MICAT 2025 Paper Analysis (Available for Phase 1): Section-wise Difficulty Level, Student Reactions

MICAT 2025 Exam Analysis (Available for Phase 1)

MICAT Exam Analysis 2025 for Phases 1 has been updated here. The overall difficulty level of the phase 1 exam ranged from moderate to high. The question paper was segregated into three parts: the Psychometric Test (Section A) was conducted for the first 30 minutes; the Descriptive Test (Section B) comprised four questions with 25 minutes allotted to it; and the last section, Section C (comprising Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, General Awareness, Divergent & Convergent Thinking), had four subsections with 20 questions in each part.

The same for Phase 2 will be made available on this page after the exam is conducted on January 25, 2025. Reviewing the MICAT exam analysis will enable aspiring candidates to learn about the exam pattern, difficulty level, and the type of questions that can be expected in the MICAT 2025 exam. Candidates can have a look at the MICAT I and MICAT II 2025 paper analysis given below and get a detailed understanding of the overall difficulty level, section-wise difficulty level, and the number of questions asked for the exam.

MICAT 2025 Exam Analysis (Phase I, Phase II)

Achieving a score of 25 on the Psychometric Test may result in an invitation for the PI round by MICA. In addition to being a mandatory exam for MICA admission 2025, MICAT-I and MICAT II hold a 50% weightage in shortlisting for selection.

MICAT 2025 Phase I Exam Analysis

• MICAT Phase I exam 2025 has been conducted on December 7, 2024, for a total duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
• Due to technical glitches, the exam did not start at 9 AM sharp. The Phase 1 exam began from 10:30 AM.
• The MICAT 2025 Phase I was quite lengthy. The difficulty level was also observed to be high.
• No difference has been observed in exam pattern and test structure and questions were framed on similar lines as that of last year.
• GK was mainly based on brands, taglines, mergers & acquisitions, etc.
• Divergent and Convergent Thinking was the easiest of the remaining three sections since there were many questions on number-based logics (a set of numbers given, Alphabet coding).
• Puzzles were also found in the question paper.
• Quant was on the difficult side. 2-3 questions from DI were doable. There was a question on a person's expenditure on 3 items and his daily earning. DI was calculation-intensive as well.
• There was 1 question on Time &  Work that was doable.
• A 4-set Venn Diagram was also there which was too lengthy and ideally should have been skipped because it had only 1 question associated with it.
• There were questions from Arithmetic, Algebra, and Coordinate Geometry.
• The English section was quite difficult because the Fill in the Blanks questions had 8 options making them difficult to answer.
• There was an Idiom-based Fill in the Blanks as well.
• RC was based on social media and was doable.
• In VA, questions were found on Para Jumbles, Odd One Out, etc.
• There were 4 Verbal Reasoning questions which were extremely difficult to answer.

The exam analysis will be provided in the table below.

MICAT 2025 Phase II Exam Analysis

MICAT Phase II exam 2025 will be conducted on January 25, 2025, for a total duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The section-wise MICAT 2 exam analysis 2025 will be updated below:

MICAT 2024 Exam Analysis (Phase I, Phase II)

Achieving a score of 25 on the Psychometric Test may result in an invitation for the PI round by MICA. In addition to being a mandatory exam for MICA admission 2023, MICAT-I and MICAT II hold a 50% weightage in shortlisting for selection.

MICAT 2024 Phase I Exam Analysis

MICAT Phase I exam 2024 was held on December 2, 2023, for a total duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Check the exam analysis provided in the table below.

MICAT 2024 Phase II Exam Analysis

MICAT Phase II exam 2024 has been conducted on January 27, 2024, for a total duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Check out the section-wise MICAT 2 exam analysis 2024:

MICAT 2024 Exam Pattern

The exam pattern for MICAT 2024 has been provided below:

MICAT 2023 Exam Analysis

The major highlights of the MICAT 2023 exam have been provided below:

• The MICAT 2023 was conducted as an online Computer-Based Test.
• A total of 234 questions were asked in the exam that were to be completed in the total time duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
• Students were allowed to navigate between the sections.
• There was a provision of negative marking in which 0.25 marks were deducted for every wrong answer from VA, QA, GA and DCT sections.
• There was no negative marking in the PT and DT sections.

The difficulty level of the exam based on the MICAT Analysis 2023 has been provided here.

Section-wise MICAT 2023 Paper Analysis

Verbal Ability

MICAT I Exam Analysis 2023

The candidates' skills in English grammar and Vocabulary are evaluated in this component. In MICAT 2023 phase I, this component was lengthy and difficult. The section had an RC passage of 550 words based on Geology, and the questions asked from the passage were indirect. The table below illustrates the topic-wise number of questions asked in the exam.

