Taking the GED

Taking the GED as a Homeschooler

Anyone wishing to take the GED exam in the state of Maryland must be at least 18-years old. Maryland, however, does allow certain individuals to take the GED at an earlier age. Maryland homeschoolers can qualify to take the GED as young as age 16.

In order to sign up to take the GED, a family must first submit an official Maryland GED Homeschool Verification Form that has been signed and stamped by their local county homeschool liaison. Once the form has been accepted by the Maryland GED office, the teen can register online to take the test.

If your homeschooler takes and passes all 4 tests that make up the GED, they will receive a state-issued diploma. A GED diploma looks exactly like a diploma that public school students receive EXCEPT it will not have a school name printed on it. The absences of an official school name is the only indicator that separates a GED-earned diploma from diplomas earned through conventional public school attendance.

What’s on the GED Test

The GED is made up of FOUR separate subject-area tests that a person must take and pass. While you have the option of taking all 4 tests on the same day, most people schedule the tests over different days rather than do 7 hours of marathon testing.

Math Reasoning

115 min
Topics: Basic Math, Geometry, Basic Algebra, Graphs and Functions

Reasoning Through Language Arts

150 min
Topics: Reading for Meaning, Identifying and Creating Arguments, Grammar and Language

Social Studies

70 min
Topics: Reading for Meaning in Social Studies, Analyzing Historical Events and Arguments in Social Studies, Using Numbers and Graphs in Social Studies