GRE, GMAT, IELTS or TOEFL? Don’t Take a Test Before Checking Your University Requirements

Aswathy Mohandas

28/08/2026

11 min read

GRE scores stay reportable for five years. TOEFL scores are valid for two. IELTS recommends that results be treated as valid for two years, though individual organisations set their own policies. Useful numbers — and none of them answers the question that comes first: do you need the test at all?

The most avoidable expense in this process is sitting an exam that none of your target universities asked for. Booking a test feels like progress, because it produces a date and something concrete to prepare for. But the exams required to study abroad depend on your course, your university, your destination and sometimes the individual department inside one institution.

Students take the GRE for test-optional programmes. They pay for an English test before checking whether the university accepts a different form of evidence. Both are entirely preventable with an afternoon of reading. The rule underneath everything below: build your shortlist first, check what it requires, and only then book anything.

Which exams do you actually need to study abroad?

For most master’s applicants the testing requirement splits in two: an academic admissions test such as the GRE or GMAT, and evidence of English proficiency through IELTS, TOEFL, PTE or another accepted test. You may need both, one, or neither.

The most important word in that table is not a number. It is “some”. There is no universal list of exams required to study abroad, which is why the admissions page of every programme on your shortlist is the only source that settles it. Our guide to GRE score validity and the TOEFL validity explainer cover the reporting rules in detail.

When is the GRE required and when is it optional?

GRE policy now varies by university, by discipline and by individual programme. Some graduate programmes require it. Some make it optional. Some do not consider it at all. ETS itself advises applicants to check individual programme score-use policies rather than generalising.

Taking the GRE makes sense when one of three things is true:

1. At least one serious target programme requires it.
2. A programme states scores are optional and you have a strong score that adds useful evidence to an otherwise uneven file.
3. A department states GRE scores are considered for a scholarship, assistantship or funding decision.

Be careful with the third. Do not assume a GRE score improves funding prospects simply because the programme is test-optional — ask the department directly, in writing. A strong optional score can help contextualise a weak quantitative record in some holistic processes, but that too is programme-specific rather than general.

If nothing on your shortlist requires or values the GRE, the weeks of preparation are better spent strengthening your projects, your statement of purpose or the programme-specific parts of your application. Our guide on GRE waivers and whether you should write the GRE at all works through that decision properly.

Who needs the GMAT rather than the GRE?

The GMAT is built specifically for graduate management education; the GRE serves a much wider graduate market. For MBA applicants either test may work — leading schools including Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB accept both rather than insisting on one.

A workable decision rule:

• Applying only to MBA or business programmes: check whether your target schools accept GMAT, GRE or both, then pick the test that suits how you think.
• Applying only to MS programmes: look at the GRE where it is required; the GMAT is generally not the relevant test unless a programme specifically asks.
• Genuinely undecided between MS and MBA: the GRE offers more flexibility, since it is accepted across graduate academic programmes and by many business schools.

But do not choose a degree because you have already prepared for its test. Decide the career path first; the test follows. Our GMAT versus GRE comparison covers the format differences once you have made that call.

How do IELTS, TOEFL, PTE and Duolingo compare in acceptance?

IELTS and TOEFL remain broadly recognised across international higher education. PTE Academic is accepted by many universities and several immigration systems. The Duolingo English Test is accepted by participating institutions, but acceptance is more programme-specific — our list of US universities accepting Duolingo shows how uneven that map is.

The distinction that actually costs people money is between university acceptance and immigration acceptance. A university may accept a test for admission while the country’s immigration authority applies different rules. The UK, for example, allows qualifying higher education providers to assess English themselves for degree-level study in certain circumstances. Australia separately defines which tests and scores satisfy Student visa requirements where evidence is required.

So you need two checks, not one:

1. Will every university on my shortlist accept this test?
2. Will the immigration route I expect to use accept the same evidence, if separate proof is required?

If your shortlist spans several countries, IELTS or TOEFL reduces the risk of hitting an institution that does not accept your chosen test. Our TOEFL, PTE, Duolingo and IELTS comparison sets the four side by side.

What score ranges do universities typically expect?

There is no reliable universal “good IELTS score” or “good GRE score” for master’s admission, and treating a forum number as one is how people end up retaking a test they had already passed.

English-language requirements normally specify an overall score, sometimes a minimum in each section, and occasionally a higher bar for language-intensive programmes. The section minimum is the one that gets overlooked. Meeting the overall requirement does not always compensate for falling below a required writing, speaking, reading or listening score — and a single weak band can fail an otherwise comfortable result.

Aptitude scores work differently. Some departments publish minimums, class profiles or preferred ranges; others simply list the test as required and publish nothing. Treat any published minimum as an eligibility threshold rather than a competitive score.

Your target should come from the programmes themselves, not from claims like “320 GRE is enough” or “IELTS 7 gets you everywhere”. Neither statement is true anywhere in particular.

