GMAT Exam Pattern

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a prestigious national entrance exam conducted annually by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission into their MBA programs. Held on the last Sunday of November, the exam is administered in three time slots across more than 170 cities. There are 21 IIMs in total, comprising 7 established IIMs and 14 newer or "baby" IIMs. While the older IIMs use the CAT application form as both an exam and admission application, the newer and baby IIMs follow the Common Admission Process (CAP) to shortlist candidates for admission.

GMAT Exam Pattern

The exam contains four sections Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated, Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning. The exam has a time limit of 3 hours and 7 minutes. The exam structure will help you in your preparation as well as in deciding on which exam you should choose. GMAT is an integral admission test which is a prerequisite for graduate management courses. A candidate has the option to take two 8-minute breaks during the exam.

GMAT Section-wise Name	Total number of questions	Allotted time in each section
Analytical Writing Assessment	1 Topic	30 minutes
Quantitative Skills	Total 12 questions	30 minutes
Integrated Reasoning	Total 31 questions	62 minutes
Verbal Reasoning	Total 36 questions	65 minutes

As aspirants proceed with the exam, the computer scores your question and then uses them for the next question. If your first answer is wrong then the next question will not be that difficult whereas if you answer the next question correctly the question after that will be harder. This process continues until the end and it accurately assesses the candidate’s ability in that particular subject.

The administration will not allow candidates to return to change their answers because the computer uses your answers to select the next question. So, it is important to give answers carefully, as you will not be able to change them later.