ATMA Exam 2025: Tips to Score Well in Verbal Skills Section

Registration - 4 Feb '25

Assistant Manager- Content

Updated on Jan 22, 2025 18:25 IST

Preparing for the ATMA 2025 exam Verbal ability section, and finding it difficult how to strategies preparation a strategy? Worry no more! Read the article below to know the ATMA verbal ability important topics and tips to prepare for the section. ATMA 2025 is scheduled to be held on February 16, 2025.

Verbal Ability Preparation for ATMA Exam: The Verbal Ability section of the ATMA exam is usually easy to moderate in terms of difficulty level. If someone has prepared for the VARC section of other MBA entrance exams such as CAT, CMAT or XAT, then, they may find this section very easy. To prepare for the Verbal Ability section, candidates must have an in-depth knowledge of the ATMA exam syllabus and a strong hold on grammar and vocabulary.

The Aims Test for Management Admissions or ATMA exam has six sections, i.e. Verbal Skills (I and II), Analytical Reasoning (I and II) and Quantitative Skills (I and II). The aspirants generally find the Verbal Skills section more easy than the other two sections, as this section does not require difficult formulas or theorems. The only way to score well in this section is through consistent practice. Let’s have a look at the marking scheme, the pattern of questions in the past years to have a better understanding of this section of the ATMA 2025 exam. The ATMA exam is scheduled to be conducted on February 16, 2025. So, candidates must start their ATMA preparations by November. Read the article below to know a few tips on how to score well in the Verbal Skills section.

ATMA 2025 Verbal Skills Section: An Overview

The Verbal Skills section of ATMA 2025 question paper, analyses the candidates based on their command over grammar, vocabulary, and language comprehension. The difficulty level of the section is moderate. Candidates who are good in English and comprehension, find it relatively easier to prepare for Verbal Skills section. Mentioned below are some important points to be remembered for the Verbal Skills section:

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There will be two sections for Verbal Skills
Each section will have 30 questions carrying one mark each
An attempt of 22-25 questions with accuracy will be considered good
25 marks will be deducted for incorrect answer
All the questions will be multiple-choice based

ATMA 2025: Verbal Skills Syllabus

Refer to the table below to know some of the important topics for the Verbal Skills section.

Important topics for the Verbal Skills section
Grammar	Vocabulary
Reading Comprehension	Sentence Completion
Para Jumbles	Word Meaning
Spotting errors	Tenses
Clauses	Idioms and Phrases
Sentence Completion	Analogy

Also Read:

ATMA 2025 exam pattern

How to prepare for the Analytical Reasoning section

Best Books for Verbal Skills Section of ATMA 2025

Refer to the table below to know the best books to read for ATMA 2025.

Book name	Author/ Publisher
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT	Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
High School English Grammar and Composition Key	Wren and Martin
The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning	Nishit K. Sinha
Word Power Made Easy	Norman Lewis
Mastering for Verbal Ability for CAT	Arihant Publications
Verbal Ability & Comprehension for MBA Exams	Disha Publications
30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary	Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis

Also Read: More on best books to read for ATMA 2025 preparation

Q: Can I prepare for ATMA exam in one month?

Preparing for the ATMA in one month requires a structured plan. In the first two weeks, understand the exam pattern, syllabus, and identify weaknesses through a diagnostic test. In the third week, focus on quantitative, verbal, and analytical reasoning skills. Strengthen basic concepts and practice time management. Week four is crucial for simulated exam conditions; take full-length mock tests, analyze mistakes, and revise key concepts. Prioritize weak areas and enhance vocabulary. In the last days, ensure relaxation, review test-taking strategies, and maintain a positive mindset. While intensive, this condensed plan can be effective with consistent effort and strategic focus on identified weaknesses. Regular mock tests and targeted revision will be essential for building confidence in the limited timeframe.

Q: Is ATMA exam difficult?

