Make sure you know where the test center is and arrive there at least 30 minutes prior to your scheduled Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) appointment. You will need to check in when you arrive at the test center. If you arrive more than 15 minutes after your scheduled appointment time, you may not be admitted, and your test fee may be forfeited.

Part of the check-in procedure will include identification (ID) verification. In addition to the valid ID you must present at the test center (see Presenting Proper Identification), the test center administrator will take your digital photograph and digital scans of your fingerprint and/or palm vein pattern and signature.

Every test taker is required to adhere to the Testing Rules & Agreement for the country in which the test is being delivered. Please refer to the list on the right side of this page to see the Testing Rules & Agreement specific to the country in which you intend to take the GMAT exam. (You will see this again when you check in at the test center.)

Test centers do not have large waiting areas. If friends or relatives accompany you to the test center, they will not be permitted to wait in the center or contact you while you are taking the test.

Personal items, such as cell phones, backpacks, purses, or handbags (see What to Bring to the Test Center) are not permitted in the testing room. Before being seated at your workstation, you will be told where you can deposit your personal items. Storage space is limited, so please plan accordingly.

The GMAT® exam is administered in an individualized environment, in the quiet and privacy of separate computer workstations. Testing premises are subject to audio/video recording.

On occasion, weather conditions or other circumstances beyond the test administrator's control may require a delayed start or the rescheduling of your test appointment. If technical problems caused by the test center or Pearson VUE necessitate canceling your test session or prevent reporting of your scores, you will be offered the opportunity to schedule another test appointment free of charge or receive a full refund of the original test fee. These remedies are the exclusive remedies available to examinees affected by technical problems. Please see Examinee Remedies for additional information. 

Testing must begin promptly once you are seated at the computer.

The total time of your test appointment is approximately four hours. Two optional breaks are scheduled during the test administration. If you exceed the time allowed for these breaks, the extra time will be deducted from your remaining test time.

Dress comfortably and be prepared to adapt if the room temperature changes.

You will not be permitted to leave the testing room without the test administrator’s permission. You will generally be required to provide a digital fingerprint and/or palm vein pattern any time you enter the testing room to match the identity verified at registration.

You will not be allowed to eat, drink, or use tobacco while in the testing room, but may do so during scheduled breaks. If you want to go outside to smoke during a break, you must inform the test administrator where you are going, and you must remain in the immediate vicinity of the test center.

Access to telephones, cellular (mobile) phones, or other communication devices will not be permitted during the test session or during breaks.

If you believe you have a problem with your computer, need to replace a noteboard, or require any other assistance, raise your hand and notify the test administrator.

You may not leave the workstation while timed sections of the test are being administered. If there is an emergency and you must leave your seat during the test session, raise your hand and notify the test administrator. The timing for the test section you are working on will not stop during your absence.

Repeated or lengthy departures from your workstation will be documented by the test administrator and reported to Pearson VUE and GMAC®.

GMAC®, Pearson VUE and ACT endeavor to ensure that the GMAT® test is administered in a standardized and uninterrupted manner. If events occur that cause testing to be canceled or interrupted, involve a mistiming on any part of the test, result in a deviation from required testing procedures, raise concerns about possible advance access to exam content by one or more examinees, or otherwise disrupt or compromise the normal testing process, GMAC® and/or Pearson VUE will examine the situation and determine if corrective action is warranted, including score cancellation(s) or nonscoring of exams. If GMAC® and/or Pearson VUE, in their sole discretion, determine that such action is warranted, each affected examinee will be offered the option either to retest at no additional fee or to receive a refund of his or her examination fee (unless the affected examinee is found to have caused or been involved in the conduct which resulted in the corrective action, in which event GMAC® and/or Pearson VUE shall have the right to withhold either or both of these options and to pursue all available remedies with respect to that examinee). If a retest is offered and an examinee selects that option, the examinee must retake the entire exam in order to produce a valid score. These remedies are the exclusive remedies available to examinees affected by disruptions in testing or potential compromises through prior access to exam content by one or more examinees.

If you have questions about the test center or test day, please contact GMAT® Customer Service in your region.

Graduate Management Admission Test® and GMAT® are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council®.