GED social studies practice test: civics, history, economics
Eight questions on government, history, economics and geography, written by us, each explained. The real test is the shortest GED subject: 70 minutes.
1 of 8
Which branch of the federal government interprets the laws?
Practice questions written by us from the published test topics. They are not real GED or HiSET questions, and this score does not predict an official score.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · fees and rules read on ged.com and hiset.org on October 22, 2026
The GED social studies test lasts 70 minutes, including 2 minutes of instructions and final review, with no break, which makes it the shortest of the four subjects. ged.com lists three skills: reading for meaning in social studies, analyzing historical events and arguments, and using numbers and graphs in social studies. There is an on-screen calculator with a reference sheet, and at a test center you may bring a TI-30XS. Questions are multiple choice, drag and drop, fill in the blank, select an area and drop-down. The content covers civics and U.S. government, U.S. history, economics, and geography and the world. Social studies passes at 145, and from 175 it can be worth up to 3 college credits in social sciences, depending on the college. The eight questions above are ours: the branch that interprets laws, senators per state, the Bill of Rights, price and demand, the 19th Amendment, checks and balances, an unemployment rate computed from a town’s figures, and the equator. Like science, much of the real test hands you a passage, a map or a chart and asks what it shows; prior knowledge helps you read faster, but the evidence is on the screen.
What each skill looks like on screen
Reading for meaning: an excerpt from a Supreme Court decision, and a question on the main argument. Analyzing historical events and arguments: two speeches on the same law, and a question on what they disagree about, or which statement is a fact and which an opinion. Using numbers and graphs: a chart of unemployment over ten years, or a table of state populations, and a question on a trend, a difference or a rate.
Civics in five ideas
Most civics questions rest on a short list. Separation of powers: Congress makes laws, the president enforces them, the courts interpret them. Checks and balances: each branch can limit the others, as with a veto or a court ruling. Federalism: power is shared between the national government and the states. Rights: the Bill of Rights and later amendments protect individuals from the government. Representation: two senators per state, House seats by population.
Practice test or retake: the price in your state
GED Ready for 1 subject
$7.99
| One subject | $7.99 |
| All four (bundle) | $25.99 |
| A retake in Ohio | $10 |
| Full-price subject | $36 |
An extra economics example
A city raises its minimum wage. A business owner says she will hire fewer workers; a union leader says workers will spend more in local shops. Which statement is a prediction rather than a fact? Both are predictions: neither has happened yet. A question like this checks that you separate what a source claims will happen from what the data in front of you actually shows.
Scores and credit
Social studies passes at 145 and is scored separately from the other subjects. From 165 it reaches College Ready; from 175, ged.com says it can be worth up to 3 credits in social sciences, depending on the college. Because the test is short, a retake also takes less of your day, but it costs the same retake price as any other subject in your state.
How to prepare
Read the Preamble, the Bill of Rights and a few short Supreme Court summaries; they come back as excerpts. Practice charts on prices, wages and population. Work on the difference between fact, opinion and claim with the language arts questions, which train the same reading. If you plan to test online, a green GED Ready score in social studies is required within 60 days of the test; the GED Ready page details it.
Two sources on the same event
A frequent format puts two documents side by side: a newspaper editorial from 1935 praising a new program and a letter from the same year criticizing it, for instance. The questions ask what both authors agree on, what point of view each one takes, or which one uses statistics as evidence. Before answering, write one line in your head for each source: who wrote it, when, and what it wants the reader to believe. That line is usually enough to eliminate two of the four choices.
Maps and geography
Geography questions rarely ask you to name a country from memory. They show a map with a key and ask what it tells you: where population is densest, which region a river crosses, how a border changed. Read the key and the scale before the question, as with any graph, and check the date of the map: a map from 1850 and one from today can show the same place very differently.