MAT Dec 2016 Analysis
Management Aptitude Test (MAT 2016) is a national level test conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA) to screen candidates for admission to MBA and allied programs offered by the various B-schools of the country who will participate in the MAT 2016. It is conducted 4 times in a year i.e. in the month of May, September, December and February on the 1st Sunday of the Month. Candidates can choose to take either Paper Based Test or Computer Based Test as per their convenience.
Comprehensive Analysis of MAT May 2016
The offline and online MAT was held on 01 and 07 May, 2016 respectively. There were 200 questions in 150 min comprising of five different test areas viz. Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with 40 questions in each section. The level of difficulty was moderate to difficult.
The basic purpose of the exam analysis is to make test takers aware about the types of questions, number of questions, marking scheme, level of difficulty, sectional weightage and duration of the exam.
Exam Pattern May 2016 MAT Exam
| Number of questions |
200 |
| Marking Scheme |
1 mark per question |
| Negative Marking |
0.25 marks per question |
| Number of Sections |
5 |
| Number of choices |
4 (1,2,3,4) |
| Duration |
150 min |
Further, following table will give you insights about the marks distribution and the level of difficulty of different sections in the test.
| Section |
Total Question |
Total Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Good Marks |
| Language Comprehension |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
18 |
| Mathematical Skills |
40 |
40 |
Moderate-Difficult |
14 |
| Data Analysis & Sufficiency |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
16 |
| Intelligence & Critical Reasoning |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
17 |
| Indian and Global Environment |
40 |
40 |
40 |
7 |
Overall Summary – Different Sections
Mathematical Skills
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Arithmetic |
Time and Work, Pipes and Cisterns |
3 |
Moderate-Difficult |
14 |
| Time and Distance, Boats and Streams |
3 |
| Simple Equations, Ratio, proportion, Variation |
6 |
| Venn Diagrams |
1 |
| Percentages, profit, Loss, Partnership |
3 |
| Geometry and Mensuration |
7 |
| Averages |
1 |
| Simple Interest, Compound Interest |
9 |
| Coordinate Geometry |
1 |
| Higher Math |
Trigonometry, Heights and Distance |
3 |
Moderate |
2 |
| Permutation and Combinations |
1 |
| probability |
2 |
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate - Difficult |
16 |
The questions were basic and those with adequate practice, found them doable. The success in this section mainly depends on the conceptual clarity with calculation skills.
Data Analysis and Sufficiency
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Data Interpretation |
There were two pie charts |
5 |
Moderate |
10 |
| The questions were based on data given in the form of Bar Graph and Pie Chart. |
5 |
| The set was based on the data given in the form of four bar charts. |
5 |
| The data was pertaining to caselet. |
5 |
| The data presented in the form of two line charts. |
5 |
| Data Sufficiency and Data Comparison |
Data Sufficiency- Each Question followed by two statements: A and B |
8 |
Easy |
6 |
| Data Comparison |
7 |
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate |
16 |
Overall, this section was moderate. A good strategy would be to spend around 35- 40 min for a good net score of 16.
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Analytical Reasoning |
Distribution ( Puzzles) |
4 |
Moderate |
2 |
| Selection |
2 |
| Blood Relations |
3 |
| Direction Sense |
3 |
| Coding Decoding |
2 |
| Cubes / Dice |
4 |
| Linear Arrangement |
3 |
| Reasoning Set ( Miscellaneous) |
4 |
| Number and Letter Series |
3 |
| Seating Arrangement ( Rectangular) |
3 |
| Miscellaneous |
1 |
| Critical Reasoning |
Assertion and Reasons |
4 |
Moderate |
5 |
| Statement and Conclusions |
4 |
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate |
20 |
The level of difficulty in this section was moderate to difficult. A net score of 20 or more can be classified as a good score in this section.
