This year IIFT has done a few changes in terms of distribution of sections and marks allocation.
This year VA, RC, Data & Reasoning were all separate hence taking number of sections to six as
compared to four, last year. The total number of questions was reduced to 114 from 123. GK &
Verbal ability section was slightly different in terms of format for e.g. in GK section, a few
questions were asked by giving description first and then asking questions out of it. To maintain
the cutoff, in all the six section, was really a difficult task and a lot of student will end up
in not clearing cutoffs in one or two sections. This year different sets had different sequence of
sections. Here in our analysis we are using Set A to present the breakup.
The break-up for the six sections was as follow:
| Section |
Sections |
No. of Questions |
Marks per Questions |
Total-Marks |
Negative Marks/Question |
| Section - 1 |
General Awareness |
18 |
0.5 |
9 |
0.17 |
| Section - 2 |
Verbal Ability |
20 |
1 |
20 |
0.33 |
| Section - 3 |
Reading Comprehension |
16 |
1 |
16 |
0.33 |
| Section - 4 |
Analytical Reasoning |
20 |
1 |
20 |
0.33 |
| Section - 5 |
Quantitative Ability |
20 |
1 |
20 |
0.33 |
| Section - 6 |
Data Interpretation |
20 |
0.75 |
15 |
0.25 |
| |
|
114 |
- |
100 |
|
Overview of the IIFT 2017 Paper
| Time Allotted |
2Hrs. |
| Total no. of questions |
114 (100 Marks) |
| Marking Scheme |
Different for different sections |
| Sections |
6 |
| Number of choices |
4 |
Expected cutoff and Good Attempt
| Section |
Good Attempt (Number of questions) |
| General Awareness |
8 – 10 |
| Verbal Ability |
9 – 11 |
| Reading Comprehension |
11 – 12 |
| Analytical Reasoning |
16 – 18 |
| Quantitative Ability |
10 - 12 |
| Data Interpretation |
7 - 9 |
The expected overall score at which one can expect a call from IIFT will be around 40+.
Remember, you need to clear the individual sectional cut-offs as well.
Section I: General Awareness
Evaluation: A few of the GK questions were in paragraph form and a few were based on match the column.
Only 5 questions were direct MCQ type. There were mixtures of topics checking general awareness of the candidate across the all areas.
Students found GK this year a bit tougher than last year.
Attempt by Good Student: 8 – 10
Section II: - Verbal Ability
| Sr. No. |
Description |
No. of Questions |
Mark Allotted |
| Verbal Ability |
Grammar (Phrases & Clauses) |
5 |
5 × 1 |
| Vocabulary Base (Prefix, Suffix) |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Jumbled words |
3 |
3 × 1 |
| Grammar (Punctuation) |
3 |
3 × 1 |
| Analogies |
3 |
3 × 1 |
| Sentence Correction (Para form) |
5 |
5 × 1 |
| Total |
20 |
20 |
Evaluation: The Verbal Ability portion of the exam had an extremely strong emphasis on Vocabulary and grammar based questions.
In case your grammar fundamental were strong you could have decent attempts in this section. Vocabulary was also a very dominant part
of this section and the words given belong to the moderate to tough category making the attempt in this part less.
Attempt by Good Student: 9 – 11
Section III: - Reading Comprehension
| Sr. No. |
Description |
No. of Questions |
Mark Allotted |
| 1. |
Commerce |
4 |
4 × 1 |
| 2. |
Education – Close & Careful reading |
4 |
4 × 1 |
| 3. |
Financial Crises |
4 |
4 × 1 |
| 4. |
Business – Statistical Analysis |
4 |
4 × 1 |
| |
Total |
16 |
16 |
Evaluation: The RC section was relatively difficult and featured long RCs as compared to last year’s RCs. There were four passages with 4 questions each. The level of RCs varied from moderate to difficult overall a student could have easily solved at least two passages in given time. The questions were more of inference based rather than facts based, which made this section challenging.
Attempt by Good Student: 11 – 12
Section IV:- Analytical and Logical Reasoning
| Area Tested |
Description |
No. of Question |
Mark Allotted |
| Analytical Reasoning |
Analytical Reasoning |
11 |
11 × 1 |
| Reasoning based DS |
2 |
2 × 1 |
| Directions |
2 |
2 × 1 |
| Input Output |
4 |
4 × 1 |
| Syllogism |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Total |
20 |
20 |
Evaluation: This section was of Easy to Moderate difficulty level. There were four AR blocks. One AR block on (MBA Students) was moderate while other three AR blocks (ISL, Swarna Shatabdi Express & Sports related) were easy to moderate. There were two questions on directions which were easy and two questions were on DS and they were also doable. There were four questions on Input Output and they were moderate.
Attempt by Good Student: 16 – 18
Section V: Quantitative Ability
| Area Tested |
Description |
No. of Questions |
Mark Allotted |
| Quantitative Ability |
Function, Algebra & Equations |
3 |
3 × 1 |
| P&C Probability |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Time & Work |
2 |
2 × 1 |
| Geometry & Co-ordinate |
6 |
6 × 1 |
| Logs |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Percentage, Profit & Loss, SI & CI |
3 |
3 × 1 |
| Number System |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Time, Speed and Distance |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Ratio & Proportion |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Sets |
1 |
1 × 1 |
| Total |
20 |
20 |
Evaluation: The Quantitative Ability was Moderate to difficult. Some of the questions were calculation intensive. Questions related to Number System, SI, Ratio & Allegation can be easily doable. Question based on Logarithm was very lengthy. Overall difficulty level Moderate to difficulty.
Attempt by Good Student: 10 – 12
Section VI: - Data Interpretation
| Area Tested |
Description |
No. of Question |
Mark Allotted |
| Data Interpretation |
Mixed Graph |
5 |
5 × 0.75 |
| Tables |
15 |
15 × 0.75 |
| |
Total |
20 |
15 |
Evaluation: This section was of moderate difficulty level. There were four sets on Tables and one set on Mixed Graph. Set on mixed graph and set on wholesale price index were very calculation intention. Sets on commodity prices and port traffic were of moderate level and doable. However the set on moving averages was very difficult and should not have been attempted.
Attempt by Good Student: 7 – 9
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