MAT 2020 Exam Analysis: Test Conducted Smoothly; Questions Moderately Difficult

The All India Management Association (AIMA) concluded the Management Aptitude Test (MAT) exam on 6 December 2020 successfully. The test is conducted for admission to the top B-schools in the country and around 600 colleges participate. The test was conducted smoothly, adhering to all the laid down COVID-19 SOPs and protocols. As per the analysis of many examinees, the questions asked were moderately difficult. Few questions from the data analysis and language comprehension sections were a bit time consuming, but all in all the exam was conducted without any element of surprise.

MAT 2020 Exam Paper Sections and Other Useful Data

Mathematical Skills

The Mathematical skills section covered major questions from topics such as interest, percentages, profit and loss, time and work, among others. These questions were a bit time consuming. Some questions were also asked from topics like ratio and proportion, probability, equations. etc. These questions were moderate in the difficulty level. This section can prove to be a good percentile booster if students are able to score 29-30 marks easily.

Language Comprehension

The section consists of 40 questions from topics like English language, reading paragraphs, antonyms, synonyms, vocabulary, errors, fill in the blanks, jumbled paragraphs, phrases and idioms, among others. The students didn’t find the section particularly tough and were able to complete it well within the given time frame. A score of 27 to 28 is good enough to get a percentile of 90 and above.

Data Analysis and Sufficiency

The maximum questions included in this section were from data interpretation, i.e., pie charts, graphs, charts, line graphs, bar diagrams, data comparison, etc. The trick is to effectively answer the questions in the stipulated time frame. Questions on Data Interpretation (DI) occupied more than 50% space in the section, the rest of the part covered questions on data sufficiency and data comparison. A score of 22 to 23 is good enough to get a 90 and above percentile.

Intelligence and Critical Reasoning

This section comprised of 40 questions based on logical and analytical reasoning plus critical thinking. Some questions were based on statements, cause-effects, some from family relations and others from assumptions and reasons and analogies, among others. Some students found this section a bit lengthy with a moderate to difficult level of difficulty. A good score in this section will be somewhere around 26 to 27 marks.

Indian and Global Environment

AIMA suggests 15 minutes to answer 40 questions from this section, but some students were able to complete it even earlier. Questions were formed on Awards, Government policies, rules, regulations, Budget, GST, CAA, Constitution of India, Appointments, Capitals, Current National and International Events, US Trade Policy, among others. As the questions don’t require much logical reasoning or thinking, the average time to answer a single question is even less than 30 seconds. It was observed that many students left this section for the last as the other sections required more time and effort.

MAT 2020 Exam Pattern

A brief overview of the exam pattern for the MAT 2020 exam is given below:

The Key Issue is to Manage Time Properly

The exam provides two and a half hours to solve 200 questions. Therefore, it becomes mandatory to manage the time properly to not miss out on any important section. Candidates who could not manage time well were seen struggling to maximise their attempts across the sections.