on the 0 to 6 scale

Check ETS's Understanding Your GRE Scores page for the current scoring process before test day. Write for a human reader against the rubric above, because those published descriptors are what a rater applies.

Average Scores by Intended Field

ETS's Interpreting Your GRE Scores 2026-27 report covers test takers from July 2022 through June 2025. Across all 785,720 test takers in the report, the mean Analytical Writing score was 3.46, with a standard deviation of 0.85. A second table in the same report breaks the means down by intended graduate field for a narrower group: seniors and nonenrolled college graduates who tested during the same period. Those field averages appear below.

The spread across fields is narrow, from 3.4 to 3.9, so your target shifts only slightly with the field you apply to. A 4.0 sits above every field mean in the table and above the 3.46 overall mean. Analytical Writing stays separate from the 130-170 Verbal and Quantitative scales on your score report. See our GRE scoring guide for how all three scores appear together.

How to Structure a Strong Analyze an Issue Response

A high-scoring response takes a clear position and builds a focused argument inside 30 minutes. Three elements separate a strong essay from a weak one: a stated thesis, concrete supporting examples, and engagement with an opposing view. The rubric rewards developed analysis and clear language at the top score points, so depth on a few ideas beats a shallow sweep across many. The subsections below cover each element in the order you write it.

State Your Thesis Early

Write your position in the opening paragraph, in plain language. A rater should identify your stance within the first few sentences without hunting for it. Restate the issue in your own words first, then state where you stand and why. One or two sentences of setup are enough, because your examples carry the argument.

Support Your Position With Examples

Back your thesis with two or three specific examples drawn from history, current events, science, literature, or your own experience. Each example needs a direct link to your thesis, explained in a sentence or two. Name the example, state what it shows, then tie it back to your position. A pile of facts without analysis works against you, because the score rests on the quality of the reasoning rather than the number of references.

Address an Opposing View

Devote a paragraph to the strongest argument against your position, then explain why your thesis still holds. Stating the opposing view fairly matters more than defeating a weak version of it. This move shows the analytical depth the top rubric points describe as cogent, well-articulated analysis. Place the paragraph after your supporting examples and before your closing lines.

Practice With ETS's Published Issue Topic Pool

ETS publishes its complete pool of Analyze an Issue topics in advance, per the ETS Analyze an Issue task page. Your test presents one topic drawn from this published pool, so every prompt you might face on test day is public before you sit down. Reading across the pool shows the range of statements and response instructions in play. Browse the full set with the ETS GRE Issue Topic Pool tool.

Working through every prompt in the pool is unnecessary. Pick eight to ten topics across different themes, outline each one in five minutes, and write three or four full responses under a 30-minute timer. Score your own drafts against the rubric table above, then check whether your thesis is visible in the first three sentences. Repeat with a fresh prompt whenever a draft misses a rubric point.

Practice full Analyze an Issue essays under real timing with our GRE practice tests and section drills. Write one timed essay a week in the month before your test date, and keep the drafts so you are able to compare them against the rubric. All of our practice is free, with no signup required.

Sources

• ETS: Shortened GRE Test Coming September 2023
• ETS: GRE Analytical Writing Overview
• ETS: Analyze an Issue Task
• ETS: Analytical Writing Scoring Guide
• ETS: Understanding Your GRE Scores
• ETS: Interpreting Your GRE Scores 2026-27
• ETS: GRE Issue Topic Pool