The NMAT is a management entrance test administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). In its expanded form, NMAT is the NMIMS (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies) Management Aptitude Test, although based on NMAT, candidates can get admission in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program offered by some of the top Business Schools in the country as well as abroad.
NMAT 2021 Schedule
NMAT 2021 is the entrance exam for the current testing year (July 01, 2021, to June 30, 2022) and the exam is scheduled to be conducted over a 74 day’s window from October 14 to December 27, 2021. Online registrations for the exam are already underway since August 03, 2021, and the last date to register online on mba.com/nmat is November 10, 2021. However, candidates will be able to register during the late registration period from November 11 to 15, 2021. Scheduling for the exam will be conducted from August 03 to November 17, 2021, and rescheduling will be available from August 03 to December 24, 2021.
Applicants of NMAT 2021 are allowed a maximum of 03 attempts to take the test. Registrations for retakes will commence on October 15 and will end on December 24, 2021. Scheduling of the retake exam will also be conducted during the same period from October 15 to December 24, 2021.
NMAT 2021 Retakes
During the current testing year, NMAT 2021 applicants will be allowed only three attempts but only for those who take the test on or before November 24, 2021. Those who take the test from November 25 to December 10, 2021, will be allowed to retake the exam in a maximum of two attempts. Similarly, applicants who take the test on or after December 11, 2021, will be allowed to retake the exam in only one more attempt.
Courses Offered through NMAT 2021 & Top B-Schools Accepting NMAT Score
As stated above, the NMAT exam is for admission to MBA and some other management courses at the undergraduate level such as Advanced Management Program in Business Analytics, PGMPW etc. Based on the NMAT score, qualifying candidates can apply for admission to some of the top B-Schools in India and abroad. A list of such B-Schools accepting NMAT 2021 scores is provided below.
| Country | Accepting B-Schools |
| India | NMIMS, ISB, XIM University, ICFAI B-School, ISBR B-School, Shiv Nadar Institute of Management Studies, ITM Business School, GITAM University, SRM University, Amity University, Jindal Global B-School, VIT, UPES, LPU, ISME, iMET Global |
| South Africa | GIBS, MilPark B-School, North-West University, The University of South Africa, University of Cape Town |
| Philippines | Asian Institute of Management, Ateneo Graduate School of Business, School of Business Administration (Arellano University), De La Salle University, St. Paul University, Manila |
| Nigeria | Lagos B-School, Lead City University, Redeemer’s University, Caleb University, Nigeria |
| Morocco | Africa Business School |
NMAT 2021 Exam Details
There are three main sections in the NMAT 2021 question paper viz. Language Skills, Quantitative Skills, and Logical Reasoning. The syllabus is comprised of various indicative topics based on these three main topics. For example, in Language Skills, the key indicative topics include Reading Comprehension, Sentence Completion, Error Detection etc. The syllabus of the Quantitative Skills section includes topics like Arithmetic, Algebra, Data Interpretation, Probability, Number Properties etc. Similarly, the indicative topics of the Logical Reasoning syllabus include Critical Reasoning, Analytical Puzzles, Deductions etc.
In the question paper of NMAT 2021, candidates will find 36 questions from each section leading to a total of 108 questions. Each section will have sectional timing and each candidate will receive a question paper comprising of questions that are randomly selected questions from a questionnaire database. A total of 120 minutes is allowed to attempt all the 108 questions in the exam.
NMAT Past Year Cutoffs
NMAT cut-offs are declared by the participating management schools and candidates have to secure a score, equal to or more than the cut-offs in order to get admission to respective schools. While the cut-offs for the NMAT 2021 will be declared after the exam has been conducted, looking at the past year cut-offs can provide a comprehensive idea to target a minimum score to secure.
During the previous iteration of the exam, for admission to NMIMS, the cut-offs were set at 212 marks. For admission to various courses at the Xavier School of Management, the cut-offs were set at 120 marks. A cut-off mark of 150+ was set by the ISB for last year NMAT admissions. This year, it is expected that a safe score to secure will be more than 230 as the expected cut-off range is 210 to 250 marks.
How to prepare for NMAT 2021 with CAT
As per reports, the level of difficulty of the NMAT exam is easier than that of the Common Admission Test (CAT). It is a common practice of CAT aspirants to also aim for NMAT while preparing for the CAT exam for admission to Graduate Management programs.
One of the first places to start preparations for the NMAT exam is by referring to the NMAT by GMAC Exam Official Guide 2021. Candidates preparing for both the exams are advised to refer extensively to the previous year question papers to know which topics to focus on for each exam. There are subtle differences in the question pattern which must be considered. For example, as per reports, while the CAT question paper on Quantitative Skills is more focused on Geometry & Numbers, the NMAT question paper is more focused on Arithmetic. Knowing what to study for each exam is therefore of significant importance. One must not rely on CAT preparations for NMAT or NMAT preparations for CAT.
Candidates are also advised to build an exhaustive study plan that can account for all the indicative topics of the NMAT syllabus. In this way, one can ensure not to miss out on any important topics for the exam. Furthermore, candidates are also advised to solve mock tests, sample papers and practice as many questionnaires from question banks for the exam as they can get their hands on.
