GED ID Requirements

In this post, we discuss GED ID requirements and prerequisites to qualify for the GED exam.

When students take the GED exam at a test center or in an online proctored format, they must be able to show proof of their identity through at least one valid identification form.

Their IDs must be non-expired and government-issued. The IDs must include the students’ names, addresses, dates of birth, signatures, and photographs.

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GED Testing Service®, and subsequently GED test centers, are accepting the following forms of ID, though there are also states that require GED testers to provide two forms of ID.

GED ID Requirements – Primary IDs

Primary forms of GED ID requirements are Passports, Driver’s Licenses, Learner’s Permits, National, State, or Country Identification Cards, and any other GED exam national or international government-issued IDs, including Matriculas Consular.

Most jurisdictions and states accept government-issued IDs from other states as primary forms of ID.

If a jurisdiction or state requires proof of state residency, and students don’t hold state-issued IDs from those jurisdictions or states, they must present some proof of residency, for example, via a utility bill.

Identification documents will have to be original documents; photocopies are not acceptable.

As said, they must show your full name and meet the requirements that your state or jurisdiction (or where you take the exam) requires. Check here to learn more about GED testing in your state.

Bear in mind that the name that appears on your ID needs to match the name you used upon registration exactly! And that name must, again, be exactly the same as the name you used when setting up your GED account!

GED ID Requirements – Show Proper IDs

So, the last name on your primary ID is required to match exactly (excluding accents and hyphens) the name on the confirmation of your registration and test appointment. It goes without saying that you must meet all of your state’s other requirements, such as the minimum age required to qualify for GED testing.

Once again, the following documents are acceptable IDs to get admitted to a GED test center or to be allowed to take the GED exam online: Passports, Government-issued Driver’s licenses, Temporary Driver’s Licenses, State ID cards (including documents issued by state motor vehicle agencies), National ID cards, and Military ID cards.

It is important to note that ID requirements may vary by state. So please make sure to get well-informed about your state’s specific ID requirements and policies. Major GED prep facilities and GED test centers across America will definitely be able to advise you properly!

To meet all these requirements, students may be required to provide more than just one form ID. Keep in mind that students who do not provide proper IDs will not be allowed to sit for the GED exam.

GED Testing Service is aware that some GED test-takers might not be able to provide proper IDs as obtaining traditional government-issued IDs as listed above is not possible.

This is often the case with testers in Youth Offender programs and with homeless youth. Inmates who reside in halfway houses may face these problems as well.

Find a Solution

When this is the case, GED Testing Service and the test centers will look for a solution by working with the state to determine an appropriate identification form so these individuals can take the GED exam.

IDs issued by third-party programs, so by non-government agencies, are not acceptable by themselves. In those cases, a government agency needs to provide confirmation (in writing) about the test-taker’s identity.

The written confirmation must include the student’s name, signature, date of birth, and signature, as well as the government agency employee’s signature confirming the identity of the GED test-taker.

When a state has recognized and approved the acceptable and appropriate form of identification, that state may approve the additional form of ID. It is the task and responsibility of the state to qualify and, if accepted, approve this additional form of the test-taker’s identification.

States have the responsibility to communicate these additional acceptable forms of identification to the GED authorities (GED Testing Service) for review and, when accepted, further implementation (a process that may take up to three months).

GED test-takers in DOC facilities don’t need to show any identification at the time they sit for the GED exam since the DOC has already completed registration and scheduling the GED tests beforehand.

When DOC inmates are brought to a GED test center outside of their correctional facilities, they don’t need to present IDs as well. In those cases, the guards act as IDs for these test-takers.

Last Updated on November 16, 2024.