The AWA is coming back to GMAT! Seriously- The GMAT owner, GMAC, announced the "Business Writing Assessment" which is basically the former AWA. It will not be a part of the GMAT. Instead, it's an addition to GMAT that costs an extra $30. GMAC claims that it "allows you to demonstrate your analysis, reasoning, and written communication abilities beyond traditional application materials."
Deeper analysis reveals that Harvard is requiring this new add-on if your test did not have an Essay component. So if you took GMAT Classic or GRE, you do not need to do this but you will be required to submit a separate Essay score if you have taken GMAT Focus.
This is not positive for GMAT Focus. It's barely six months since the essay was excluded.
This development also reveals the overall crisis in writing. As a university lecturer, I can tell you that the quality of writing is generally going down. AI has taken over, and without it there are students who cannot compose a coherent sentence. However, I'm not sure that extra friction of a new test will solve the problem.
For students, we have templates for AWA that have produced many 6.0 scores, so if Harvard is on your list, contact us to request one.