MICAT II Exam Analysis 2023

Most of the questions in this section were easy to answer. A total of 30 questions were asked in this section, and the overall difficulty level of this section ranged from moderate to difficult.

Quantitative Ability

MICAT I Exam Analysis 2023

The candidates' mathematical abilities are evaluated in this section. This section was lengthier and more difficult to solve. Since all the options were close enough, it was difficult for the candidates to employ the elimination method. This section had a total of 20 questions, which were further segregated as follows:

MICAT II Exam Analysis 2023

The overall difficulty level of this section was high. There were 4 options in some QA questions and 8 options in some. A total of 20 questions were asked in this section. There could be multiple solutions to the questions on Ages. 

Convergent Thinking 

MICAT I Exam Analysis 2023

Questions were asked on verbal reasoning, analogies, odd one out, visual reasoning, paragraph assumption conclusion, and more. The overall difficulty level of this section was high. A total of 20 Questions were asked, out of which 7 questions were asked from Verbal Ability, and 13 questions were asked from Non-verbal Reasoning.

Psychometric Test

The creativity and innovation skills of the candidate are evaluated in this section. A total of 150 questions were asked which were to be completed in 30 minutes. Questions were asked from the following topics:

• Deductive & Inductive Logic
• Openness to Creativity
• Decision Making
• New Ideas
• Science v/s Art

Descriptive Test

MICAT I Exam Analysis 2023

A total of 4 questions were asked in this section. The difficulty level of this section was moderate.

MICAT II Exam Analysis 2023

A total of 4 questions were asked from the following:

• 3 arguments in favour
• 3 arguments against
• Four figures to write a story
• Lighting up inhibits overall efficiency and productivity. State three ways for the manager to control this

General Awareness

This section had a total of 10 questions whose difficulty-level ranged from moderate to difficult. Most of the questions were True/False and Match the Following. The following questions were asked in this section:

• Brand Taglines - Blackberry, Kinley, Amtex, Jaguar
• Which of the following are not correct (Brand Ambassadors)
• Match the following - International Organisations & Headquarters, Facts & Demonetisations, Companies & Logos, Brands & Logos (Patanjali & Boeing), Persons & Organisations, Film Productions & Owners (Leonardo Dicaprio, Brad Pitt), Date of complete lockdown, CEA of India.

MICAT 2022 Exam Analysis

Candidates appearing for the MICAT 2023 exam can check MICAT 2022 Phase I and Phase II paper analysis below which includes the section-wise difficulty level of the overall section and information about the various sections.

MICAT 2021 Exam Analysis

Here's the paper analysis of MICAT 2021 Phase I and Phase II exams. Candidates can check the MICAT Exam Analysis 2021 provided here to know the difficulty level of the MICAT II exam and the number of questions that were asked in the exam. MICAT II was conducted on January 30, 2021 from 9 am to 11:15 pm. The paper analysis of MICAT II 2020 can be checked at the link given below.

MICAT 2020 Section-wise Exam Analysis

Following is a detailed section-wise analysis of MICAT 2020:

Section A - Psychometric Test

This section had a total of 150 questions and students had only 30 minutes to attempt the same. Hence, it was necessary to answer all the questions quickly. Last year, the number of questions in this section was 27. There were no correct or incorrect responses in this section. Out of the total 150, around 30 questions were to answer in the form of True or False as against a situation/course of action. The remaining 120 questions were about a particular personality trait or a course of action and they had to be tackled with any one of the following options:

• Totally Disagreed to 
• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Somewhat Disagree
• Somewhat Agree
• Agree
• Strongly Agree
• Totally Agree

Section B - Aptitude Section

Divergent and Convergent Thinking

This section is comprised of statement assumption, word association, logical data sufficiency, and visual reasoning questions. Following is the break-up of the Reasoning questions in the section:

Following is the break-up of the non-verbal reasoning questions in the section, which had an easy to moderate difficulty level:

Verbal Ability

In this section, test takers answered questions based on synonyms, sentence errors, jumbled paragraph, and paragraph completion. Candidates also got idiom-based questions and a Reading Comprehension passage, which was on the easier side:

Quantitative Ability and Date Interpretation

This section comprised of 25 questions where Quantitative Ability had 20 questions and the Data Interpretation part had the remaining 5 sections. Majority of the questions asked in the Quantitative Ability section were based on Arithmetic, which had 7 questions. Geometry had 6 questions and 5 questions were based on Modern Math. Numbers and Algebra sections had 1 question each. Majority of the questions were based on elementary concepts but were lengthy. Overall, the difficulty level of this section was easy to moderate.

