CMATCommon Management Admission Test

CMAT was created by AICTE in 2012 as a single national admission test for the thousands of AICTE-approved management programmes, and has been conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) since 2019. It is held once a year as a three-hour computer-based test of 100 questions worth 400 marks. Its distinctive element is the Innovation & Entrepreneurship section — introduced as optional in 2021 and made a full compulsory section thereafter — alongside a General Awareness section, both of which reward candidates who read business news systematically; all five sections count towards the merit list.

Difficulty sits between MAT and CAT: the quantitative and reasoning sections are gentler than CAT's, so percentile competition concentrates on speed, accuracy under the -1 negative marking, and the GK sections that pure-aptitude aspirants often neglect. High CMAT percentiles are a well-trodden route into strong Maharashtra institutes (JBIMS via its all-India intake, SIMSREE, PUMBA) and reputable AICTE-approved PGDM schools across the country at far lower entry difficulty than CAT.

CMAT suits three groups especially well: candidates targeting AICTE-approved PGDM colleges outside the CAT-dominated top tier; Maharashtra aspirants pairing it with MAH-MBA-CET; and CAT takers hedging with a second national score in the same season. NTA publishes scorecards with section-wise and overall percentiles, and scores are typically valid for the immediate admission year.