The IBSAT 2025 exam was a very important entrance test for MBA aspirants. The IBSAT exam is a national-level exam that is conducted every year by the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education. The IBSAT exam is a computer-based test which is conducted in remote proctored mode. There are a total of two dates in which the IBSAT exam is conducted. Talking about the different sections of the IBSAT exam, there are four sections of the IBSAT exam, which are namely Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation, and Quantitative Aptitude. There are different numbers of questions that come in each section, but the total overall number of questions in the IBSAT exam is 140.
There is an overall time duration for the IBSAT exam, which is 120 minutes, but there is no sectional time limit. This indicates that students have full flexibility to move between sections in the IBSAT exam. Students can go back to any section and make changes afterwards. Therefore, it is extremely essential for the students to have good accuracy and speed while solving the IBSAT exam. As a part of the IBSAT pattern, there are multiple-choice questions which indicate that there are four options for each question; students have to solve and choose the most correct answer. In the IBSAT exam, 1 mark is awarded for every correct answer, and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers.
The IBSAT 2025 exam was held on December 27 and 28, 2025. Thousands of management aspirants appeared for IBSAT this year. The exam was conducted in remote proctored online mode, allowing candidates to take the test from home. The purpose of this test is to check the candidate’s proficiency in quantitative aptitude, data interpretation, reading comprehension, and verbal ability. After the exam, candidates were curious to learn about their performance. The results were declared on December 30, 2025.
The difficulty level of IBSAT 2025 was moderate to easy. The difficulty level of IBSAT is moderate and is less than other popular MBA entrances like CAT, XAT, etc. The exam pattern of IBSAT has remained nearly the same every year. The overall difficulty was easy to moderate, with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension being the easiest sections.
IBSAT 2025 Exam Pattern
|
Section
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Number of Questions
|
|
Verbal Ability
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50
|
|
Reading Comprehension
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30
|
|
Quantitative Aptitude
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30
|
|
Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation
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30
|
|
Total
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140
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Section-wise IBSAT 2025 Exam Analysis
The first section of the IBSAT exam, which is Verbal Ability, has the highest number of questions, that is 50. This section was the easiest. The questions usually cover the grammatical and vocabulary topics of the English language. The knowledge of the students regarding the various words and their meanings in the English language is checked. Whether students are able to identify grammatical errors, fill in the blanks, change the order of sentences in para jumbles, synonyms, antonyms, idioms, and one-word substitution. All of these topics are a part of the section.
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Section
|
Difficulty Level
|
Key Topics Covered
|
Good Attempts
|
Top Score Range
|
|
Verbal Ability
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Easy
|
Idioms, Synonyms/Antonyms, Para Jumbles, Error Correction, Fill in Blanks, One-word Substitution
|
30+
|
32-35
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Then the next section is Reading Comprehension which consists of 30 questions. There were four passages, each around 500-600 words. Most questions were factual, some inferential. Good reading speed helped a lot.
|
Section
|
Difficulty Level
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Key Topics Covered
|
Good Attempts
|
Top Score Range
|
|
Reading Comprehension
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Easy
|
4 Passages (Factual & Inferential)
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21+
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23-25
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The Quantitative Aptitude section is composed of moderate questions from arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. There are about 30 questions that range from ratios, proportions, time & work, percentages, probability, speed, distance & time, etc. Students have to be well versed with basic concepts.
|
Section
|
Difficulty Level
|
Key Topics Covered
|
Good Attempts
|
Top Score Range
|
|
Quantitative Aptitude
|
Moderate
|
Ratios, Proportions, Time & Work, Percentages, Probability, Speed-Distance-Time
|
19+
|
22-24
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The last section, which is Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation, consists of around 30 questions that evaluate the students' reasoning and data interpretation abilities. Questions were in graphs, charts, tables, caselets. This section was a little time-consuming. This requires the students to interpret data logically.
|
Section
|
Difficulty Level
|
Key Topics Covered
|
Good Attempts
|
Top Score Range
|
|
Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation
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Moderate to Lengthy
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Graphs, Charts, Tables, Caselets, Data Sufficiency
|
18+
|
20-22
|
Overall Good Attempts and Scores
|
Overall Attempts
|
Expected Performance
|
|
100-105
|
High (Competitive for top campuses)
|
|
90-100
|
Good
|
|
80-90
|
Moderate
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Expected Cutoffs (Estimated Percentile)
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Campus
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Expected Cutoff Range (Percentile)
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|
IBS Hyderabad
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75-80
|
|
IBS Mumbai
|
70-76
|
|
IBS Bengaluru
|
68-75
|
|
IBS Gurgaon
|
65-70
|
|
IBS Pune
|
62-68
|
|
Other Campuses (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Dehradun)
|
55-65
|
These cutoffs depend on the number of applicants and overall performance.
Importance of IBSAT Exam Analysis
There are many aspects of the IBSAT exam analysis that are of importance to the students. When students are looking at the analysis, they're not just trying to figure out the difficulty, but students are also evaluating their own performance. The IBSAT exam preparation will only happen in a good manner when students practise previous papers and mocks. Students can make a strategy of how they want to allocate time in different sections. Having a solid strategy that covers speed and accuracy will work the best for the students. This will help the students to feel confident about their scores.
Conclusion
There are many aspects of the IBSAT 2025 exam that make it student-friendly. The exam has moderate difficulty, no negative marking, and home-based mode. When students have consistent preparation, they perform well in all sections. The IBSAT 2025 exam analysis shows a balanced paper with easy Verbal and RC, moderate Quant and DI. Candidates with good English and basic math skills scored high. The selection process with Micro Presentation and Personal Interview is scheduled for February 2026. IBSAT remains a good option for MBA admission across nine campuses.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Question
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Answer
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How many sections are there in the IBSAT exam?
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There are four sections in total in the IBSAT exam.
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Is there negative marking in IBSAT?
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There is no negative marking in the IBSAT exam.
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What is the total duration of IBSAT?
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The total duration is 120 minutes.
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When were IBSAT 2025 results declared?
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Results were declared on December 30, 2025.
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E-305, Industrial Area, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Punjab 160055, IN
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