The Analytical Writing section consists of one writing task—Analysis of an Argument.
The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section, consisting of one 30-minute essay, measures the test taker's ability to formulate an appropriate and constructive critique of a specific conclusion based on a specific line of thinking.
The AWA score is an average of the two independent ratings. Scores average from zero to six, in half-point intervals for each task.
Writing scores are computed separately from the scores for the multiple-choice sections of the test and have no effect on the Verbal, Quantitative, or Total scores.