ATMA is a speed-based test which is designed to assess a candidate's analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, and English comprehension. It may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at an advanced level. All you will need is to brush up on the basics and practice the concepts on advance level problems. Students should solve previous years question papers, attempt an ample number of mock tests and be consistent to score well in the ATMA exam. Having said that, the preparation for the ATMA exam requires focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the ATMA exam. ATMA is one of the easiest MBA entrance exams and a good preparation strategy can help you crack the ATMA exam with a good score. Generally, the toughest section of the ATMA question paper is Quantitative Aptitude. But with daily practice and focusing on understanding the fundamentals, this section of the ATMA exam can be handled easily.

Q: What is a good score in ATMA exam?

Candidates appearing for the ATMA exam for admission to MBA programme, must have a good percentile to clear the cutoff of their preferred colleges. The validity of ATMA score is one year and students will be offered admission to colleges accepting ATMA scores through their ATMA result. Each institute releases their individual cutoffs. To gain admission, candidates need to match the cutoff criteria of their preferred institute. The ATMA exam has 180 questions and the total marks are 180. But, the raw scores are then scaled and the final marks are awarded out of 800. Knowing what is a good score in ATMA exam is subjective, however, the current trends suggest that the following will be considered a good score: Very good score- More than 700 Good score- 650-700 Average score- 620- 650 Low score- Below 550 Based on the scores obtained in the ATMA exam, the percentile of the candidates will be calculated.

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How to Prepare for Verbal Skills?

The best way to score well in the Verbal Skills section is through reading the recommended books for the ATMA exam mentioned above. High School English Grammar and Composition Key by Wren and Martin is the best book for preparing for the grammar section.
The most important aspect of Verbal Skills preparation is reading. It is a tried and tested method that can fetch you a good score in the Verbal Skills section. Develop a habit of reading informative books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, articles, etc. Jot down the words that you are unfamiliar with and find their meanings. Try understanding the etymology and the origin. This will help in enriching your vocabulary and improve your reading skills at the same time.
It is important to read critically. One must try to understand the logic behind any piece of writing. Divide a passage into facts, assumptions and conclusions. Rephrase a particular passage into simple words and understand the essence.
The key to success is practice. There is no alternative to it. To ace the section, practice as much as you can. Begin the preparation for Verbal Skills by understanding the fundamentals to gain conceptual clarity.
Solve as many mock tests as possible. Practice and revise with the help of sample papers, previous years’ question papers and mock tests. Once you cover the syllabus, dedicate a few hours daily to revision. This will help in reducing the last-minute panic and prepare you for the actual exam.

Read More:

Q: How can I crack ATMA in 6 months?

ATMA is very much similar to any other entrance exam and can be cracked if time is managed wisely. Here are few tips to crack the examination provided limited numbers of days/months: Set your plan agile and keep buffer time for revision and solving mock test papers. Start with your verbal and quantitative practice in parallel. Six months can make or change the game, time management is very important at every single point of time till the final day and even on the day. Keep positive! Maintain a good balance between your accuracy and solving time. Be focused and calm. For the last month keep all the formulas and tricks handy and revise on a daily basis. Remember not to be emotional while solving or appearing for exam. Manage your time wisely. In short: - Make daily/weekly targets and pen down each - Revise the syllabus as per study plan - Solve previous year questions as per time frame guidelines of actual exam. This will give you a look and feel of actual exam - Manage your time well - Keep calm and stay cool

Q: What is the best way to prepare ATMA at home?

If you have a good study plan, you can study independently at home for the ATMA exam. This exam is conducted around four times a year and is relatively easier than other exams. The following is advice from professionals on how to create an ATMA plan: 1. Using the ATMA syllabus as a guide, make a list of the subjects that the study materials must cover. 2. Plan your study time on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis according to the time available. 3. Analyze previous ATMA tests to note important topics. 4. You can find a mentor to assist you or join any online study group. 5. To enable thorough planning, assign a time limit to each section. 6. Start reading newspaper and magazine editorials to gain a command of the verbal skill section. 7. For the quantitative section, read the basic concepts and formulas from school textbooks. 8. Examine your progress through mock tests on a monthly basis. 9. Keep analyzing and improving your score over time until test day. 10. Set your score to meet the cutoff for the college to which you want to apply.

