The DAT is a fixed-form, 280-question multiple-choice exam in four sections, always delivered in the same order, with 4 hours 15 minutes of timed testing. Total administration time is 5 hours 15 minutes.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 11, 2026
The four sections
Every section is timed independently — time does not carry across from one to the next. Each produces at least one reported score on the 200–600 scale.
Timed testing is 255 minutes. Adding the tutorial, the optional mid-exam break and the closing survey brings total administration time to 5 hours 15 minutes. Check-in at the Prometric centre is on top of that.
DAT administration structure
Segment
Length
Notes
Tutorial (optional)
15 min
Before timed testing begins
Survey of the Natural Sciences
90 min
100 questions
Perceptual Ability Test
60 min
90 questions
Break (optional)
30 min
Roughly the halfway point
Reading Comprehension
60 min
50 questions
Quantitative Reasoning
45 min
40 questions — on-screen calculator
Post-test survey (optional)
15 min
After timed testing ends
The section order is fixed. The Perceptual Ability Test arrives second, while you are still fresh, and Quantitative Reasoning last — which is worth accounting for when you plan your practice, since QR is the section most likely to suffer from fatigue.
Calculator, and where it is not
A basic on-screen calculator is available in Quantitative Reasoning and nowhere else. It handles addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, percentages and reciprocals. Any arithmetic in the science section has to be done mentally or on the scratch material provided.
Scoring and marking
There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so leave nothing blank. The exam also contains unscored experimental questions that cannot be distinguished from scored ones. Your report carries eight numbers — see how the 200–600 scale works or look up any score with the DAT score calculator.
Your GPA carries as much weight as your DAT.
Dental schools read your science and cumulative GPA alongside your scores. Work out both with our free GPA calculators.
Timed testing is 255 minutes — 4 hours 15 minutes. Total administration time is 5 hours 15 minutes once the tutorial, the optional 30-minute break and the post-test survey are included. That makes it about two hours shorter than the MCAT.
There are 280 multiple-choice questions: 100 in the Survey of Natural Sciences, 90 in Perceptual Ability, 50 in Reading Comprehension and 40 in Quantitative Reasoning.
No. The DAT is delivered in a fixed order: Survey of Natural Sciences, Perceptual Ability, the optional break, then Reading Comprehension and Quantitative Reasoning. Practise in that order so exam-day fatigue is something you have already rehearsed.
Yes — one optional 30-minute break after the Perceptual Ability section, roughly at the halfway point. Taking it does not reduce your testing time, and most candidates find it worth using.
No. The DAT is a fixed-form exam: questions do not adjust to your performance. Within a section you can move between questions freely, but once a section ends you cannot return to it.
Yes. The DAT includes unscored experimental questions that are indistinguishable from scored ones and are used to trial items for future forms. Because you cannot identify them, the only sensible approach is to treat every question as scored.