CAT 2011 Highlights

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) announced the Common Admission Test 2011 (CAT 2011) highlights. Prometric, a provider of market-leading test development and test delivery solutions is IIMs' partner in developing and delivering CAT 2011.

The CAT 2011 Pattern
(Will have only two sections instead of three)

The first section will consist of Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation. Whereas, the second section will focus on Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning. These two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits.

The examination will be 140 minutes. Within each section, candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions which will have an on-screen countdown timer.

Once the time ends for the first section, the students will move to the second and will no longer be able to go back. Although new in the computer-based version of CAT, this format was previously practiced in some of the earlier paper-and-pencil years.

A 15-minute tutorial will be provided before the start of the test, and candidates are advised to go through that carefully before starting the main examination. The total duration will be two hours and 35 minutes including the tutorial.

A practice test to provide candidates with a feel of the timed sections, as well as navigation and functionality of the actual test will be made available in the coming weeks. Once again candidates are advised to go though them carefully to familiarise themselves with the screens, layout, and navigation.

The number of test days has been retained at 20 days within the window from 22 October to 18 November. This will enable the candidates in choosing a proper test day as per their convenience. For differently abled candidates, additional support will be provided as required.

According to Janakiraman Moorthy, Convenor CAT 2011 CAT 2011 will help in identifying the appropriate candidates for various programmes, and examinations will be fair and equitable

IIMs and Prometric have reviewed the operational processes on the continued punctuality of candidates. The check-in procedure this year will start one-and-a-half hours before the scheduled test time, instead of the previous two hours. With this change, candidates are also able to have an earlier start time of 3:15pm for the afternoon session.

Three new cities - Bhilai, Jammu and Dehradun - have been added to the previous 33 test locations. This will help in bringing CAT closer to the northern states of the country. To reduce the difficulties in purchasing CAT vouchers, now candidates will also be able to purchase CAT vouchers from 201 Axis Bank branches, an increase of 30 outlets.

A video on the conversion of CAT to a computer-based test and candidate impressions of this transition will be available on YouTube by the end of this week.

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) were established by the Government of India, starting from the early 1960s as national school of excellence in Management Sciences.

 

Source: Prachi Srivastava (Shiksha Team)
Date: 26^th July, 2011