Q: Which are the most important topics to focus for ATMA preparation?

AIMS conducts the ATMA exam at least three to four times a year. This year, the exam will be conducted thrice in the computer-based test mode. Here are important topics for the exam according to the sections of ATMA question paper. 1. Analytical Reasoning: Every year, this section is considered to be the toughest among the others. This section contains questions mainly from Analytical Reasoning and Critical Reasoning. Some of the important topics of this section include: 1. Syllogisms 2. Critical Reasoning 3. Course of Action 4. Cause and Effect 5. Statement and Conclusion 6. Strong and Weak Arguments 7. Statement and Inference 8. Coding and Decoding 9. Arrangements 10. Data Sufficiency 2. Verbal Skills: Just like other management entrance tests, this section is divided into Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability/English Usage. There are about four to five comprehension passages while the topics of English usage are as follows: 1. Synonyms (word pair) 2. Fill in the blanks 3. Para Formation Questions (PFQs) 4. Idioms 5. Error identification 6. Word Meaning 7. Antonyms 8. Sentence Completion 9. Para Jumbles 10. Grammar 3. Quantitative Skills: This section of the ATMA question paper is also considered tough. However, the overall difficulty level can be considered to be moderate. Some of the important topics of this section include: 1. Percentage 2. Profit and Loss 3. Partnership 4. Simple Interest and Compound Interest 5. Average, Mixture and Alligation 6. Time and Distance 7. Time and Speed 8. Geometry and Mensuration 9. Time and Work 10. Permutation & Combination 11. Probability 12. Statistics 13. Graphs and Pie Chart.

Q: Which are the best MBA (ATMA) colleges?

ATMA Result 2024: List of Colleges Accepting Scores for Admission
School of Management, Manipal University	International School of Management & Research, Pune
ISBR Business School, Bangalore	KIIT School of Management, Odisha
Jagan Institute Of Management Studies, Rohini	Taxila Business School, Jaipur
ASM’s Institute of International Business & Research, Pune	EMPI Business School, Delhi
ICBM School of Business Excellence, Hyderabad	New Delhi Institute of Management, Delhi

Q: What is the ideal time to prepare for ATMA?

Aspirants should start preparing for the ATMA exam at least six months before the test date. ATMA preparation requires planning thus one must start early. They can also join coaching institutes for focused preparation. Starting early will also help you assess that whether you need to join a coaching institute or not. Divide your preparation into three phases - 1. Covering the syllabus 2. Practicing mock tests, sample questions and 3. Revision. The ATMA syllabus includes the following topics: Verbal Skills: Parajumbles, Sentence Completion, Grammar, Comprehension Passages, Synonyms and Antonyms, etc. , Analytical Reasoning: Tables, Graphs, Pie Charts, Blood Relation, Seating Arrangement, Strong and Weak Arguments, and Syllogism Quantitative Skills: Geometry, Algebra Number System Arithmetic, Mensuration etc. You can read the following ATMA books for exam preparation: 1. A New Approach to Reasoning by BS Sijawali 2. Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit K Sinha 3. Multi-Dimensional Reasoning by Mishra Kumar and Dr Lal 4. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis 5. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay 6. High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren & Martin 7. How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma 9. Class 9 and Class 10 NCERT Mathematics books 10. Quantitative Aptitude by R. S Aggarwal.

About the Author

Saumya Jain

Assistant Manager- Content

With over 7 years of editorial experience, Saumya has been a writer at Shiksha for over four years. With a bachelor's degree in English literature from Delhi University, she loves to write. A true Delhiite and her l... Read Full Bio

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