The latest in the world of Graduate Record Exams (GRE) is that the scheduled changes in the test have been scrapped. Contrary to news that a new GRE format would be launched soon, the GRE board has decided to retain the old format.

Educational Testing Service (ETS), a private US-based company that conducts the tests, had planned to launch the revised GRE general test in September. Instead, the company will continue to offer the test worldwide in its current computer-based format. Registrations in India, which had been closed, will now be reopened by the end of April to accommodate application deadlines.

According to ETS authorities in India, the planned Internet-based test outweighed the benefits of immediately moving to a new format. “There was also a lot of uproar from the student community regarding the new format. The students were distressed because they had planned to take the GRE during their summer vacations and subsequently, apply to universities abroad. But as the exam was to be held in September with a new format, all their plans had gone awry,” points out Francis Gomes, ETS India head.

The other reason for cancelling the revised GRE general test was access. ETS had planned to deliver the revised test through a worldwide network of 3,200 Internet-based testing centres. Despite the network’s size, ETS officials did not believe that full access to the general test for all students could be confidently assured.

The decision to scrap the revised exam has had a mixed reaction. While the student community has welcomed the move, experts say that the revised format had its inherent benefits. “Unlike the older adaptive pattern, the new format was linear with more stress on reasoning. It would have put an end to all the mugging that most students do to clear the exam,” says Atul Prashar, centre head, TCY Learning Solutions Private Ltd, a Punjab-based company that trains GRE aspirants.