GMAT Focus score chart and percentiles explained

Updated 23 September 2026 · 8 min read

A GMAT Focus score report gives you four numbers: a Total Score and three section scores. On their own they say little. What admissions teams and you actually care about is where those numbers sit relative to other test-takers, which is what percentiles show. This guide lays out the full score chart using GMAC's published percentile data, explains how the scale works, and covers the questions that come up most: what counts as a good score, how Focus scores compare with the old 200–800 GMAT, and why the three section scores do not simply add up to the total.

How GMAT Focus scoring works

The GMAT Focus Edition has three sections, each with its own score:

A few rules from GMAC are worth knowing:

• Total Scores run from 205 to 805 in steps of 10, so every Total Score ends in 5. GMAC made that change so that schools can tell a Focus score apart from a score on the previous edition, which ran from 200 to 800 and ended in 0.
• Section scores run from 60 to 90 in steps of 1.
• The three sections are equally weighted in the Total Score. Data Insights counts as much as Quant or Verbal.
• Each section score depends on three things, according to GMAC: the number of questions you answer, whether you answer them correctly, and the difficulty of those questions. The sections are adaptive, so the questions you get depend on how you are doing.

The practical consequence of the first factor is simple: leaving questions unanswered at the end of a section lowers your score. If you are running out of time, guess on the remaining questions rather than leave them blank.

GMAT Focus total score percentiles

A percentile tells you the share of test-takers who scored below you. The table below uses GMAC's score concordance table published in August 2026, which is based on tests taken from July 2021 to June 2026. The last column shows the range of old 10th Edition scores that GMAC links to each Focus score.

Three things stand out. The median sits around 565, the 50th percentile. The percentile climbs quickly through the middle of the scale: moving from 555 to 605 takes you from about the 47th to the 69th percentile. And the top of the scale is very compressed: every score from 705 up is above the 97th percentile.

To look up any score, including the ones skipped above, use the GMAT Focus score calculator.

Section score percentiles: Quant, Verbal and Data Insights

The same section score does not mean the same thing in each section, because the pool of test-takers performs differently on each. Quant and Verbal percentiles below come from GMAC's August 2026 concordance tables. GMAC publishes no concordance table for Data Insights, which did not exist in the previous edition, so Data Insights percentiles come from the table on mba.com (tests from 2020 to 2025, whole-number percentiles).

Take a section score of 80. In Quant it is about the 64th percentile, in Verbal about the 54th, and in Data Insights the 83rd. A Data Insights score that looks modest next to your Quant score can be the stronger result. When you compare sections, compare percentiles, not raw section scores.

Why the section scores don't simply add up

GMAC does not publish a formula or a lookup table that turns three section scores into a Total Score. It states that the sections are equally weighted and computes the Total from its own internal ability estimates, which are more precise than the rounded section scores you see. Two people with the same three section scores can therefore receive Total Scores that differ slightly.

What you can do is estimate. The section scores together span 90 points (180 to 270) and the Total spans 60 steps of 10 (205 to 805), so each extra section point is worth roughly 6.7 Total points on average. Our calculator uses that linear relationship. For example, section scores of 80, 80 and 80 give an estimated Total of about 605, and 84, 84 and 84 give about 685. Treat such numbers as estimates, not as what GMAC will report.

The more useful takeaway is strategic. Because the sections are equally weighted, a point gained in your weakest section is worth the same as a point gained in your strongest, and it is usually far cheaper to earn.

GMAT Focus vs the old GMAT (10th Edition)

Many school websites, forums and older books still quote scores on the 200–800 scale. GMAC advises against comparing the two scales directly and instead publishes concordance tables that line the two up by percentile. The table above includes that concordance.

A few reference points from it:

• An old 700 corresponds to a Focus score of 645–655.
• An old 650 corresponds to about 595–615.
• An old 600 corresponds to about 555–565.

Notice what the concordance implies about the old scale. An old 700 lines up with Focus scores at the 86th to 90th percentile in GMAC's current data. If you carry a 700 target over from an old forum thread or book, convert it rather than guess: the Focus equivalent is 645–655, not 700.

What is a good GMAT Focus score?

"Good" depends on the programmes you are applying to, not on the scale. Some useful anchors from GMAC's data:

• About 565 is the 50th percentile, the middle of all test-takers.
• About 605 is roughly the 69th percentile.
• About 655 is close to the 90th percentile.
• 705 and above is above the 97th percentile.

To set your own target, look up the class profiles that your target programmes publish. Most publish a GMAT median or a score range for their latest intake. If a school still reports scores on the 200–800 scale, convert them with the concordance table rather than reading them as Focus scores. Then aim a little above the median, so a slightly off test day still keeps you in range.

Finally, look at your section balance. A total built on one very strong and one very weak section may raise questions that an even profile does not, particularly if the weak section is Quant and the programme is quantitative. The section percentile table above makes it easy to see where your profile is uneven.

How percentiles change over time

GMAC updates percentile rankings every year, using a rolling window of recent tests. That means the percentile attached to your score on your report can differ slightly from the percentile a school sees in a later year, even though your score does not change. The figures on this page come from the tables GMAC published in August 2026 (Total, Quant and Verbal) and from mba.com (Data Insights). We update them when GMAC publishes new tables.

Score reports, validity and retakes

• Official Score Report. According to mba.com, the report includes performance insights at no extra cost: results by section, question type and content area, plus information about your time management.
• Validity. GMAT scores are valid for five years.
• Retakes. You can take the GMAT up to five times in a rolling 12-month period, with at least 16 days between attempts. Check mba.com for the current rules before you plan a retake.

If your first score falls short, the performance insights are the place to start. They show which question types and content areas cost you most, which is exactly where the next few weeks of practice should go. Our realistic GMAT Focus study plan and error log guide explain how to turn that into a plan.

Use the score calculator

The GMAT Focus score calculator does the lookups on this page for you: pick your three section scores, and it shows the estimated Total Score, its percentile, each section's percentile and the 10th Edition equivalent. It also builds a week-by-week study plan from your current estimate to your target. If one section is holding you back, the free practice sets for Data Sufficiency, Problem Solving and Critical Reasoning are a good next step.