CAT

Overview

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a computer based examination used for admission to graduate management programmes in India. The test was started by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), which use the scores to select candidates for their business administration programmes such as the MBA and the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). The examination is conducted every year by one of the IIMs on the basis of a policy of rotation.

CAT comprises three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. The test was conducted online over a duration of three hours, with one hour allotted to each section. In 2020, owing to COVID-19 precautions, the Indian Institute of Management Indore decided to conduct the examination over two hours, with forty minutes devoted to each section.

Key details

Role in admissions

The IIMs use CAT scores to shortlist candidates for their management programmes. In August 2011, it was announced that the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) would also use CAT scores, in place of the Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET), to select students for their management programmes, beginning with the 2012–15 batch.

Background

Prior to 2010, CAT was a paper based test conducted on a single day for all candidates. The pattern, number of questions and duration of the test have undergone considerable variations over the years. On 1 May 2009, it was announced that CAT would be conducted as a computer based test from 2009 onwards. The American firm Prometric was entrusted with the responsibility of administering the examination from 2009 to 2013.

The first computer based CAT was affected by technical problems. The issue was serious enough to prompt the Government of India to seek a report from the convenor. The trouble was diagnosed as being caused by the viruses known as Conficker and W32 Nimda, which attacked the system display of the test and led to server slowdown. From 2014 onwards, the conduct of CAT was handed over to Tata Consultancy Services.

The pattern was further refined in subsequent years. CAT 2015 and CAT 2016 were 180-minute tests consisting of 100 questions, with 34 questions from Quantitative Ability, 34 from Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, and 32 from Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning.

References

1. "Common Admission Test", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Admission_Test.