INDORE: Common Admission Test (CAT) is back with changes that may surprise management aspirants. With IIM-A conducting the test from IIM-Indore, CAT-2015 admission committee has added a new section, raised exam duration by 10 minutes and put 60-minute restriction on attempting each section.

The examination is scheduled for November 29.

Questions will be objective and also direct. The exam will be a one-day affair. CAT-2014 had no time restriction on answering a particular section. Examinees could just attempt one section to clear cut-off and work on another to maximize scores. In CAT 2015, candidates will be able to do swift calculation with admission committee providing on-screen calculators. Unlike last year, CAT will have quantitative aptitude (QA), logical reasoning & data interpretation (LR & DI) and verbal ability & reading comprehension (VA & RC) sections. However, relative importance/weightage on topics will stay unchanged.

MBA coaching expert, Ravi Handa said, "This change will have an impact on sectional cut-offs. Students not strong with English language were able to clear the cut-off for Section 2 (LR & VA) by doing just LR questions. That will no longer be possible. In the new pattern, some questions won't be of multiple choice, but of fill-in-the-blank nature. This would clear on October 15 when CAT committee will provide tutorials."

The test will be held in 650 test centres across 136 cities on the same day and in two sessions. Candidates will be given the option to select four test cities in order of preference. So there would be no rush to block slots and sites during registration.

Indore: Common Admission Test (CAT) is back with changes that may surprise management aspirants. With IIM-A conducting the test from IIM-Indore, CAT-2015 admission committee has added a new section, raised exam duration by 10 minutes and put 60-minute restriction on attempting each section. The examination is scheduled for November 29.

Questions will be objective and also direct. The exam will be a one-day affair. CAT-2014 had no time restriction on answering a particular section. Examinees could just attempt one section to clear cut-off and work on another to maximize scores.

In CAT 2015, candidates will be able to do swift calculation with admission committee providing on-screen calculators. Unlike last year, CAT will have quantitative aptitude (QA), logical reasoning & data interpretation (LR & DI) and verbal ability & reading comprehension (VA & RC) sections. However, relative importance/weightage on topics will stay unchanged.

MBA coaching expert, Ravi Handa said, "This change will have an impact on sectional cut-offs. Students not strong with English language were able to clear the cut-off for Section 2 (LR & VA) by doing just LR questions. That will no longer be possible."

In the new pattern, some questions won't be of multiple choice, but of fill-in-the-blank nature. This would clear on October 15 when CAT committee will provide tutorials.

The test will be held in 650 test centres across 136 cities on the same day and in two sessions. Candidates will be given the option to select four test cities in order of preference. So there would be no rush to block slots and sites during registration.

