Management Aptitude Test (MAT) is a standardized national-level exam conducted by the All India Management Association (AIMA). This exam is held four times a year - February, May, September, and December.
MAT Score is valid for over 600 B-Schools across India for admission to MBA and allied programmes. Candidates can choose to appear in PBT, IBT, or CBT mode of exam.
The first step to cracking any examination well is to understand its pattern thoroughly. Here, you will learn about MAT exam pattern 2021 along with the marking scheme. This will give you a clear perspective of what to expect from the examination and how to plan your preparation.
MAT 2021
The official
notification for MAT August-September session has been released. MAT 2021 IBT exam will be conducted from 27 November, 2021 to 18 December, 2021 whereas the PBT-based exam will held on 5 December, 2021. This time, MAT CBT is scheduled for two sessions, including 21 November and 19 December, 2021. Students should study the following information to understand the pattern thoroughly and make study plan accordingly.
MAT 2021 Exam Pattern: Overview
| Number of Sections |
5 |
| Sections |
Mathematical skills, Critical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and Data interpretation and Indian & Global Environment |
| Mode |
IBT, CBT, PBT |
| Duration of the Test |
2 hr. 30 min. (150 mins) |
| Number of Questions |
200 (every question has 4 options) |
Marking
Scheme |
+1 for every correct answer and -0.25 for every wrong answer |
Section-wise Exam Structure
| Sr. No. |
Sections |
Questions |
Time (Minutes) |
| 1 |
Mathematical Skills |
40 |
No sectional time |
| 2 |
Language Comprehension |
40 |
| 3 |
Data Analysis & Sufficiency |
40 |
| 4 |
Intelligence & Critical Reasoning |
40 |
| 5 |
Indian & Global Environment |
40 |
| |
TOTAL |
200 |
150 Minutes |
MAT 2021 Exam Pattern: Marks Distribution
MAT 2021 has a similar weightage to all its sections. However, the difficulty level of the sections varies as per the different question types. Mathematical skills section seems to be more difficult compared to others because of tricky questions and calculations. Below mentioned is the section-wise distribution of marks in MAT.
|
Subjects
|
Marks Allotted
|
Number of Questions
|
|
Language Comprehension
|
40
|
40
|
|
Mathematical Skills
|
40
|
40
|
|
Data Analysis & Sufficiency
|
40
|
40
|
|
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
|
40
|
40
|
|
Indian and Global Environment
|
40
|
40
|
|
Total
|
200
|
200
|
Marking Scheme
- Each section of MAT 2021 will have equal weightage of 40 marks each.
- For every correct answer, candidate will be rewarded with 1 mark.
- However, for every wrong answer, 0.25 marks will be deducted.
- For unanswered questions, there is no negative marking.
MAT 2021: Sectional Time Limit
There is no sectional time limit for
MAT 2021 exam. However, the candidates are advised to set a structured time limit themselves to complete the exam in the given time. Below mentioned is the suggested time limit that students can follow for each section:
|
MAT Sections
|
Suggested time limit
|
|
Language Comprehension
|
30 mins
|
|
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
|
30 mins
|
|
Data Analysis and Sufficiency
|
35 mins
|
|
Mathematical Skills
|
40 mins
|
|
Indian and Global Environment
|
15 mins
|
|
Total
|
150 mins
|
When compared with other national level examinations like CAT, XAT and IIFT, the level of MAT is considered easy to moderate. With 200 questions to be solved in a span of 150 minutes, candidates have less than a minute to devote to each question. Thus, the real challenge here is effective time management. If you follow the above-mentioned suggested time-limit, you will be able to complete the exam in give time and will also have time to review your paper. Making a note of MAT exam pattern, marking scheme, syllabus, exam dates, etc. helps one to prioritize and have a well-planned study schedule.
