The Common Management Admission Test, or CMAT, is a national-level entrance CMAT Exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and accepted by all the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved institutions, university departments, and associated colleges.
The exam was first conducted in 2012 by the AICTE and continued with the same organization till 2018, from 2019 the test begins to be organized and conducted by the NTA.
CMAT 2025
The NTA has released the application form dates and other necessary information for the CMAT 2025 exam for the applicants who are willing to take admission in 2025-2026 in management courses at top business schools after their bachelor’s degree.
Important Dates and events
The important dates and events for the Common Management Admission Test 2025 are as follows.
- The online application submission for CMAT 2025 begins from November 14, 2024, to December 13, 2024 (up to 09:50 P.M.)
- The last date for the submission of application fees is 14 December 2024 (up to 11:50 P.M.)
- The correction window of the application form in Particulars in Application starts from 15 December 2024 to 17 December 2024
- Examination city will be announced by the NTA on 17 January 2025
- Applicants can download the admit cards from NTA website 20 January 2025
- The date of examination is 25 January 2025.
Exam Pattern
The CMAT exam is a three-hour (180-minute) entrance examination based on the Computer Based Test (CBT) mode to calculate the candidate’s ability through different sectors such as quantitative technique, logical reasoning, language Comprehension and general awareness are the sections of the exam.
The examination paper will be conducted in English only.
Marking Scheme for the 2025 CMAT Exam.
Each segment of the question paper comprises 20 questions, with 4 marks each.
- For each correct response, the candidate will achieve 4 marks.
- Whereas, for every incorrect answer, one mark will be deducted from the total marks.
- There will be neither a deduction nor an addition mark for an unanswered or unattempt question.
However, following the Answer Key Challenges procedure, if there are many right answers or changes in the key, only those candidates who attempted it properly according to the updated Answer Key will be awarded marks.
- If any of the questions is dropped or missed because of a technical error, candidates will be awarded full marks for the question, whether the applicant attempted the question or not.
Note: The CMAT result is only valid for one year.
Education qualification
The candidate must attain a bachelor’s degree in any discipline. Additionally, candidates appearing for the final year of a bachelor’s degree whose result will be declared before commencement of admission for the academic year can also apply for the CMAT 2025 exam.
Other criteria
- There is no age restriction for appearing in the CMAT entrance exam.
- The candidate must be a citizen of India.
Application fee
The application fee for the exam varies as per the category of the applicants.
For the candidates in the General (UR) category, the application fee is Rs.2500 for males, and for the female candidates, the application fee is Rs.1250.
Moreover, for the Gen-EWS, SC, ST, PwD, and OBC-(NCL) candidates the application fees is categorized
- Male: Rs.1250
- Female: Rs.1250
For the Third gender, the application fee is Rs.1250
The application fee has applicable service or processing charges along with GST depending upon the mode of payment.
- If the applicant pays the application fees through SBI and other banks net banking services, they need to pay an additional charge of Rs.5 along with GST.
- No additional charges for the debit card payments
- Domestic credit cards have a processing fee of 0.80% with GST
- International credit cards have an applicable service charge of 3.50% of Fee+ GST (Minimum Rs.11)
- Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has no processing charges.
Mode of payment: the CMAT application fee is paid through SBI Net Banking, Debit Card, Credit Card and UPI. Candidate should keep the proof of fee paid.
Document Requirements
- The proof of a valid government ID (i.e. Aadhar Number (last 4 digits), the Election Card (EPIC No.), Passport number, or Ration Card Number)
- Provide the bank account number or details for the payment purpose, PAN number or other valid government IDs.
- Scanned passport-size photograph either in JPG or JPEG format (size between 10 KB and 200 KB) either in colour or black & white with 80% face (without mask) visible, including ears against white background.
- Scanned signature in JPG or JPEG clear format in between the size of 4KB to 30KB.
- Certificate for SC, ST and PwD categories.
- Proper and accurate email ID and mobile number for the notification and other communication purposes related to the admission or the change in exam details.
- Candidate should have a valid debit/credit card or Net Banking account for online payment.
How to Apply?
To apply for the CMAT Exam 2025, follow the mentioned details and steps.
- Visit the NTA official website for the Common Management Admission Test application registration. (exams.nta.ac.in/CMAT).
- Create an account with Email-ID and mobile number (pen down the system generated application number)
- Fill out the form with the accurate details without using a prefix (i.e., name, mobile number, parents name, address and many more).
- Mention the education qualification and other necessary details.
- Provide the date of birth as per the Class 10th Board Certificate.
- Attach the scanned signature, passport-size photo, certificates and more.
- Select the preferable city as per the list given by the NTA for the CMAT exam.
- Recheck the application form and the mentioned details.
- Pay the application fees.
Download the successful submission of the application form generated after the final step of the registration process (payment of the application fee). Also take a screenshot of the pop-up notification received after the submission of the form.
Preparation Tips
To achieve an excellent or desired score, applicants should ensure that they are fully prepared for the exam. Here are some of the most common and effective preparation tips for the betterment of results for the CMAT exam.
- Keep an eye on changes and understand the syllabus: Stick to the syllabus pattern provided by the official notification.
- Focus on major topics like reading comprehension, logical reasoning, data interpretation, general awareness and more.
- Prepare yourself with mock test papers available at the official website of the exam. It will help in understanding the difficulty and pattern of the exam and also increase the focus along with time management.
- Check your performance; analyzing the performance from the previous work or practice done will help in monitoring the growth and improvement.
- Revise the topic and practice the key concepts to enhance the speed and understanding.
Disclaimer: Check the official notice at NTA for any other updated information before applying for the exam.
FAQS
Is CMAT Exam easier than CAT?
Yes, considering the subject and competition level of both exams, it is concluded that the CMAT exam is generally easier than the CAT exam due to complex and practical questions focused on concepts, whereas the CMAT Exam Syllabus has clearer question types.
What is the CMAT exam for?
The CMAT exam is for taking admission after their bachelor’s degree in management courses in top business schools
Is CMAT accepted by IIM?
No, the Common Management Admission test scores are not accepted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM); only universities or institutes approved by the AICTE.
Is CMAT twice a year?
Earlier, the CMAT exam was conducted twice a year till 2015. Now, the AICTE decided to conduct the exam once a year.
Is CMAT compulsory for MBA?
Some of the major universities require the CMAT exam scores as per their selection process for considering the application of the candidate.