Language Comprehension
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Vocabulary |
Antonyms of the words given in jumbled form |
3 |
Moderate |
8 |
| Odd Man Out ( Jumbled Form) |
3 |
| Fill in the Blanks ( 2 Blanks) |
3 |
| English Usage and Grammar |
Most appropriate Restatement |
3 |
| Para Jumbles |
4 |
| Summary of the paragraph ( approx. 100 words) |
4 |
| Reading Comprehension |
Passage with the theme: Can Animals evolve quickly enough to survive Global Warming |
4 |
Moderate |
10 |
| Passage with the theme: Delhi Metro Rail Transport System-needs and benefits, funded by Central Government |
4 |
| Passage with the theme: World Water day. The need for conserving fresh water. |
4 |
| Passage: Emerging Markets as catalyst driving global growth but vulnerable to global hitches. |
4 |
| Passage: Quality of Food intake and its impact on our life |
4 |
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate |
18 |
Questions in this section required a good knowledge of English usage and Functional Grammar. 18 marks can be considered a good score in a time limit of 30-35 min. the overall pattern of the questions was similar to last year test.
Indian and Global Environment
- In this test area the questions were predominantly from business, current affairs, famous personalities etc.
- A major point is that the marks scored in this section are not counted in the consolidated score.
- Overall, level of difficulty of this section was moderate.
- Those who read the newspaper on a regular basis found this area comfortable.
- A good time allocation strategy was to spend around 5-10 minutes.
MAT Sep 2016 Analysis
In the jargon of management aspirants MAT stands for Management Aptitude Test. It is a standardized test being administered by AIMA to facilitate B-Schools to screen candidates for admission to MBA and allied programs. It is one of the most widely taken tests by the management community and serves as a passport to over 600 B-schools in India.Test takers can choose any one of the two options to take the test: Paper Based Test or Computer Based Test. The Paper Based Test is conducted on the first Sunday of February, May, September and December from 10.00-12.30 hours; whereas the Computer Based Test is conducted from Saturday onwards (6 days after the Paper Based Test date) and in different time slots.
The overall structure of MAT September, 2016 was based on the pattern of MAT May, 2016. There were 200 questions in 150 min comprising of five different test areas viz. Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with exactly 40 questions in each section. The overall level of difficulty was easy to moderate; only a few questions were found difficult.
| Number of Questions |
200 |
| Marking Scheme |
1 mark per question |
| Negative Marking |
0.25 marks per wrong question |
| Number of Sections |
5 |
| Numb er of choices |
4 (1,2,3,4) |
| Duration |
150 minutes |
MAT Exam Analysis
Following table will give you the comprehensive insights about the level of difficulty of different sections in the test.
| Section |
Total Question |
Total Marks |
Difficulty Level |
| Language Comprehension |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
| Mathematical skills |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
| Data Analysis and Sufficiency |
40 |
40 |
Moderate- Difficult |
| Intelligence and Critical Reasoning |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
| Indian and Global Environment |
40 |
40 |
Moderate |
In- depth Analysis of different sections is given below:
- Mathematical Skills: As compared to previous analysis, this section mainly comprised questions from Arithmetic section (26 out of 40 questions). No question was set from the number system this time. Majority of the questions had the long calculations. Overall, the level of difficulty was easy to moderate.
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Arithmetic |
Time and Work, Pipes and Cisterns |
8 |
Moderate- Difficult |
13 |
| Time and Distance, Boats and Streams |
5 |
| Simple Equations, Ratio, proportion, Variation |
5 |
| Percentages, profit, Loss, Partnership |
5 |
| Geometry and Mensuration |
4 |
| Averages |
2 |
| Simple Interest, Compound Interest |
3 |
| Higher Math |
Trigonometry, Heights and Distance |
3 |
Moderate |
2 |
| Permutation and Combinations |
1 |
| probability |
4 |
| Overall |
40 |
Moderate- Difficult |
|
15 |
- Language Comprehension: The section comprised of 20 Verbal Ability and 20 Reading Comprehension questions. RC had 4 passages with 5 questions in each passage. The approximately length of the passages was 500-600 words. It was major shift from the previous year papers where 5 passages with 4 questions each were present.
