What's on the GMAT®: The Complete Topic List

If you are building a study plan, one of the first things you probably want to know is: what do I actually need to learn?

That is a completely reasonable question. And the answer is more straightforward than a lot of people expect.

The GMAT® Focus Edition tests three sections: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights. Each section is 45 minutes long. The content itself is not particularly advanced. Most of the math goes through about a high school level, and the verbal section tests reading and reasoning skills you have been building your entire life.

What makes the exam challenging is not the content. It is the way the questions are asked. The GMAT® is a reasoning test dressed up in math and reading clothes. Understanding the topics is necessary, but it is not sufficient. You also need to learn how the exam tests those topics — which is a separate skill.

This post covers what you need to know in terms of content. We will walk through every section, list every major topic, and give you some notes on where to focus your energy.

The Three Sections

Section	Questions	Time	Format
Quantitative Reasoning	21	45 minutes	Problem Solving (5-option multiple choice)
Verbal Reasoning	23	45 minutes	Critical Reasoning + Reading Comprehension
Data Insights	20	45 minutes	Data Sufficiency + Integrated Reasoning

You can take the three sections in any order you choose. All three sections are adaptive, meaning the difficulty adjusts based on your performance as you go.

There is no calculator on the Quantitative Reasoning section. There is a calculator on the Data Insights section.

Quantitative Reasoning

The quant section is 21 problem-solving questions in 45 minutes. That is slightly more than two minutes per question. Every question is standard five-option multiple choice.

The content covers math through about a high school level. There is no calculus, no trigonometry, and no advanced statistics. If you have heard of radians, derivatives, or cosine, you can forget about those for this exam.

Here is what you need to know:

Arithmetic

Operations with integers, decimals, and fractions (including long addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division — there is no calculator)
Order of operations
Positive and negative numbers
Even and odd numbers
Prime numbers and prime factorization
Factors, multiples, and divisibility rules
Greatest common factor and least common multiple
Fractions (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, simplifying, comparing, converting)
Decimals (converting to and from fractions, operations)
Percents (calculating percentages, percent change, percent of a percent)
Ratios and proportions
Averages (arithmetic mean, weighted average)
Descriptive statistics (median, mode, range, standard deviation concepts)

Algebra

Variables, expressions, and simplifying
Solving linear equations and inequalities
Systems of equations (two variables)
Quadratic equations (factoring, using the quadratic formula)
Exponents (rules for multiplying, dividing, negative exponents, fractional exponents)
Roots and radicals (square roots, simplifying, rationalizing)
Functions (evaluating, substituting, interpreting f(x) notation)
Absolute value
Sequences and patterns (arithmetic and geometric sequences, finding terms)

Word Problems

Translating words into algebra
Percent word problems (this category is heavily represented on the Focus Edition)
Rate, time, and distance problems
Work and rate problems
Mixture problems
Profit, cost, and revenue problems
Sets, Venn diagrams, and overlapping groups
Simple and compound interest
Probability (basic — single events, combined events, complementary probability)
Counting principles (permutations and combinations at a basic level)

Geometry (Limited)

GMAC has said there is no geometry on the Focus Edition. That is mostly true, but not entirely.

You will not see heavy geometric computation — no problems requiring you to decompose a five-sided figure into special right triangles or calculate complex areas. That style of question has been removed.

But you should still know:

What basic shapes are (rectangles, squares, circles, cubes, rectangular boxes, spheres)
How to calculate area and perimeter of basic shapes
Volume of a rectangular box (length × width × height)
The coordinate plane (plotting points, understanding quadrants, basic distance concepts)

If you are starting from scratch, spend a session or two brushing up on these basics. It is a small investment that almost always pays off.

Verbal Reasoning

The verbal section is 23 questions in 45 minutes. There are two question types: Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. The split is roughly 50-50.

There is no Sentence Correction on the GMAT® Focus Edition. If you have been studying with older materials that include Sentence Correction, you can skip those questions entirely.

Critical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning questions give you a short passage (usually under 100 words) that contains an argument. You then answer a question about that argument.

