Pursuing an MBA in India is a significant step toward a rewarding career in management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With a wide range of prestigious business schools across the country, the journey begins with cracking the right entrance exam.

CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, and other entrance tests must be aced in order to get into India's best business schools. These demanding exams assess your ability to understand and analyze data, as well as your quantitative, verbal, and logical thinking capabilities. A great score on these tests gives you access to prominent universities and lays the groundwork for a prosperous management career.

In India, there are more than 50 MBA admission exams, some of which are at the state, university, or institute level, and others of which are at the national level. The CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, XAT, ATMA, NMAT, and GMAT are the most often taken national MBA entrance tests. Some of the most prominent state-level MBA entrance exams are KMAT, Karnataka PGCET, TSICET, TANCET, MAH CET, APICET and Kerala KMAT. SNAP, IBSAT, and MICAT are a few of the well-known entrance tests at the university or institute level.

How to Register: Application Process & Exam Fees

CAT exam registration is done from their official website i.e. https://iimcat.ac.in/. The students are required to fill their personal details, academic qualification and the documents have to uploaded in the scanned form. The fees for the examination is ₹2,300 for the General and EWS category and it is ₹1,150 for SC and ST. MAT exam registration is done from their official website https://mat.aima.in/. The students have to pay ₹1.650 per session and they are allowed to appear for up to 5 sessions in a year, paying for every session separately. CMAT exam registration is done from their official website https://cmat.nta.nic.in/. The students have to pay the fees of ₹1,600 for general category and ₹800 for SC/ST.

Key Differences at a glance:

Name of the exam	Full Form	Time frame	Sections	Tentative MBA entrance exam date
CAT	Common Admission Test	two hours	Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Verbal Ability, and Reading Comprehension.	November 30, 2025
XAT	Xavier’s Aptitude Test	three hours	Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, and General Knowledge	January 4, 2026
MAT	Management Admission Test	two and a half hours	Critical thinking and intelligence, data analysis and sufficiency, mathematical skills, language comprehension, and the Indian and global environment.	February, May, September, December
CMAT	Common Management Admission Test	three hour	Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension, General Awareness, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship	Third week of January 2026
GMAT	Graduate Management Aptitude Test	2 hours 15 minutes	Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights	Candidate can choose the exam date
SNAP	Symbiosis National Aptitude Test	60 minutes	General English, Logical Reasoning, and Quant & DI sections	December 7, 14, 21, 2025

 Common Admission Test

CAT admission test is conducted by Indian Institutes of Management (rotates every year). XAT admission test is conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur. GMAT admission test is conducted by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). SNAP admission test is conducted by Symbiosis International University. All these examinations are computer based. MAT admission test is conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA). MAT is Paper-based, computer-based, and remote online test (IBT).

Exam Pattern and Marking Process

CAT exam contains 66 questions, divided into three sections namely: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA) containing 24 questions, 20 questions and 22 questions respectively. XAT exam consists of four sections, out of these one section is optional. The four sections for the examination are Verbal & Logical Ability containing 26 questions, Decision Making containing 21 questions, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation containing 28 questions and General Knowledge (Not for percentile calculation) containing 25 questions. CMAT exam consists of five section, each consists of 20 questions. The five sections are Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension, General Awareness and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The total number of questions in XAT and CMAT is 100 each, but in CAT it is 66 questions. The correct answer in CAT gives 3 marks to the candidate, in XAT it gives 1 marks to the candidate and in CMAT it gives 4 marks to the candidates. there is negative marking in all the three exams.

MBA Entrance Exam Syllabus: Key Topics to Cover

MBA entrance exams syllabus covers the following topics- Quantitative Ability (Maths), Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation, General Knowledge / Current Affairs and Decision Making / Analytical Writing. CAT examination assess the students on the basis of their Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension. MAT exam syllabus covers Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis and Sufficiency and Intelligence and Critical Reasoning. XAT exam syllabus covers the topics related to Verbal and Logical Ability, Decision Making, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, General Knowledge and Essay Writing. CMAT exam syllabus covers four topics- Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness.

Exam Preparation Tips

Foe scoring good in CAT examination, the students should understand the exam pattern thoroughly and must focus on the fundamental concepts in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. They should read newspapers, editorials, and diverse literature to improve vocabulary and comprehension. For MAT examination, the candidates should Know the Multiple Modes and Sessions, Focus on Speed & Basic Concepts and should take Sectional and Full-Length Mock Tests. The students should prepare for GMAT examination by learning Shortcuts and Strategies, practicing multi-source reasoning and analysis writing tasks.

Exam Frequency & Score Validity

CAT, XAT and CMAT exams are only conducted once in a year and the scores of the exams are valid for one year. MAT is conducted four times in a year and the scores of the exam are valid only for one year. GMAT is conducted as and when demanded by the candidates and the scores are valid for five years. For SNAP, the candidates can only give three attempts and it is also conducted once in a year and the validation for the exam is one year.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When is the CAT exam conducted?

The CAT exam for the year of 2025 will be conducted on 30^th November 2025. Every year the registration for the exam starts in the month of august and lasts till the month of September.

2. How often is the MAT exam held?

MAT exam is conducted four times in one year in the months of February, may, September and December. It provides several multiple chances to the students to take the admission in their preferred colleges.

3. Can I choose my own exam date for GMAT?

Yes, you can choose your own exam date for GMAT as per your convenience and availability. The students can even give GMAT exam from their homes or from the test centres as per their preference.

4. What skills do MBA entrance exams test?

MBA entrance exam tests the students not only in specific business knowledge but also in logical application of math, analytical thinking, awareness of the world, interpersonal skills, leadership potential and many more.

5. What is the duration of MBA entrance exams?

The duration of the exam is different for every specific entrances. The students have to stay updated with official websites of these exams.

6. Is it necessary to appear for multiple entrance exams?

No, it is not necessary to appear for multiple entrance exams. But it is advised to appear for multiple exams so that the students get more chance of admission and get access to more institutes.