What is a good GRE® Analytical Writing score?

Start with what the numbers mean

The GRE® Analytical Writing score runs from 0 to 6 in half-point steps. On its own, a number like 4.0 does not tell you much. The useful comparison is how it ranks against other test takers.

ETS publishes that ranking as a percentile: the percentage of test takers who scored lower than a given score. The current tables are based on everyone who tested between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, which ETS reports as 785,720 Analytical Writing test takers.

ETS percentile ranks for each score

From ETS's GRE General Test Interpretive Data, Table 1C, the percentage of test takers scoring below each level is: 6.0, 99 percent; 5.5, 98; 5.0, 93; 4.5, 85; 4.0, 63; 3.5, 40; 3.0, 16; 2.5, 7; 2.0, 3; 1.5, 1; 1.0, 1.

Over the same period, the mean Analytical Writing score was 3.46, with a standard deviation of 0.85. So a 3.5 sits right around the middle, a 4.0 is above average, and every half point above 4.0 moves you past a large share of test takers.

The jumps are uneven. Going from 3.5 to 4.0 moves you from the 40th to the 63rd percentile, and from 4.0 to 4.5 moves you to the 85th. Near the top, the gains in percentile shrink because few people score there.

A 4.0 beat 63 percent of test takers and a 4.5 beat 85 percent in ETS's 2022–2025 data.

Averages by intended field

ETS also reports average scores by intended broad graduate field, for college seniors and nonenrolled graduates in the same 2022–2025 window. Rounded to one decimal, the Analytical Writing means were: Law 3.9; Social and Behavioral Sciences 3.8; Business, Education and Life Sciences 3.7 each; Engineering, Humanities and Arts, and Physical Sciences 3.4 each.

These are averages of people who planned to study in each area, not admission requirements. They are a reasonable way to see where you stand among likely peers, and nothing more.

So what counts as good?

Good depends on the programs you are applying to. Some publish the typical scores of admitted students; if yours do, that is the best benchmark you have. If they do not, the percentile table tells you where you stand overall.

ETS itself cautions against rigid cutoffs. Its guide for score users says that using a minimum GRE score as the only criterion for admission or a fellowship award is not good practice, and it recommends against cut scores used as the sole criterion. We are not going to invent a threshold either.

Keep measurement error in mind. ETS reports a standard error of measurement of 0.40 for individual Analytical Writing scores. Its guidance for comparing two scores is to double the standard error of score differences, 0.57, which gives about 1.1 points; smaller differences between two applicants may not reflect a real difference in ability.

How programs use the score

Programs see more than a number. Schools with access to the ETS Data Manager can read applicants' actual essay responses. ETS has said schools value this because it may be the only writing sample they receive that was not coached or edited by others.

ETS also asks readers to treat the essay as a rough first draft, written without time to revise and without spell or grammar checking. And it notes that the Analytical Writing measure and the TOEFL Writing measure assess different skills, so the two scores are not interchangeable for applicants whose first language is not English.

In practice, this means a clearly reasoned essay helps you twice: once in the score and again if a reader looks at what you wrote.

If you want a higher score

The Issue scoring guide separates bands mostly by the depth of reasoning. A 4 develops a position with relevant reasons; a 5 uses logically sound reasons and well-chosen examples; a 6 develops the position fully with compelling reasons. Timed practice aimed at that difference is the most direct path upward.

Hopper Labs Essay Practice is free, needs no sign-up, and runs in your browser, with a timed test and a rubric report across response to the prompt, reasoning, evidence, organization and clarity. It gives a practice grade, not an official or predicted GRE score. Try it in Essay Practice.

GRE® is a registered trademark of ETS. This article and Hopper Labs Essay Practice are not endorsed or approved by ETS.