How much time per question on each GRE section? / How long should a timed practice set take?

Here's the exact timing from ETS for each section of the current GRE:

Verbal Section 1: 12 questions in 18 minutes (1:30 per question average) Verbal Section 2: 15 questions in 23 minutes (~1:32 per question average) Quant Section 1: 12 questions in 21 minutes (1:45 per question average) Quant Section 2: 15 questions in 26 minutes (~1:44 per question average)

These averages are benchmarks, not limits. You'll spend less time on easy questions and more on hard ones. The point is that it should average out. If you're consistently running over these averages, you're probably spending too much time on questions you should be skipping.

For timing any practice set, use 1:45 per quant question and 1:30 per verbal question. Quick way to calculate it yourself: for quant, multiply the number of questions by 7 and divide by 4. For verbal, multiply by 3 and divide by 2. So 9 quant questions: (7 x 9) / 4 = 15.75 minutes, or about 15:45. 8 verbal questions: (3 x 8) / 2 = 12 minutes.

Quick reference:

Quant (1:45 per question): 5 Qs = 8:45 / 7 Qs = 12:15 / 9 Qs = 15:45 / 10 Qs = 17:30 / 12 Qs = 21:00 / 15 Qs = 26:15 / 20 Qs = 35:00

Verbal (1:30 per question): 5 Qs = 7:30 / 7 Qs = 10:30 / 9 Qs = 13:30 / 10 Qs = 15:00 / 12 Qs = 18:00 / 15 Qs = 22:30 / 20 Qs = 30:00

Always practice under timed conditions. Untimed practice teaches you content but does nothing for pacing, and pacing is where most students lose points they already know how to earn.