CMAT-2016 Exam Analysis

Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) was conducted on January 28, 2020. Around 100,000 candidates appeared in the test. CMAT is a national level entrance examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). It is an annual exam for admission to all Management programs in the institutes affiliated to AICTE. The CMAT is a three-hour computer-based online test which is on a single day test window and single slot from 9.30 AM to 12.30 PM. It is conducted to evaluate the candidate’s ability in various areas of aptitude such as Quantitative Technique, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension, and General Awareness.

CMAT had questions from 4 sections: Quantitative Technique (QT) and Data Interpretation (DI), Language Comprehension (LC), Logical Reasoning (LR) as well as Current/General Awareness (C/GA). The total number of questions is 100, 25 in each section. Each question carries 4 marks and there is a negative marking of 1 marks for each wrong answer. CMAT Result & cut-off will be announced at the end of January or early February 2020.

CMAT 2016 Analysis

Some technical problems were reported from some CMAT 2016 exam centres. Though in some way the test was not smooth, most of the students found the level of difficulty of the CMAT 2016 paper to be moderate. Quantitative section had some tough questions but Reasoning section was easy and Verbal ability and General Knowledge were also moderate. There was no element of surprise in the paper, it was exactly the way described by the conducting body AICTE.

The table below will give an easy and quick glance at CMAT 2016:

A total score of 250 plus would be considered good for getting calls from among the top B-schools which take CMAT score.

Section-wise Analysis of CMAT 2016:

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation:

This section was found rather tougher than the other sections. The section had basic arithmetic questions such as those pertaining to a percentage, ratio, number system, time & distance, time & work, and linear equations. There were some questions from modern mathematics (probability, permutation & combination, progressions, trigonometry), geometry and mensuration. There were about three to four questions on data interpretation which were time-consuming. Around 20-22 attempts in around 50-55 minutes, with 85-90% accuracy, would be considered good.

The following were the topics of questions:

Area No of Qs.

• Algebra 2 Numbers 3
• Arithmetic 9 Geometry 4
• Modern Math 4 Data Interpretation 3

Logical Reasoning:

This section was on the easier side. This section had a large number of Arrangements and Group & Conditionalities questions. The section too had single questions only and no set-based ones. The single question on Visual Reasoning was found to be difficult by most students.

About 3-4 questions on Arrangements and Groups & Conditionalities were time consuming due to loads of data provided in the question. There were questions on verbal reasoning including one each on Fact-based inference, Statement/Implication and Statement/Conclusion type.

There was one question on Data Sufficiency based on arrangements. The following were the types of questions:

Area No. of Qs.

• Arrangements 9 Groups and Conditionalities 4
• Clocks 1 Cubes 1
• Visual Reasoning 1 Directions 1
• Coding 1 Family Tree 3
• Data Sufficiency 1 Fact-based inference 1
• Statement/Implication 1 Statement/Conclusion 1

For CMAT 2016, 20-22 attempts, with 85-90% accuracy, in about 50-55 minutes would be considered good.

Language Comprehension:

This section was similar to the verbal section of earlier CMAT. There were 4 passages with a total of 15 questions. The questions accompanying the passage were of moderate difficulty level. Three of the passages were short (about 200-300 words) and contained 3 questions each.1 was long (about 700 words) and contained 6 questions. The RC questions were on the easier side. One short passage was on ‘Ageing and Baby Boomers’. It had 3 difficult questions. In 4-5 questions, the options were close. The remaining 10 questions were from vocabulary and grammar. A few vocabulary, idiom and grammar-based questions were challenging.

Area No. of Qs.

• Reading Comprehension 15 Option that weakens-the-argument 1
• Synonyms 2 FIB 2
• Idiom-based match 1 Grammar 4

In this section also around 20-22 attempts, with 85-90% accuracy, in around 45-50 minutes would be good.

General Awareness:

This was the section in which students save time and yet had attempted reasonably. Static GK was more in number. 12-14 attempts, with 80% accuracy, would be considered good. The questions were from the following areas:

• Science
• History
• Geography
• Literature
• Indian culture
• Sports
• Business
• Economics

For some this section was rated a little more than moderate and for some a little less than tough. GK section also had two pictographic questions to guess the personality.

After appearing for the CMAT 2020 exam, you can check the CMAT 2020 Paper Analysis here. You will also get a list of colleges accepting:

• Colleges Accepting 50-60% in CMAT
• Colleges Accepting 60-70% in CMAT
• Colleges Accepting 70-80% in CMAT
• Colleges Accepting 80-90% in CMAT