The core skill is understanding how arguments work — identifying the conclusion, the evidence, and the gap between them.

Here are the question types you need to know:

Strengthen — Which answer choice, if true, most supports the argument?
Weaken — Which answer choice, if true, most undermines the argument?
Assumption — What must be true for the argument to hold?
Evaluate — What additional information would be most useful in assessing the argument?
Flaw — What is the logical weakness in the argument?
Inference — What can be concluded from the information given?
Explain — Which answer choice best accounts for a surprising finding or apparent contradiction?
Bold-faced — Identify the role of specific statements within the argument

You do not need any specialized knowledge to answer these questions. Every answer is based entirely on the information in the passage and basic logical reasoning.

Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension questions give you a passage (usually 200 to 400 words) and then ask you several questions about it.

The passages cover a range of topics — business, science, social science, history. You do not need prior knowledge of any topic. Everything you need is in the passage.

Here are the question types:

Main idea — What is the passage primarily about?
Supporting detail — What specific information does the passage provide about X?
Inference — What can be reasonably concluded from the passage?
Application — How would the author's reasoning apply to a new scenario?
Logical structure — How is the passage organized? Why does the author include a particular detail?
Tone and style — What is the author's attitude toward the subject?

The biggest challenge for most people is not understanding the passage. It is managing time while reading carefully enough to answer the questions accurately. There is real tension between speed and comprehension, and learning to handle that tension is a core part of verbal prep.

Data Insights

The Data Insights section is 20 questions in 45 minutes. It combines two question types: Data Sufficiency and Integrated Reasoning.

Based on current data, you can expect roughly 12 to 15 Integrated Reasoning questions and 5 to 8 Data Sufficiency questions in a given section. Integrated Reasoning is about twice as important by volume.

This section has a calculator. Use it.

A lot of providers recommend studying Quant and Verbal first, then transitioning to Data Insights. That is generally good advice because DI draws on both math and reasoning skills. The studying you do for Quant and Verbal will directly help your DI performance.

Data Sufficiency

Data Sufficiency questions give you a question and two statements. Your job is to determine whether the statements provide enough information to answer the question — not to actually solve it.

The answer choices are always the same five options (you will memorize these quickly):

(A) Statement 1 alone is sufficient, but Statement 2 alone is not. (B) Statement 2 alone is sufficient, but Statement 1 alone is not. (C) Both statements together are sufficient, but neither alone is sufficient. (D) Each statement alone is sufficient. (E) Statements 1 and 2 together are not sufficient.

There are two flavors of Data Sufficiency on the Focus Edition:

Math-based — These look like traditional DS questions. They involve equations, number properties, algebra, or arithmetic. The content mirrors what you see in the Quant section.
Logic-based — These are newer to the Focus Edition. They present real-world scenarios (like scheduling constraints or conditional rules) with little or no computation. The skill is tracking multiple conditions carefully.

For both types, scratch work habits matter enormously. The most common mistake is not a knowledge gap — it is losing track of a constraint or a sign somewhere on your scratch pad.

Integrated Reasoning

Integrated Reasoning questions combine quantitative and verbal skills. There is no new content — just new question formats. Once you learn the four formats and have solid Quant and Verbal foundations, you have what you need.

Here are the four formats:

Two-Part Analysis — You solve for two values using information from a prompt. These can be math-based (algebra, statistics) or reasoning-based (similar to Critical Reasoning). The core strategy is writing down exactly what the question is asking before working through the information.

Graphics Interpretation — You are given a graph (scatter plot, bar chart, line graph, pie chart, or sometimes something less common like a bubble chart) and asked to interpret it. Read the title and axis labels carefully before looking at the question. Pay special attention to units — an axis labeled "in millions" is easy to misread under time pressure.

Table Analysis — You are given a spreadsheet-style table and asked yes/no or true/false questions about the data. The table is usually sortable. The main skill is finding the relevant data quickly without getting lost in rows you do not need.

Multi-Source Reasoning — You are given two or three tabs of information (text, tables, charts, or a combination) and asked questions that require synthesizing across sources. The skill is the same as Table Analysis: find the relevant data, ignore the rest.

