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GED Calculator: Practice on a Free TI-30XS Before Test Day

On test day, the calculator is a TI-30XS you've probably never touched. Its fraction key, minus sign and parentheses work differently from your phone. Practice on the free one right here, so your fingers already know the way.

Try the calculator nowFull practice test

Coach Crissy

Math instructor

Published
Updated October 19, 2026
Reading time
7 min read
Model
TI-30XS
No calculator
First ~5 Qs
Own calculator
At test centers
Online test
On-screen only
Calculator
Typed: 0

Laid out like the TI-30XS MultiView on test day, with the keys the math test uses. It isn’t the official TI software. Type with your keyboard or tap the keys.

Click or tap the keys, or type on your keyboard. Drag the dark bar to move the calculator out of the way.

AC (or Esc) clears the screen, and ANS still holds your last answer, as on the real TI-30XS. Clear and start over forgets the last answer too.

How it differs from the real one: the a/b key types a division line instead of a stacked fraction, and it only has the keys the math test needs.

Good news: you don’t have to buy a calculator for the GED. One comes with the test, an on-screen TI-30XS MultiView for every math question after the first five or so.

The catch? Most people have never used one. Three keys trip people up most: the fraction key, the negative sign and the parentheses.

So practice on the free one here, then run the six drills below until your fingers know the way.

Looking for a GED score calculator instead? That one is here.

Try the calculator right here

We built this one to match the layout of the TI-30XS MultiView you’ll see on test day. It isn’t Texas Instruments software or the official test program, but the keys that matter work the same way.

Think of a new phone. For the first few days you hunt for every setting. After a week, your thumb goes straight there. These drills do that for the calculator.

Try it: six calculator drills
TI-30XS

Each row is a kind of problem the real test asks, with the keys in order. Try all six now. Tomorrow, try them again without looking at the middle column. That second try is the one that sticks.

Work this outPress thisYou should see
Three eighths of 120The key students never touch, so use it instead of working out 0.375 first.3a/b8×120=45
14 squaredArea of a square, and the first half of the Pythagorean theorem.14x²=196
The long side of a right triangle with legs 9 and 12One entry, no writing 225 down. Close the parenthesis the root key opens before you press equals.√9x²+12x²)=15
Negative eight, squaredWithout the parentheses you get −64, because the square happens before the minus sign.((−)8)x²=64
An $80 jacket with 15% offThe percent key turns 15 into 0.15. Press it straight after the 15, not after the times sign.80−15%×80=68
5/8 + 1/4, written as a fractionThe toggle key flips the answer between decimal and fraction. Some answer boxes want one, some the other.5a/b8+1a/b4=↔0.875, then 7/8

One small difference: on a real TI-30XS, the fraction key draws a stacked fraction. You type the top number, press the down arrow to reach the bottom, then press the right arrow to step back out. The key here types a division line instead. You get the same answer with fewer arrows.

When you get the calculator (and when you don’t)

The math test comes in two parts, and that split decides when the calculator shows up.

A handheld TI-30XS is also allowed at a test center for two other subjects. Here’s the whole picture:

WhereCalculator?The detail
Math, Part 1NoAbout five questions, worked in your head and on the note boards.
Math, Part 2YesAbout 41 questions with an on-screen TI-30XS MultiView.
ScienceYesA handheld TI-30XS is allowed at a test center.
Social StudiesYesSame rule as Science.
Language ArtsNot listedReasoning Through Language Arts isn’t on the list.

The subject list comes from the 2025 GED Policy Manual.

Part 1: about five questions, no calculator

The test opens with a short set of questions and no calculator. They use friendly numbers and aren’t meant to be hard.

The catch? If you’ve done all your practice with a calculator, times tables and simple fractions can feel rusty. It’s like making change when the register screen goes down. You know how, but it feels slow if you haven’t done it in a while.

Bottom line: do a little arithmetic by hand each week. Our number operations practice is a good warm-up, and the full-length practice test locks the calculator for the same opening questions as the real one.

Many prep sites say you can’t go back to Part 1 once Part 2 starts. We couldn’t find that rule on ged.com, but play it safe and finish Part 1 before you move on.

You may also see pages that say the calculator is available in Part 1. That’s backwards. Part 1 is the part without it.

Part 2: the on-screen TI-30XS MultiView

For the rest of the test (about 41 questions), the calculator sits right on the screen. GED Testing Service says it comes with your test, so there’s nothing to buy.

Its display stacks fractions the way a textbook does. A toggle key flips an answer between a fraction and a decimal.

Want to see the official one before test day? GED Testing Service has a free calculator tutorial that walks through the on-screen TI-30XS one screen at a time. It shows you the buttons; the drills above get your fingers used to them.

Practice on a scientific calculator instead of your phone. A phone has no fraction key and no toggle key, so the habits you build on it won’t carry over.

Can you bring your own calculator?

At a test center, yes. But only a handheld TI-30XS MultiView. GED Testing Service’s test-day FAQ gives you that option. Graphing calculators, other scientific calculators and phones aren’t allowed.

