The updated GMAT® exam will last 3.5 hours from 16th April 2018 on – a cut of 30 minutes compared to the prior version.
The time saving is achieved by reducing the exam’s number of unscored (research) questions in the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning sections. Additionally, the non-exam screens for tutorials and instructions have been rationalised. Since the quantity of scored questions will not change, the scoring remains the same.
In short, test-takers are facing a streamlined exam format but the concept remains the same.
More Information about the GMAT can be found here.