For all Integrated Reasoning questions, the single most important skill is separating the information you need from the information you do not. Unlike the Quant section — where almost every piece of given information matters — IR gives you a lot of data that is irrelevant to the question being asked. Learning to identify what matters is most of the battle.

What Is NOT on the Exam

A few things people commonly worry about that you can safely ignore:

Sentence Correction — Removed from the Focus Edition entirely.
Calculus — No limits, derivatives, or integrals.
Trigonometry — No sine, cosine, tangent, or radians.
Advanced geometry — No proofs, no complex constructions, no heavy geometric computation.
Advanced statistics — No regression analysis, no hypothesis testing, no confidence intervals. Standard deviation is tested conceptually (understanding what it measures) but you will not need to calculate it by hand.
Specialized knowledge — The Verbal section passages cover many topics, but you never need outside knowledge. Every answer is in the passage.

Where to Focus Your Energy

If you are wondering where to start, here is a rough priority framework:

High priority for almost everyone:

Arithmetic fluency (especially without a calculator)
Percent word problems
Algebraic manipulation (equations, inequalities, exponents)
Critical Reasoning fundamentals (identifying conclusions, assumptions, and gaps)
Data Sufficiency process (the yes/no framework)

Important but often underestimated:

Scratch work habits — this is not a content topic, but it drives scores more than most content topics do
Reading speed and comprehension under time pressure
Translating word problems into algebra
Understanding what Data Sufficiency is actually asking (sufficiency, not solving)

Lower priority (but do not skip entirely):

Geometry basics (a session or two is usually enough)
Probability and combinatorics (tested, but not heavily)
Sequences and patterns
Obscure Integrated Reasoning formats (bubble charts, unusual graph types)

The exact prioritization depends on your starting point. A diagnostic test will tell you where your gaps are. If you have not taken one yet, that is the best first step.

For a full walkthrough of how to build a study plan around these topics, check out our post on how to build a GMAT® study plan that works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there geometry on the GMAT® Focus Edition?

Mostly no. GMAC has said geometry has been removed, and that is about 85% accurate. There is no heavy geometric computation — no complex constructions or multi-step geometry problems. But basic geometry concepts still show up: coordinate plane questions, volumes of basic shapes, and familiarity with standard figures like rectangles and circles. Spend a session or two on the basics and you will almost certainly be prepared for whatever geometry appears.

What math level does the GMAT® test?

Through about a high school level. The content includes arithmetic, algebra, basic statistics, and word problems. There is no calculus, trigonometry, or anything that would typically be covered in a college math course. The challenge is not the difficulty of the math — it is the style of reasoning the questions require.

Is there a calculator on the GMAT®?

There is a calculator on the Data Insights section only. There is no calculator on the Quantitative Reasoning section. This means hand computation skills (long division, fraction arithmetic, decimal operations) are critical for Quant.

What is the difference between the Quant section and Data Insights?

The Quant section is pure problem-solving: 21 multiple-choice math questions. Data Insights combines Data Sufficiency (is this information enough to answer the question?) with Integrated Reasoning (interpreting graphs, tables, and multi-source data). DI also has a calculator. The math content overlaps, but the question formats and the skills they test are different.

How many topics do I need to learn for the GMAT®?

The topic list is finite and manageable. Most of the Quant content is material you encountered before college. The Verbal section tests reasoning skills, not memorizable content. Data Insights uses skills from both sections in new formats. The real question is not how many topics there are — it is how deeply you understand the ones that matter most for your score.

Is Sentence Correction still on the GMAT®?

No. Sentence Correction was removed when the GMAT® transitioned to the Focus Edition. The Verbal section now tests only Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. If you are using study materials that include Sentence Correction, you can skip those sections.

Should I study all three sections at the same time?

Most providers recommend starting with Quant and Verbal, then adding Data Insights later. That is generally good advice because DI draws directly on skills from both other sections. Building a strong Quant and Verbal foundation first makes DI preparation more efficient.