Some prep sites say you can’t bring your own at all. That’s only true for the online test, which is probably where the mix-up comes from.

So should you bring one? Only if you already own it and have practiced on it. A borrowed calculator is like a borrowed car. Everything’s there, but you spend the first few minutes hunting for the wipers, and on test day the clock is running.

Testing online? You get the on-screen one only

If you take the GED online at home, the online-testing page says you can’t use a physical calculator, scratch paper or physical notes. In their place you get the on-screen calculator, an on-screen scratch pad and a whiteboard you draw on with the mouse.

That makes the screen your only tool. Give the drills above twenty minutes instead of five, and try working a problem or two with the mouse before test day.

The 12 keys that matter (and how each one goes wrong)

You don’t need every button. These twelve cover almost everything on GED math.

The last column is the one to read closely. It shows the slip each key tends to cause, so you can catch it before it costs you a point.

KeyWhat it doesWhere it costs you points
a/bStarts a fraction: top number, then the key, then the bottom number.On a real TI-30XS, skip the right arrow that climbs back out of the fraction and your next digit lands in the denominator.
↔Toggles the answer between a decimal and a fraction.Typing 0.875 into a box that wanted 7/8. Check what the question asked for.
x²Squares whatever is in front of it.Pressing it twice gives the fourth power, not double the square.
x^Any other power: 2, then the key, then 10, gives 1024.Reading 2^10 as 2 × 10.
√Square root.On the version above it opens a parenthesis. Close the parenthesis before the equals key or nothing happens.
∛Cube root. It is on the official reference sheet, so it can appear.Volume questions usually want you to cube something rather than take a cube root.
(−)Makes a number negative.It is not the subtract key. And −8 squared is −64 unless you put parentheses around the −8.
%Turns the number in front of it into a decimal: 15 % becomes 0.15.Pressing it after the times sign instead of straight after the number.
πThe full value of pi.The formula sheet uses about 3.14, so your last decimal place can differ. Follow the question's rounding instruction.
( )Parentheses. Everything inside is done first.The biggest single source of wrong answers. A printed fraction bar means parentheses around the whole top and the whole bottom.
ANSDrops the last answer into the next calculation. Starting a line with +, −, × or ÷ uses it too.Retyping a long decimal by hand and rounding it on the way.
DEL / ACDEL erases one character. AC clears the screen, but ANS still holds your last answer.Hitting AC to fix one wrong digit and losing the whole line.

What else you get with the calculator

  • A one-page TI-30XS Calculator Reference Sheet. It’s a quick guide to the calculator itself: order of operations, percents, scientific notation, the fraction key, mixed numbers, powers and roots, and the toggle key. Read it once before test day so it looks familiar.
  • The math formula sheet. Our formula sheet guide covers what’s on it and the few formulas it leaves out.
  • Three erasable note boards and a marker at a test center. That’s your scratch paper, and it’s what you’ll lean on in Part 1.

When to put the calculator down

This surprises people: the calculator can slow you down.

It saves time on messy numbers and costs time on easy ones. Typing 400 divided by 8 takes longer than knowing it’s 50, the same way you wouldn’t pull out your phone to add $5 and $5.

It also matters for your score. GED Testing Service’s own math skill-gaps presentation lists non-calculator questions among the areas where test-takers struggle most.

Leave the calculator alone in these three spots:

  • When the answer choices are far apart. If the options are 12, 40, 120 and 400, a quick estimate is enough.
  • When the question asks which expression is correct. There’s nothing to work out, only a setup to read.
  • When you already know it. Half of a half is a quarter, and ten percent of 60 is six.

Practice basic arithmetic until it feels automatic, and save the calculator for the ugly numbers. Short sets on one skill at a time build that fast, starting with number operations and fractions, decimals and percents. Then take the timed full-length test and see how you compare with the 145 you need to pass.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use a calculator on the GED?

Yes, for most of the math test. The first five or so questions are done without one, and an on-screen TI-30XS MultiView is there for the rest.

Which calculator is allowed on the GED?

The TI-30XS MultiView, a scientific calculator made by Texas Instruments. It's built into the test on screen, so you don't have to buy one.

Can you bring your own calculator to the GED test?

Only at a test center, and only a handheld TI-30XS MultiView. Any other model, including graphing calculators and phones, isn't allowed.

Can you use a calculator on the GED online test?

Only the one built into the test screen. Physical calculators and scratch paper aren't allowed at home, but you get an on-screen whiteboard and scratch pad for working.

Can you use a calculator on GED science and social studies?

Yes. A handheld TI-30XS is allowed at a test center for Science and Social Studies as well as Math. Reasoning Through Language Arts isn't on that list.

Can you go back to the no-calculator questions later?

GED Testing Service doesn't say either way. Many prep sites say you can't, so plan as if that's true and finish those questions before you move on.

Written by

Coach Crissy

Math instructor

Coach Crissy teaches the video lessons behind the BooknBoost GED math course, working through GED-style problems on camera: ratios and proportions, percent and interest, mean, median and mode, slope, and the geometry students meet on test day.

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