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty level |
| English Usage and Grammar |
Double fill in the blanks |
5 |
|
| Para Jumbles |
5 |
| Sentence Error |
5 |
| Essence of the text |
5 |
| Reading Comprehension |
Passage with the theme: |
20
(4*5) |
Moderate |
| Geospatial Regulation Bill and Indian Lawmakers’ and Bureaucracy’s Approach towards Legislation |
5 |
| Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code |
5 |
| 7th Pay Commission and its Fallout on Expenditure |
5 |
| |
NSG Membership: Role of China in Thwarting India’s Entry |
5 |
|
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate |
- Intelligence and Critical Reasoning: This section comprised of questions from Verbal Reasoning and Logical Reasoning section. They included 5 questions on Statement-Course of Action, 5 on Statement and Cause/Effect types and 3 on Assertion and Reason. The LR section included 12 standalone questions and 15 set-based questions. All the 27 questions were very simple and could have been attempted in 30-35 minutes. A number of questions were ambiguous in nature.
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Analytical Reasoning |
Distribution ( Puzzles) |
10 |
Moderate |
15 |
| Venn Diagrams |
2 |
| Blood Relations |
2 |
| Direction Sense |
2 |
| Comparison |
1 |
| Cubes / Dice |
1 |
| Quant based Reasoning |
3 |
| Sequence |
1 |
| Seating Arrangement (Circular) |
5 |
| Critical Reasoning |
Assertion and Reasons |
3 |
Moderate |
5 |
| Cause and Effect |
5 |
| Courses of Action |
5 |
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate |
20 |
- Data Analysis and Sufficiency: The Data Interpretation section included 6 sets of 5 questions each based on the calculations. Some of the questions required a lengthy calculation which was a time consuming affair. The last set was a caselet which ought to be ideally left out. Some questions tested the concepts of harmonic mean and average annual growth rate. There were 5 questions on Quantitative Comparison (all easy) and 5 questions on Data Sufficiency (all quantitative-based and all easy).
| Area |
Description |
Marks |
Difficulty Level |
Estimated Marks |
| Data Interpretation |
There were two pie charts |
5 |
Moderate |
13 |
| The questions were based on data given in the form of Bar Graph and Pie Chart. |
5 |
| The set was based on the data given in the form of four bar charts. |
5 |
| The data was pertaining to caselet. |
5 |
| The data presented in the form of two line charts. |
5 |
| Data Sufficiency and Data Comparison |
Data Sufficiency- Each Question followed by two statements: A and B |
5 |
Moderate |
4 |
| Data Comparison |
5 |
| |
Overall |
40 |
Moderate |
17 |
- Indian and Global Environment: In this section questions were based on current events of the past few months, so anyone who had prepared well and had thorough knowledge of current economic and political scenarios in India and abroad and regularly reads newspapers must have not found this section too tough. About 30 questions were based on national events and 10 on international events. A good attempt would be about 25 questions, with 75% accuracy.
MAT May 2016 Analysis
In the parlance of management aspirants, MAT stands for Management Aptitude Test. It is a standardized test being administered by AIMA to facilitate B-Schools to screen candidates for admission to MBA and other allied programs.
MAT December, 2016 was an easy to moderate level test with 200 questions in 150 min comprising of five different test areas viz. Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with exactly 40 questions in each section.
Given below is the exam pattern of MAT December 2016:
| Section No. |
Section Name |
Number of Questions |
| I |
Language Comprehension |
40 |
| II |
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning |
40 |
| III |
Mathematical Skills |
40 |
| IV |
Data Analysis and Sufficiency |
40 |
| V |
Indian and Global Environment |
40 |
| Total |
200 |
The detailed analysis of every section of MAT December 2016 is given in the following section:
Section- I: Language Comprehension
| Area |
Number of Questions |
| Reading Comprehension |
4 passages with 5 questions each (20) |
| Summary questions |
4 |
| Para- Jumbled |
4 |
| Antonyms of underlined words |
2 |
| Unscramble word & find its antonym |
2 |
| Synonyms of given phrases |
3 |
| Synonyms of underlined words |
2 |
| Unscramble letters & find the odd man out |
3 |
| Total |
40 |
Evaluation: Out of the total 40 questions there were 20 Verbal Ability and Reasoning questions and 20 Reading Comprehension questions. The topics of the comprehensions were:
- Demonetisation & its effects
- The technique, applications and effectiveness of Fibroscan for liver diseases
- Shortage of supply of right talent, how we can use training and improve effectiveness of productivity from low level to executive level employees.
