Common Admission Test
| Acronym | CAT |
|---|---|
| Type | Computer-based standardized test |
| Developer / administrator | Indian Institutes of Management |
| Knowledge / skills tested | Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, Data Sufficiency, Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning, and Analytical Reasoning |
| Purpose | Admission to post-graduate management programs |
| Year started | 1950 |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Score / grade range | 0-300 |
| Score / grade validity | 1 year |
| Offered | Once a year (usually in November/December). |
| Countries / regions | 354 centres in 99 cities and towns all over India. |
| Languages | English |
| Annual number of test takers |
 173,738 in 2013 |
| Prerequisites / eligibility criteria | Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) with at least 50 % marks or equivalent GPA (45 % in case of SC, ST, PWD candidates). Final year undergraduate students also eligible |
| Fee |
₹1,700 (US$26) for general category candidates. ₹850 (US$13) for SC / ST / DA (PWD) category candidates |
| Scores / grades used by | Various business schools in India |
| Website | iimcat |
The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a computer based test held in India. The test scores a candidate on the bases of Quantitative Ability (QA), Verbal Ability (VA) and Reading Comprehension (RC), Data Interpretation (DI) and Logical Reasoning (LR). The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) started this exam and use the test for selecting students for their business administration programs. The test is conducted every year by one of the IIMs based on a policy of rotation. In August 2011, it was announced that Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) would also use the CAT scores, instead of the Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET), to select students for their management programmes starting with the 2012-14 batch. Common Admission Test (CAT) 2015 was conducted by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) on November 29, 2015. IIM Indore held Common Admission Test for the years 2013-14.
Before 2009, CAT was a paper based test conducted on a single day for all candidates. The pattern, number of questions and duration have seen considerable variations over the years.
On 1 May 2009, it was announced that CAT would be a Computer Based Test starting from 2009. The American firm Prometric was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the test. The first computer based CAT was marred with technical snags. The issue was so serious that it prompted the Government of India to seek a report from the convenor. The trouble was diagnosed as 'Conficker' and 'W32 Nimda', the two viruses that attacked the system display of the test, causing server slow down. CAT 2015 was conducted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). CAT 2015 was a 180-minute test consisting of 100 questions (34 from Quantitative Ability (QA), 34 from Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), and 32 from Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR). As per the official notification, this year CAT 2016 will be conducted by Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bangalore.
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