How do medium of instruction waivers work?

A Medium of Instruction certificate confirms that your previous degree was taught in English. Some universities accept it as evidence of proficiency; others still require a recognised test. That distinction is especially relevant for Indian applicants whose bachelor’s programmes were delivered entirely in English.

An MOI is not a universal waiver, and three things vary independently: whether the university accepts it, which countries or institutions qualify, and whether immigration rules demand separate evidence regardless.

Germany’s DAAD, for instance, states that English-taught postgraduate programmes require proof of English proficiency, with the accepted certificates and required level determined by the university or programme. The UK shows the other half of the problem: for degree-level study, an eligible provider can assess a student’s English itself under the Student visa rules, which is a visa provision rather than a university one.

So before paying for IELTS or TOEFL, email the admissions office and ask one specific question:

“Can my English-medium bachelor’s degree, or an official Medium of Instruction certificate, satisfy your English-language requirement for this programme?”

Get the answer in writing, and keep it.

How far in advance should you take each test?

Work backwards from your earliest application deadline rather than from a universal testing calendar.

For the GRE or GMAT, leave enough room to prepare, receive results and retake if necessary. Because both remain usable for five years, sitting them well before your application cycle carries little validity risk. English tests need tighter timing, since their usable period is normally much shorter — two years for TOEFL, a recommended two years for IELTS, generally two years for PTE Academic.

For most applicants, taking the required tests six to twelve months before the earliest application deadline gives a comfortable buffer without testing unnecessarily early.

The sequence matters more than the exact month:

Shortlist → verify requirements → choose test → prepare → take test → leave a retake window.

How many attempts are reasonable, and how do retakes look?

There is no admissions rule that one retake is acceptable and three are automatically harmful. What universities can see depends on the test and its score-reporting policy.

For the GRE, ETS’s ScoreSelect lets test takers choose which scores from their five-year reportable history to send, and institutions are not told that other unreported attempts exist. Other tests and institutions set their own reporting policies, so check rather than assume.

The better question is not “how many attempts look bad?” It is: will another attempt materially improve my application? Retake when you have identified why the first result fell short and changed your preparation accordingly. Rebooking the same exam with the same preparation method adds cost far more reliably than it adds points.

How do test requirements differ by country and by programme?

Country patterns help with planning. The programme page always wins.

• USA: GRE requirements vary widely by graduate programme. English evidence is commonly required for international applicants unless an institution-specific exemption applies.
• UK: GRE and GMAT are uncommon for most taught master’s programmes outside particular business or specialist courses. Universities set their own English requirements, and qualifying providers have flexibility in assessing English for degree-level visa sponsorship.
• Germany: GRE requirements are programme-specific rather than general. English-taught programmes require acceptable evidence according to university rules.
• Netherlands: programme-specific academic and English requirements, with selection procedures for competitive programmes.
• Ireland: aptitude tests are generally programme-dependent; English requirements are set by institutions.
• Australia: universities set their own admission and English requirements, and the Student visa applies separate English-evidence rules.
• Japan: requirements vary considerably by university, programme and scholarship route.

That variation is exactly why a generic list of exams required to study abroad only takes you so far. Our breakdown of the master’s application process by country covers where each destination’s requirements are actually published.

Why should you check university requirements before booking any test?

Because checking first can remove an entire exam from your plan.

Build a simple spreadsheet with one row per programme and these columns:

• GRE or GMAT: required, optional, or not considered
• English tests accepted
• Overall minimum
• Section minimums
• MOI or other waiver accepted
• Official score report required
• Visa compatibility

Six programmes can be checked in an afternoon. That table gives you an evidence-based testing plan. Without it, you are buying exams against assumptions.

What should you do in the next 30 days?

1. Week 1 — Build the requirements table from the official admissions pages of at least six target programmes.
2. Week 2 — Email the universities where the English-waiver policy is unclear and ask specifically about MOI or previous English-medium study.
3. Week 3 — Decide which tests are genuinely necessary and book them with room for one retake.
4. Week 4 — Check whether the immigration route for each destination accepts the English evidence you plan to use.

The bottom line

Working out the exams required to study abroad begins with your university shortlist, not with a test-preparation calendar. GRE policies differ by department. Major MBA programmes accept either GMAT or GRE. English tests have different acceptance patterns, and some universities accept previous English-medium study instead of an examination at all.

So do the one-hour check before you spend twelve weeks preparing. Open each admissions page, record which tests are required or accepted, check the section-level English minimums, ask about MOI where it might apply, then verify any separate immigration requirement.

The correct answer to “which test for a master’s abroad?” may be GRE plus IELTS. It may be GMAT plus TOEFL. It may be one English test. It may be no test at all. That is exactly why checking comes first.

If you want the exams required for your actual university shortlist mapped before you book anything, start with a free profile review and master’s admissions guidance. Undergraduate applicants comparing their own entrance-exam options can begin with undergraduate admissions counselling.