Following is the break-up of the Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section questions

General Awareness

This section turned out to be tougher as compared to last year's MICAT. The total number of questions in the General Awareness section is 25, out which , 7 were based on National topics 13 were based on International topics. 5 questions were based on miscellaneous type topics (logos, taglines, etc.). 

Section C - Descriptive Test

In this section, test-takers were evaluated based on their analytical and descriptive writing ability as well as creative skills. Candidates had a total of 30 minutes to attempt the questions in this section. The first three questions were based on the topic ‘Laziness: How it can benefit society’. While the first two questions required the students to write three points each, ‘for’ and ‘against’ the topic, the third question required students to write 300 words on 'steps by which a young manager could ensure that laziness could be used as a tool for organizational success’. The first two questions had a weightage of 10 marks each. The fourth question carried 30 marks and it comprised four pictures where students were required to write a particular pictorial combination and elaborate the same in the form of a story. 

With inputs from IMS

MICAT 2019 Exam Analysis

MICAT 2019 exam was neither easy nor difficult. However, the question paper can be termed as difficult for many students. Among all the sections, the General Awareness section can be termed as the most difficult. This year, the psychometric test turned out to be different as the section comprised of 150 questions instead of 27 to 35 questions. 

Candidates who cleared Psychometric Test and bagged an overall score of 48-50 in Section C can expect a call for GD/ PI.

MICAT 2018 Phase I Exam Analysis

MICA Ahmedabad has conducted MICAT I - 2018 on December 1, 2018, for admission into its two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management Communications. The duration of the exam was 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it was conducted in a Computer-based format in a single slot from 9 am to 11:50 am. Now that the exam has been conducted, test takers will soon get an in-depth analysis of the exam on this page along with the expected cut-offs.

MICAT is conducted twice a year - once in December and the second time in February. A candidate can take the exam twice, and then the better score out of the two will be considered for admission if at all the candidate has qualified. For now, candidates may watch out for the detailed analysis, which is now available on this page. As part of the analysis, you will get an insight into the pattern of examination (which is most likely to be the same), difficulty level, section-wise topics, types of questions asked in the exam as well as the marking scheme.

As a general observation and inputs from the students who appeared for the MICAT I exam today, it is said that the exam was slightly easier as compared to the previous year. Now, let's do a section-wise MICAT I exam analysis for you get a better understanding of the exam and accordingly estimate your performance.

PART 1 - MICAT I PSYCHOMETRIC TEST

The psychometric test of MICAT I is considered as a qualifier. Only those candidates who perform well in this part are further evaluated on the other sections of the exam. This year, according to the MICAT I 2018 Exam Analysis, appearing candidates had to attempt a total of 27 questions in a span of 25 minutes. This section had a few tricky questions which required keen attention from the students. Candidates had to rate to the statements from 1 to 6 and consisted of some unpredictable situations.

PART 2 - MICAT I DESCRIPTIVE TEST

The descriptive test of MICAT I exam consisted of four questions which had to be answered in a total of 35 minutes. It is important to note that this section did not carry any scope of negative marking. As far as the creative writing questions were concerned, candidates were required to The candidates were required to make up a story with the help of the pictures provided to them. These pictures consisted of blood cells, a line up of cars, WhatsApp emojis with eyes coming out and a wall beside a dead tree. Although a little offbeat, candidates who attempted this question in about 200-250 words and a good storyline may be able to score well.

Apart from that, in the argument writing questions, candidates were tested on their analytical skills where they had to write on the topic - Equality is a Myth. Students were expected to write for as well as against the topic ( 3 arguments each) and also give solutions to how the issue can be addressed. A decent approach to this question could have been to write a few bullet points for and against the topic and elaborate more on - How Equality can be Achieved in about 100-150 words.

PART 3 - MICAT I APTITUDE TEST

The aptitude test section of MICAT I consisted of questions on Convergent and Divergent Thinking, Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability and General Knowledge. Although a candidate could navigate between sections, the test was submitted automatically as soon as the allotted time was over. The candidate will be marked negatively (25%) if an answer submitted by him or her is incorrect in this section.

The division of questions was as follows:

a) Convergent and Divergent Thinking

This section consisted of 30 questions. Interestingly, this time, there were more questions on Data Sufficiency as compared to the previous MICAT exams.

Ideal Attempt - 14-16

Good Attempt - 17+ with 85% accuracy

Expected Sectional Cut off - 11-12 marks

b) Verbal Ability

This section consisted of 25 questions. Candidates were tested on prepositions as the main grammar aspect. The overall reading comprehension was also easy to answer as it was fact based, meaning based and revolved around the main theme of the passage.

