MBA Entrance Exams in India 2024-25: Dates, Fee, Pattern, more

According to a report published by the National University, around 250,000 students are enrolled in various MBA programmes worldwide. Most CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, and folks at top positions in firms are likely to hold an MBA degree. This is why an MBA degree is a strategic step toward professional success.

Pursuing an MBA degree has a lot of benefits, such as providing a solid theoretical foundation in business concepts and helping to develop essential skills such as leadership, management, communication, motivation, and negotiation. MBA, or Masters of Business Administration, is one of the most pursued courses worldwide, given the professional opportunities the course provides and the personal benefits this degree offers. Especially in today’s time when the landscape of businesses is ever-changing, the allure of management degrees has increased, a testament to the fact that MBA degrees are in high demand.

In India, over a thousand reputable management institutes/colleges offer specialised MBA programmes in finance, marketing, operations management, consulting, entrepreneurship, and human resources. However, choosing the best MBA course to pursue your career can be challenging due to the many available options.

Popular MBA Entrance Exams For Top Colleges

Here’s a list of some of the most sought-after entrance exams for an MBA:

1. CAT (Common Admission Test) Entrance Exam

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is the most popular and challenging MBA entrance exam by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM). The exam is held for admission to over 1000 colleges in India and 21 IIMs, IITs, NITs, and MNITs. As a result, more than 2 lakh students appear for the CAT entrance exam every year. The CAT 2024 entrance exam date is tentatively November 24, 2024. The test will be conducted by IIM Calcutta in 2024.

CAT comprises four main parts: verbal, quantitative, data interpretation, and logical reasoning. These parts are grouped into three sections: verbal and reading comprehension (VRC), quantitative aptitude (QA), and data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR).

• Examination Mode: Computer-Based Test (CBT)

• Exam Duration: 120 Minutes (2 Hours)

• Number of Questions: 66 Objective-Type Questions

• Total Marks: 198

• CAT 2024 Registration Opens: First Week of August 2024 (tentative)

• CAT 2024 Exam Date: November 24, 2024

Exam Pattern:

2. NMAT (Narsee Monjee Management Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam

The NMAT (Narsee Monjee Management Aptitude Test) is a national-level entrance exam organised by the Graduate Management Admission Council. It offers admission to MBA and several other graduate management degree courses from different institutes/colleges, such as Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and various other institutions.

NMAT primarily tests a candidate’s quantitative skills, language skills, and logical reasoning abilities.

• Examination Mode: Computer-Based Test (CBT)

• Exam Duration: 120 Minutes (2 Hours)

• Number of Questions: 108 (Multiple Choice Questions)

• NMAT 2024 Registration Opens: First week of August 2024

• NMAT 2024 Exam Date: 10th October 2024 to 19th December 2024

Exam Pattern:

3. CMAT (Common Management Admission Test) Entrance Exam

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) conducts the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT), a national-level MBA entrance exam, to assess candidates’ abilities in various segments such as general awareness, quantitative technique, logical reasoning, and language comprehension.

The CMAT score is recognised at all AICTE-approved institutes, departments, universities, and colleges. The exam evaluates general awareness, language comprehension, logical reasoning, and quantitative and data interpretation skills.

• Examination Mode: Online

• Exam Duration: 180 Minutes (3 Hours)

• Number of Questions: 100

• CMAT 2024 Registration Opens: Second Week of March (Delayed) 

• CMAT 2024 Last Date of Registration: 31-March-2024

• CMAT 2024 Exam Date: 15 May 2024

Exam Pattern:

4. GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) for admission to undergraduate management programmes offered by various foreign institutes and universities. However, the main GMAT exam will be retired from February 2024. If you have registered for your GMAT exam till January 2024, it will be automatically transferred to GMAT™ Focus Edition.

The GMAT exam will be replaced by the GMATTM Focus Edition. You can check your registration and confirm the same with the registration authority. Starting February 1, 2024, only the GMAT Focus Edition is available. You can give your GMAT exam five times in 12 months.

GMAT mainly comprises four sections, including verbal, quantitative, integrated reasoning, and analytical writing assessment.

• Examination Mode: Online

• Exam Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes

• Number of Questions: 64

• Total Marks: 800

• Top B-schools start admitting students with a score of 740+

• GMAT 2024 Registration Opens: Can be done any time of the year

• GMAT 2024 Exam Date: Candidates can choose the date

Exam Pattern:

Read: GMAT Score Chart and Percentile Calculator

5. MAT (Management Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam

The Management Aptitude Test (MAT) is a national-level MBA entrance examination administered by the All India Management Association (AIMA) to offer admission to various management programmes. MAT is conducted four times a year (typically in February, May, September, and December) and is available in both online (computer-based test) and offline (written test) formats.

The exam assesses candidates’ abilities in five areas, including mathematical skills, language comprehension, Indian and global environment, intelligence and critical reasoning, language analysis, and sufficiency.

