GMAT Integrated Reasoning Is Now Data Insights: Here’s What Changed
If you’re here, you may have come across something called the Integrated Reasoning section on the GMAT, but can’t seem to find what, exactly, that section entails. First, let’s address the confusion: GMAT Integrated Reasoning doesn’t exist anymore. The November 2023 redesign of the GMAT folded all four Integrated Reasoning question types into a new section called Data Insights, which counts for a full third of your score. Here’s what moved where, and what it means for how you prep.
What Happened to GMAT Integrated Reasoning?
On the old GMAT, Integrated Reasoning was a separate 30-minute, 12-question section with its own score on a 1-8 scale, and famously, that score sat outside the 200-800 total that schools cared most about. Plenty of test-takers treated Integrated Reasoning accordingly: as a speedbump between the essay and the “real” exam, or as an afterthought at the end.
The current GMAT ended that arrangement. Integrated Reasoning’s four question types, Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, and Two-Part Analysis, moved into the Data Insights section, where they were joined by Data Sufficiency, which transferred in from the quant section. Data Insights gives you 20 questions in 45 minutes, the on-screen calculator is available there (and only there), and the section counts fully toward your total score, with the same weight as Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning.
In other words: the material that was once “the section nobody studies for” now carries a third of your GMAT score. (The 2023 GMAT redesign also involved major changes to the verbal section, from which Sentence Correction was removed entirely.)
Integrated Reasoning vs. Data Insights: What’s Actually Different
The stakes. This is the big one. An old Integrated Reasoning score of 4 was survivable because it stood apart from your total. A weak Data Insights performance now drags down your composite score. If your prep course seems oddly light on Data Insights content, it’s probably a leftover from when Integrated Reasoning didn’t hold as much weight.
The lineup. All four Integrated Reasoning question types survived: same formats, same skills. The new arrival is Data Sufficiency, which adds a logic-heavy flavor to the section.
The scoring mechanics. Integrated Reasoning’s 1-8 scale is gone. Data Insights is scored on the same 60-90 scale as the other two sections. There’s no conversion between an old Integrated Reasoning score and a DI score.
The essay’s gone too. The old GMAT paired Integrated Reasoning with the Analytical Writing Assessment. The current exam has no essay at all.
Is Your Old Integrated Reasoning Prep Material Still Useful?
Mostly yes, with caveats:
Official Integrated Reasoning practice questions: still valuable. The four Integrated Reasoning question types are unchanged, so official questions from older materials are legitimate practice for four-fifths of Data Insights. Pair them with official DS questions (which appear in the quant section in pre-2023 materials) and you’ve covered the whole section.
Integrated Reasoning strategy advice: read with one eye on the clock. Old Integrated Reasoning guidance assumed 12 questions in 30 minutes. The pacing math and the stakes are both different now, so keep the question-type strategies and discard the strategic advice around them.
Old Integrated Reasoning scores: not a diagnostic. A 7 on Integrated Reasoning in 2022 tells you something about your skills with certain question types, but it doesn’t translate cleanly into a Data Insights score. With a different scale, different section composition, and different conditions, the two aren’t directly comparable.
How to Prep for Data Insights Now
Our guides cover each question type the way we’d teach it: Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, Two-Part Analysis, and Data Sufficiency, and the Data Insights pillar ties in strategies on how to approach the section as a whole.
As always: try to use official questions only. That one’s constant, no matter how much the GMAT changes!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Integrated Reasoning still on the GMAT?
Not as a section. Its four question types moved into Data Insights in the November 2023 redesign, joined by Data Sufficiency from the old quant section.
What replaced Integrated Reasoning on the GMAT?
Data Insights, which features 20 questions in 45 minutes, five question types, and an on-screen calculator. It is weighted equally with Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning to produce your total score on a scale from 205 to 805.
Does Data Insights count toward your GMAT score?
Yes, fully and equally. Unlike the old Integrated Reasoning score, which sat outside the 200-800 total, Data Insights carries the same weight as Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning.
Can I use old Integrated Reasoning materials to study for Data Insights?
Yes, official Integrated Reasoning questions remain excellent practice for four of the five DI question types. Add official Data Sufficiency questions and ignore old Integrated Reasoning pacing advice, which was written for a 12-question, 30-minute section.
Is Integrated Reasoning still on the Executive Assessment?
Yes. The EA kept its Integrated Reasoning section, so EA takers should keep using Integrated Reasoning materials and Integrated Reasoning-specific strategies.
