GED Social Studies Free Online Classes

This GED Social Studies Study Guide explains how to prepare for the GED Social Studies Test. We publish 14 free Social Studies lessons to help you get started with your GED prep.

Every lesson comes with video instruction, text, and a short practice test.

These lessons are created by Onsego and are certified “Fully GED Test-Aligned” by GED Testing Service.

Our free lessons help you understand key Social Studies concepts and discover if online learning works for you.

By taking practice tests, you will learn about your weaker and stronger points. Our free online classes will help you get on track for your GED diploma.

GED Social Studies Study Guide – GED Social Studies Free Lessons

• Constitution
• Bill of Rights
• The United States Government
• State and Local Government
• North and South
• Civil War
• Great Depression
• Civil Rights 
• Government and Economy
• Primary vs Secondary Sources
• Facts and Opinions
• Chronological Order and Sequence
• Political Cartoons
• Reading Graphs in Social Studies

These 14 free lessons are part of the Onsego Social Studies course, which includes 79 lessons with quizzes, 15 practice tests, flashcards, and cheat sheets. You can get it here.

What Should I Study for GED Social Studies?

Often, GED test-takers choose the Social Studies subtest as their first test because it’s perceived as the easiest one of all 4 GED tests. The GED Social Studies portion assesses your knowledge of these topics:

• Civics & Government – 50%
• U.S. History – 20%
• Geography -5%
• Economics -15%
• Graphs -10%

To be successful on the GED Social Studies subtest, you’re not required to memorize lots of facts. What is assessed is your ability to:

• Interpret graphs, charts, and numbers relating to Social Studies
• Analyze history and interpret historical events
• Understand subject matter related to Social Studies

Ready for Complete GED Social Studies Prep?

Our free lessons cover essential concepts. Onsego’s full program gets you test-ready.

What’s included in full Onsego Social Studies prep:

• 70+ comprehensive Social Studies lessons (vs 13 free lessons)
• Full-length practice exams matching real GED format
• Detailed explanations for every answer
• Progress tracking across all your devices
• Personalized study plan based on your test date
• Certified “Fully GED Test-Aligned” by GED Testing Service

Start with free lessons. When you’re serious about earning your GED, upgrade to Onsego.

How to Pass GED Social Studies

The most important lessons are Civics & Government and US History. These categories make up 70% of the whole test. The remaining 30% are Geography and Economics.

To be successful on the GED Social Studies subtest, you must be able to:

• Identify facts, opinions, and propaganda
• Explore and identify relations between people, places, events, and processes
• Recognize the bias or point of view of an author
• Identify the author’s purpose and possible reasons
• Use the provided evidence to come to a conclusion

How to study for the economics part of the GED Social Studies

You don’t need to do lots of memorization. There’s no need to master economic theories. Instead, you should work on improving your skills related to:

• Reading data sets, numbers, and graphs
• Applying data provided in tables, graphs, charts, and maps
• Using statistical terms such as median, mean, and mode
• Understanding the difference between causation and correlation and between dependent and independent variables

You should become familiar with basic economics terminology and concepts as you may find questions that include graphs with data sets related to economics.

Is the GED Social Studies Test Hard?

The GED Social Studies test isn’t that difficult if you study hard and get well-prepared. Keep in mind that this test is not about memorization. You’re not expected to remember all sorts of historical details.

This part of the GED exam puts more emphasis on understanding the concepts of social studies. It measures how well you can use logical reasoning and analytical thinking skills and how well you can draw conclusions.

How Many Questions Can You Miss on the Social Studies GED Test?

On the GED Social Studies Test, there are 35 questions. To reach the GED passing score (145), you’ll need to answer between 22 and 24 questions correctly.

You must be able to read passages and interpret graphics such as diagrams, charts, photographs, graphs, or maps. You must be able to understand and use data presented in visual forms.

How Long is the GED Social Studies Test?

The GED Social Studies Test is 90 minutes long. In 1.5 hours, you’ll have to answer 35 questions. Many students find that this time restraint causes anxiety and test stress.

We offer free lessons with test-taking strategies that allow you to deal with this. Taking multiple timed practice tests will get you used to the format and help you be productive under time pressure.

