The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have announced the highlights of the Common Admission Test 2011 (CAT 2011).
The CAT 2011 will have only two sections instead of three. The first section will focus on quantitative ability and data interpretation; the second on verbal ability and logical reasoning.
These two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits. The examination will be 140 minutes.
Candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions within each section, which will have an on-screen countdown timer.
Once the time ends for the first section, they 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.
The number of test days has been retained at 20 days within the window from October 22 to November 18. This would provide candidates with the flexibility of choosing a suitable test day based on their convenience.For candidates who are disabled, additional support will be provided as required.
“We are confident that CAT 2011 is going to help us in identifying the appropriate candidates for our programmes, and that the examination will be fair and equitable,” said Prof Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 convenor.
“Considerable effort has been invested in maintaining similar level of difficulty across papers. A small number of statistically and psychometrically validated questions are randomly inserted in each question paper as equating blocks. These will be used for assessing post-test equality across the days.”
IIMs and Prometric have reviewed the operational processes and contingent 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, we are also able to have an earlier start time of 3:15 pm for the afternoon session.
To offer convenience to more candidates, 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, candidates can now 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. More details will be available on the website www.catiim.in by August 8.
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