- The current state of safety care regulatory regime, how it can be restructured and its advantages
There were 12 easy and 8 moderate questions from the area of Reading Comprehension. The overall level of difficulty of this section was easy to moderate. Only three questions from the area unscramble letters and find the odd man out were of difficult nature. A total time limit of 35-40 minutes was a good strategy to solve maximum questions.
Section II: Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
| Area |
Number of Questions |
| Verbal Reasoning ( Total 15 questions) |
| Course of action questions |
5 |
| Syllogisms (Venn diagrams) |
5 |
| Strong and weak arguments |
5 |
| Non- Verbal Reasoning (Total 25 questions) |
| Coding- Decoding |
5 |
| Miscellaneous ( Included topics like numbers(2), ages(1) ) |
3 |
| Linear arrangement ( standalone questions ) |
2 |
| Directions ( 1 set on arrangement based on directions ) |
5 |
| Matrix arrangement (2 sets of 5 questions each) |
10 |
| Total |
40 |
Evaluation: This section covered all the major topics with Verbal Reasoning covered total of 15 questions and Non- Verbal Reasoning covered 25 questions. Syllogisms and Strong and Weak Arguments covered 5 questions each. The nature of such questions was easy to moderate level of difficulty. However, no questions were witnessed from the family tree and complete the series and cubes. An attempt of 20-22 questions in a time frame of 35-40 minutes was considered good to score well.
Section III: Mathematical Skills
| Area |
Number of Questions |
| Arithmetic |
| Time- Speed- Distance |
7 |
| Time and work |
5 |
| Simple and Compound Interest |
4 |
| Mixtures and Alligations |
4 |
| Percentages |
4 |
| Profit and Loss |
5 |
| Total |
29 |
| Modern Mathematics |
| Probability |
2 |
| Total |
2 |
| Geometry |
| Geometry (Quadrilaterals) |
2 |
| Mensuration |
2 |
| Total |
4 |
| Numbers |
| Divisibility |
3 |
| H.C.F and L.C.M |
2 |
| Total |
5 |
| Total |
40 |
Evaluation: This section covered majority questions from arithmetic with a total of 29 questions out of 40 questions. There were around 4 questions from Geometry, 5 questions on Numbers and 2 questions on Modern Mathematics. Some questions from arithmetic were time consuming as they required lengthy calculations. The overall level of difficulty of this section was easy to moderate. A good attempt was 20-22 questions in 35-40 minutes with 85% accuracy.
Section IV: Data Analysis and Sufficiency
| Area |
Number of Questions |
| Set on Pie Chart and Bar Graph combined |
5 |
| Set of 2 Pie Charts combined |
5 |
| Set on Line Graph |
5 |
| Set on Bar Graph |
5 |
| Set on Tables |
5 |
| Caselet on Venn Diagram (based on 5 Parameters) |
5 |
Data Sufficiency:
Arithmetic: 3 Questions
Geometry: 1 Question
Probability: 1 Question |
5 |
Quantitative Comparison:
Ratio Proportion: 1 Question
Geometry: 1 Question
Numbers: 1 Question
Simple and Compound Interest: 1 Question
Venn Diagram: 1 Question |
5 |
| Total |
40 |
Evaluation: In this section, there were 30 questions from Data Interpretation, five questions from Quantitative Comparison and the other five were from Data Sufficiency. This section was difficult as compared to other sections. Only the questions based on Data Sufficiency and Quantitative Comparison were easy to attempt. An attempt of 22-24 questions with 85% accuracy can be considered a good attempt in this section.
Section V: Indian and Global Environment
Evaluation: This section covered majority of the questions on current events of the past few months. It proved to be a cakewalk for all those test takers who were aware of the latest happenings around the nation and the world. Regular reading of newspaper or listening to the news proved an advantage for them. Around 23 questions were based on national events and 17 questions on international events. Overall, the level of difficulty was moderate to difficult. An attempt of 15-18 questions was considered fair with 75% accuracy.