GED Social Studies Study Guide – 10 Test Tips

1. Read the question carefully

Before looking at the answers or reading through a full paragraph, read the question twice. Test-takers often read a question too fast and fall into a trap. This also counts for answers. You may easily miss the point of the question because you didn’t read it well.

The questions on the GED Social Studies subtest are usually pretty straightforward. Don’t over-read the questions. Your common sense answer is usually better than any “theoretical” answer.

2. Don’t just jump to a conclusion

Sometimes, the questions require careful analysis. A seemingly wrong answer may be right after all. Test writers will often put a misleading answer first, so be careful not to fall into this trap.

You may also come across more answers that appear to be right. In such cases, always choose the best answer option based on what the question asks, not on your assumption.

3. Eliminate incorrect answer options

You should immediately remove answer choices that contradict the given information. Usually, 1 or 2 answer options will be the opposite of what’s given in the short passage or in the accompanying graph, chart, table, or data.

If you get rid of these definitely wrong answer options first, you will be better able to carefully focus on the remaining possibilities.

4. Answer all questions

On the GED test, there is no penalty for guessing or answering incorrectly. Make sure you answer all questions, even if you’re unsure or need to guess.

When you need to guess, try to eliminate the answer options you know are definitely incorrect. It will be easier to guess and choose from the remaining options.

5. Have trust in your first answer

When you have read a question twice and very carefully, read the answer options carefully twice as well. Then, when selecting your best answer option, trust yourself. Your first idea often proves to be the best idea.

When you’re left with some time to go over your answers again, don’t change anything unless you find some obvious error that you’re absolutely sure about. Usually, your first answer choice is the right answer.

6. Go with the things you know

Answer the questions you know first. Skip the questions you don’t know or that you’re unsure of. Don’t dwell on questions. Start answering the questions you know the answers to.

When in doubt about answers, mark those questions, skip them, and move ahead to the next questions. When you’re done with answering the questions you know the answers to right away, return to the questions you skipped.

Sometimes other Social Studies questions will provide some sort of clue about the right answer to a skipped question.

7. Pace yourself

The given time to complete the GED Social Studies test (90 minutes) should be sufficient to deal with all of the questions. It is key to keep the correct pace going.

You should determine how much time you can use for each question. There are 35 questions on the Social Studies test that must be completed in 90 minutes. That leaves you around 2.5 minutes per question.

After answering a few questions, check whether you’re within your time limits and if you’re still on schedule. Do not dwell on questions you don’t know the answer to right away. Just skip them to move ahead.

Do not rush questions to which you think you know the correct answers immediately. Be careful to read these questions and the answers twice before you select any answer option. Often, careless mistakes separate superior scores from average scores.

8. Don’t worry about challenging topics

Social Studies covers numerous topics related to U.S. and World History, Geography, Civics & Government, Environmental Science, Economics, and Contemporary Global Issues.

You may get ready for the GED Social Studies subtest by reviewing and studying basic history. Over 50 percent of the Social Studies questions will ask specific questions about provided graphics or an accompanying text.

Just read the question and what is presented very carefully. There’s no need to worry if a topic is unfamiliar or challenging to you. All the things you must know to come to the right answer option will be right there on that page.

9. Note trends in charts, tables, graphs, and data

When you are given some data for interpretation on the GED Social Studies subtest, that data will be the basis for some conclusions. Bar graphs are typically used for drawing comparisons, and line graphs are for showing changes over time. Make sure you read all labels and titles.

Before getting to the answer options, take a closer look and try to analyze and summarize the given data in your head. If, for example, a graph contains a line that’s getting smaller from left to right, you should know that’s an indication that the y and x axes are indirectly related (as the y value grows, the x value shrinks).

Ask yourself: what’s the data supposed to tell or show me?

10. Get familiar with the economics vocabulary

There’s no need to be an Economics expert to be successful on the GED Social Studies subtest. You should be aware that Economics questions account for 15 percent of your results on the test.

Get familiar with some basic economics concepts and terminology. You may come across questions that include a graph that shows data about the growth of a product or item based on the principle of supply and demand over, for example, the span of 10 years.

When you are not familiar with the economic concept of supply and demand, chances are you’ll find the question intimidating, and interpreting the graph could be challenging.

The free GED classes online and free practice tests in this GED Social Studies Study Guide are designed to help you get started on your GED prep track.

Last Updated on October 20, 2025.