Ideal Attempt - 15-17

Good Attempt - 20+ with 80% accuracy

Expected Sectional Cut off - 9-10 marks

c) Quantitative Ability

This section consisted of 25 questions and was considered the most difficult section among all. No questions on mensuration and geometry were asked this time.

Ideal Attempt - 9-11

Good Attempt - 14+ with 90% accuracy

Expected Sectional Cut off - 7-8 marks

d) General Awareness

This section consisted of 25 questions and was comparatively difficult than last year. No questions on brand taglines, logos etc. were asked this time.

Ideal Attempt - 9-11

Good Attempt - 14+ with 90% accuracy

Expected Sectional Cut off - 6-7 marks

With data inputs from Career Launcher

Conclusion: As per the above MICAT I Exam Analysis, a candidate with good writing skills could expect a call with a score of about 47-48 marks.

MICAT 2018 Phase II Exam Analysis

MICAT-II for admission to MICA Ahmedabad's two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management Communications was successfully conducted on 17th February, 2018 in a computer-based format. The examination was divided into three parts. The first part was the Descriptive Test. The second part of the exam was divided into four sub-sections i.e Convergent and Divergent thinking, General Awareness, Verbal Ability, and Quantitative Ability. The third part was Psychometric Test. Overall, MICAT II was on expected lines with no major changes in the pattern. The paper, however, seemed a bit lengthy and candidates found some questions slightly unusual. One noticeable difference in MICAT-II was that the GK section was dominated by business GK, which wasn't the case in MICAT I.

Part I Analysis - Descriptive Test

In this section, candidates had to attempt four questions within 35 minutes. This section tested candidates based on their analytical and descriptive writing ability as well as creative skills. The first three questions seemed related to each other, as the topic was based on ‘Start-ups’. In the first two questions, students were supposed to write three points in favour of the topic, three points against the topic. Both the questions carried a weightage of 10 marks each. The third question carried 20 marks and it required students to write a 3-point guideline that would enable start-ups to become established companies. The fourth question was allocated 30 marks and it consisted of four pictures. As part of the question, students were required to write down a particular pictorial combination and explain it with the help of a story.

Part II Analysis 

The time allotted to solve this section was 1 hour 45 minutes. Candidates had the option to navigate between different sections. For every correct answer, 1 mark was awarded and there was a penalty of 0.25 for every wrong answer. No marks were deducted for unattempted questions.

Section 1 - Divergent and Convergent Thinking (30 Questions)

Section 2 - General Awareness (25 Questions)

Section 3 - Verbal Ability (25 Questions)

Section 4 - Quantitative Ability (25 Questions)

Part III - Psychometric Test

This section was compulsory and it had no negative marking. It was mandatory to attempt all the questions in this part. 

With inputs from Career Launcher

MICAT 2017 Phase I Exam Analysis

MICAT-I 2018 was conducted on 17th December, 2017 in a computer-based format, and the Result of MICAT-I 2018 was announced on 3rd January, 2018. The examination was divided into three parts - Psychomteric test, Descriptive test and the last part was divided into four sections - Logical reasoning, Verbal ability, Quantitative ability and General awareness. It is a two-hour and 45 minutes long exam. 

Detailed MICAT - I December 2017 Exam Analysis

As compared to last year's MICAT, this year's MICAT turned out to be slightly more difficult. The sections on General Awareness and Quantitative Analysis were also tough. This year's MICAT had the following three changes:

• In this year's exam, the Psychometric test was the last section.
• In General Awareness, there were 25 questions as compared to last year's 22 questions.
• In the Descriptive test, the maximum marks for every question were mentioned.

Candidates did not have the freedom to navigate to any other section during the examination.

While there was no negative marking in Sections 1 and 3, Section 2 had a negative marking of 0.25 marks for every wrong attempt.

MICAT is carried out in two phases for candidates who wish to join MICA's PGDM-C. One of the two MICAT scores will be considered for selection. Along with MICAT, MICA considers CAT/XAT/GMAT scores as well to shortlist candidates for its admission process, which may include GE-PI. After MICAT - I 2017 is conducted, candidates would be able to check Answer Key of the same. Using the Answer Key of MICAT - I, candidates would be able to cross-check their answers and calculate their probable scores. Stay tuned for further information on MICAT - I (December 2017) exam!