• Examination Mode: Computer-Based Test (Online) and Paper-Based Test (Offline)

• Exam Duration: 150 Minutes (2 Hours and 30 Minutes)

• Number of Questions: 150 Objective-Type Questions

• MAT Last Date of Registration 2024: 20 February 2024 (PBT), 05 March 2024 (CBT)

• Availability of PBT Admit Cards: 22 February 2024

• MAT 2024 Exam Date: PBT: 25 February 2024, CBT :10 March 2024, IBT :3rd, 8th, and 24th of February 2024

• MAT 2024 Result: 25 March 2024

Exam Pattern:

6. XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam

The Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is another popular MBA entrance exam conducted by the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur. Around one lakh students appear each year for XAT, typically held on the first Sunday of January. More than 100 management colleges accept students’ admission based on their XAT scores. The results are declared for the XAT entrance exams on 20th January 2024. You can check out your results from their official website.

XAT mainly consists of four sections: quantitative ability, decision-making, English language and logical reasoning, and general knowledge and essay. However, the General Knowledge and Essay tests are conducted only after students are shortlisted for XLRI courses.

• Examination Mode: Offline Test (Pen and Paper Based)

• Exam Duration: 190 Minutes

• Number of Questions: 100 Objective-Type Questions

• XAT 2025 Registration Opens: 15th July 2024 (Tentative)

• XAT 2025 Last Date Registration: 10th December 2024 (Tentative)

• XAT 2025 Exam Date: 5th January, 2025

Exam Pattern:

7. ATMA (AIMS Test for Management Admissions) Entrance Exam

ATMA (AIMS Test for Management Admissions) is a national-level MBA entrance exam administered by the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) to offer admission to various management Programmes such as MBA, PGDBA, PGDM, MCA, MCM, etc. The exam is conducted four times a year.

• Examination Mode: Online

• Exam Duration: 180 Minutes (3 Hours)

• Number of Questions: 180

• The ATMA exam aims to analyse these skills in a candidate: Verbal Skills, Analytical Reasoning Skills, Quantitative Skills

• ATMA 2024 Last Date of Registration Opens (For February 2024): February 11, 2024

• ATMA 2024 Exam Date: February 18, 2024

• ATMA 2024 Result Date: February 23, 2024 (Closed)

• ATMA 2024 Upcoming Exams: 21 July 2024

Exam Pattern:

8. MAH-CET (Maharashtra Common Entrance Test) Entrance Exam

MAH-CET, also known as MAH-MBA and MMS-CET, is an entrance exam conducted by the Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra. Its purpose is to admit students to various management courses offered by different institutes in the state of Maharashtra, such as MBA/MMS, BE/B Tech, B.HMCT, MCA, M.Arch, and M.HMCT.

Admission to courses such as MBA/PGDM/PGDMB/MMS is facilitated by the Competent Authority of the State of Maharashtra through a centralised process known as CAP (Centralised Admission Process). The MAH-CET exam is held in various sessions, and the Competent Authority calculates scores for each session using the standardised equi-percentile method.

The exam tests logical reasoning, verbal ability, reading comprehension, quantitative aptitude, and abstract reasoning.

• Examination Mode: Computer-Based Test (CBT Mode)

• Exam Duration: 150 Minutes (2 Hours and 30 Minutes)

• Number of Questions: 200 (Multiple Choice)

• MAH-CET 2024 Registration Opens: 16th Jan to 15th March 2024 (Closed Now)

• MAH-CET 2024 Exam Date: 16 April–23 April 2024

• MAH-CET 2024 Registration Opens: 16th Jan to 15th March 2024 (Closed Now)

Exam Pattern:

9. SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude) Entrance Exam

The Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) is a national-level management entrance exam conducted by Symbiosis International University (SIU) for admission to 15 institutes under SIU and for other MBA or equivalent courses. Since 2017, SNAP has been conducted through an online mode instead of the traditional pen and paper-based exam.

The test comprises three main sections, which include analytical and logical reasoning, general English and quantitative, data interpretation, and data sufficiency.

• Examination Mode: Online

• Exam Duration: 60 Minutes (1 Hour)

• Number of Questions: 60

• SNAP 2024 Registration Opens: 1st week, Aug 2024

• SNAP 2024 Exam Date: 8, 15, and 22 December 2024

Exam Pattern:

FAQs

Q1. Is an entrance exam necessary for MBA?

Direct admission to the MBA programme does not involve passing an entrance exam. Admission is awarded to deserving students based on their extracurricular activities, profile, experience, and academic standing, among other things.

Q2. Which MBA entrance exam is easy?

MAT, CMAT, and IBSAT are regarded as the easiest MBA entry examinations in comparison to other MBA entrances, according to the MBA test research. More than 600 B-schools accept the MAT exam, and more than 300 MBA colleges accept the CMAT exam for admission to PGDM/MBA programmes.

Q3. How many MBA entrance exams are there in India?

India offers a variety of MBA entrance exams for government colleges, state-level, and national programmes, including CAT, GMAT, NMAT, MAT, ATMA, XAT, CMAT, and IBSAT. GMAT stands out as it is accepted by a wider range of B-Schools in India and abroad.

Q4. How to crack an MBA entrance exam?

Advice on How to Ace Your MBA Exams:

• Go through tests intended for high school students that deal with verbal sections to improve the grammatical section.

• Develop a reading and writing routine.

• Attempt previous year’s question papers to assess what sort of questions are frequently asked.

• Speak English more often in your daily life.