The GED exam is North America’s High School Equivalency (HSE) assessment that measures the academic proficiency of adults who don’t hold a high school or equivalent credential. In this post, we’ll discuss how you can best prepare for the GED test.
The GED® exam comes with four separate, modular sub-exams that don’t need to be taken in one session. You can prepare for one section, pass that sub-exam, and move ahead to the next part.
The GED is challenging! Testing takes place at a level comparable to what high school grads must command, and becoming perfectly prepared is crucial to your success on testing day, and you may also want to learn more about free GED classes online to get properly prepared.
The four GED modules measure your academic proficiency and skills in four subject areas: English Literacy (Language Arts), Mathematical Reasoning, Social Studies (including History and Geography), and Science (including Chemistry and Physics).
In Canada, a new Canadian-made high school equivalency exam was introduced in May 2024 to replace the Canadian version of the GED exam. The website Cansego.ca prepares students optimally for the new assessment.
The Best Way To Prepare For the GED Test
The probably best way to get ready for the rather challenging GED test is by taking a number of practice tests. When you do, you will learn the most about your academically weaker and stronger points.
If you know what you’re already good at, you can go over that subject matter quickly without wasting your time too much on the stuff you already know.
If you use your time to focus on the fields that you’re not so good at, you’ll learn more efficiently, and your precious study time won’t get wasted.
So it is crucial that you learn about the academic subject areas that you must focus on, and also learning about your preferred learning style plays an important role.
If you are preparing for the GED Math portion, you should definitely read this page about the GED Math calculator course that was developed by Onsego. If you follow that course well, you will surely boost your GED Math scores!
Not everyone learns in the same way. Generally speaking, we can identify three major learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. If you learn more about how you study best and about your preferred learning style, chances are your learning becomes more effective and your preparation improves.
There are numerous practice tests available online, but the free practice tests offered by BestGEDClasses.org are on loan from the GED Testing Service-accredited Onsego GED prep course, so they’ll give you a pretty good idea of what the real thing is like.
The GED Ready Practice Test
The GED Ready® test plays an important role as well in the process of getting ready for the entirely computerized GED test. The GED Ready test is written by the same persons who designed the official GED exam.
The GED Ready test is about half the length of the actual GED exam, and it is the only practice test designed to let you know if you will most likely will pass the real test or if you require more time for preparation.
After you’ve taken the GED Ready test, you’ll receive a score report that informs you about the subject areas that need improvement based on how you did.
As said before, you’ll also get a good taste of what the real test is like, which also will give you a good idea of how to get all set effectively. The GED Ready test can be written online. However, this practice test comes at a price; it’ll set you back $6.99 for each of the four sections, so $28 in total, on top of the GED cost in your state.
If you think about taking the GED exam online, bear in mind that you are required to reach “green” scores (in the passing range) on four GED Ready tests. If not, you don’t qualify for online GED testing.
More Ways To Prepare For The GED Test
Students who have some difficulty with self-discipline may find it beneficial to attend a physical GED prep class and learn under the guidance of a dedicated instructor. If they do their GED prep this way, chances are they will reach better GED scores than with an online program,
There’s nothing wrong with learning in a class with a group of students while being supervised and supported by a teacher, but be aware that you’ll have to show up at set times and work probably with a pre-set study plan that addresses all the topics, one after the other, in a certain sequence. But that’s often also the case with online GED prep courses, for example, GED Academy’s online courses.
Many community colleges, libraries, churches, and other organizations offer good support and fine GED prep classes across the country. So if you want to get your GED fast and efficiently, perhaps attending a brick-and-mortar school in combination with a good, accredited online program will get you ahead optimally. See also our review of the Aztec GED Flash program.