Section-Wise Analysis of MICAT - I December 2017

Section I: Descriptive Test - In this section, candidates' analytical and descriptive writing ability and creative skills were tested. Test takers had been given 35 minutes to attempt questions in this section. While the first three questions in this section were based on the theme ‘has education shifted from a learning perspective to one focusing on earning’, the fourth question in this section was based on four pictures that students had to use to write down a pictorial combination and explain the same with a story. The first two questions of Descriptive Test carried 10 marks each, the third question had been allocated 20 marks, and the fourth question carried 40 marks.

Section II: Divergent Convergent Reasoning

This section had a total of 30 questions based on word-association, statement assumption, data sufficiency as well as visual reasoning.  

In 30 minutes, a student should have answered 19-20 questions with 80-85% accuracy.

Section II: General Awareness

In this section, there 25 questions this year. Out of 25, 16 questions were based on National issues while 9 were based on International affairs. There were 19 questions which were of static type and 6 were based on current affairs. Overall, the section was more difficult as compared to MICAT 2016. Candidates with good general knowledge could have easily attempted about 10-11 questions with 80% accuracy in a time frame of 10 minutes.

Section II: Verbal Ability 

In this section, students had to answer questions based on jumbled paragraphs, double blanks, synonyms, sentence errors, idiom-based questions, paragraph completion and a Reading Comprehension passage. In about 25 minutes, candidates should have attempted about 19-20 questions with 80% accuracy.

Section II: Quantitative Ability

In this section, there were 25 questions. While 19 questions were based on Quantitative Ability, 6 questions were based on Data Interpretation. Majority of the questions had a higher difficulty level as compared to last year's MICAT. A good attempt in this section means students would've answered 15-16 questions with 85% accuracy in about 40 minutes.

Section III: Psychometric Test - In this section, students had to answer 36 questions within a time frame of 25 minutes. As per MICA's test instructions, it was mandatory to attempt all the questions as failure to do so would lead to candidate' disqualification. There were no right or wrong answers in this section.

In the first set of questions in Psychometric Test, there were 10 questions and every question had three options. The questions were based on a particular personality trait and students had to choose any one option out of the three. 

In the second set of questions, there were 16 questions that asked students had to make a choice from a set of two arguments and to rate them in accordance with one’s personality traits. 

The third set had around 10 questions where candidates had to rank 6 actions/response sentences in the given question in an order of decreasing importance.

This section usually turns out to be simple and less time-consuming for those who are accustomed to taking psychometric tests. 

Note: Analysis has been written with inputs from IMS India

MICAT 2017 Phase II Exam Analysis

The MICAT II, which was held on February 12, 2017, turned out to be tougher as compared to MICAT I, conducted on December 11, 2016. The exam was conducted in online mode across 27 cities in India. The exam was conducted without any technical glitches. The overall difficulty level of MICAT – II was easy to moderate, with General Awareness and Quantitative Ability sections being tougher than the rest.

The exam structure of MICAT comprises of different sections in the exam, time duration, number of questions and marking scheme. The exam is divided into three parts – Descriptive, Psychometric, and the last part is divided into four sections namely Logical Reasoning, Verbal Ability, General Awareness, and Quantitative Ability.

Part – 1, Part – 2 and Part – 3, all parts had a separate time constraint of 35 minutes, 25 minutes and 110 minutes respectively. There was, however, no sectional time limit in the last part.

Brief Analysis of Part - I (Descriptive)

This section had 4 questions, which were descriptive in nature. This section tested candidates based on their critical and creative writing skills. The total time duration allocated to this entire section was 35 minutes. Overall, there were no surprises in this section.

Brief Analysis of Part II (Psychometric Test)

There was no negative marking in this section and attempting all the questions in this part were compulsory. The section had 36 questions, which had to be attempted within a sectional time limit of 25 minutes. According to the instruction sheet, the consequence of failing to attempt all the questions was disqualification.

Brief Analysis of Part III

The third part of MICAT had four sections, including Logical Reasoning, General Knowledge, Verbal Ability, and Quantitative Ability. The number of questions were 30, 22, 25 and 25 respectively. The third part had a sectional time limit of 110 minutes. Candidates had the liberty to navigate through the 4 sections as per their requirement. Once the time was over, the test paper got submitted automatically. There was a penalty of 0.25 marks for every wrong answer, and there was no penalty for un-attempted questions.

MICAT 2016 Exam Analysis

MICAT - I was conducted in online mode on 11th December 2016. The exam is meant for candidates who wish to pursue MICA's two-year flagship programme 'Post Graduate Diploma in Management Communications or PGDM-C'.

The first phase of MICAT examination was conducted across various cities in India including Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Allahabad, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Dehradun, Patna, Guwahati, Indore, Raipur, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Lucknow, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Ranchi and Vadodara.

Get a Detailed Analysis of MICAT – I Exam (December 2016) here!