NTA CMAT 2019: Exam Date -January 28; Registration from Nov 1; NTA takes over from AICTE to Conduct CMAT

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 19, 2018
CMAT 2019 exam will be held on January 28, 2019 as against the earlier announced date of January 27 by newly created National Testing Agency (NTA) instead of AICTE which will no longer conduct CMAT or GPAT. Registration for CMAT starts on November 1 and will close on November 30, 2018. There is no change in the CMAT 2019 exam pattern and an official CMAT 2019 Mock test will be released by NTA around November 20
NTA CMAT 2019

CMAT 2019 Exam date is changed to January 28, 2019 from earlier January 27. National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the CMAT 2019 instead of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) which earlier conducted all the CMAT exams till 2018. CMAT is now known as NTA-CMAT instead of AICTE-CMAT. From 2019 onwards, NTA will conduct the CMAT exam and as such CMAT 2019 is the first CMAT exam conducted by NTA. 

CMAT 2019 Registration Date
CMAT 2019 registration starts on November 1, 2018 and will close on November 30, as announced by NTA. An official Mock Test for CMAT 2019 will also be released around November 20 to familiarize the test takers about the first NTA-CMAT 2019 exam pattern.

CMAT 2019: Exam Schedule
NTA has announced the CMAT 2019 Exam schedule to enable the CMAT aspirants to plan and proceed with their test taking plans. Read More about CMAT 2019

CMAT 2019 Exam Activity
Dates Announced by NTA
CMAT 2019 Registration: Start & End Date
November 1 to 30, 2018
CMAT 2019 Trial Test (Official CMAT Mock) Release
November 20, 2018
CMAT 2019 Admit Card Date
January 7, 2019
CMAT 2019 Exam Date
January 28, 2019
CMAT 2019 Result
February 10, 2019

CMAT 2019 Exam pattern : No Change
Although there is a change in the test taking agency from AICTE to NTA, there is no change announced by NTA in the CMAT 2019 exam pattern, mode or difficulty level nor the test components are changed. The exam remains on the same pattern  as online exam for admission to AICTE approved MBA/ PGDM courses 2019-21 batch. It is expected that there could be content based changes in CMAT 2019.

According to NTA, following are the key components of CMAT 2019 exam pattern:

Type of Questions
Number of questions
Maximum marks
Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation
25
100
Logical Reasoning
25
100
Language Comprehension
25
100
General Awareness
25
100
  • Duration of test is 180 minutes (3 hours).
  • There shall be negative marking for wrong answers, for each wrong answer 1 mark shall be deducted .
  • A Trial test will be available from November 20, 2018 onwards for the candidates to have a feel of the online test and navigation functionality. Candidates are advised to go through them carefully to familiarize themselves with the screens, layout, and navigation.
  • No breaks will be given during the test.

NTA Establishes CMAT Test Training Centres
NTA has established a network of test practice centres for students of rural areas so that everyone will have an opportunity to practice before the exam. The identified Schools/engineering colleges with computer centres are kept open on Saturday / Sunday starting from the last week of August. Any student can use the facility free of charge.

In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, NTA has located the centres at sub-district / district level and as far as possible undertakes hands-on training to the students to take the computer based tests. The candidates at these centres are able to understand about the navigation tools, how to mark and unmark the answers on the computer screen, how to improve the test taking speed in computer based test format and about other features. 

AICTE, UGC, CBSE: Relieved of Test Taking Responsibility
In a major change to bring uniformity and transparency in conduct of national level entrance exams for higher education on behalf of various agencies functioning under Ministry of HRD, Government of India, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved creation of National Testing Agency (NTA) as a Society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, and as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

Now, AICTE, UGC or CBSE who conducted various entrance exams like CMAT, GPAT, UGC-NET, IIT-JEE, NEET for Medical Education among others, will not be burdened with the responsibility of conducting the entrance exams for admission to higher education courses. Effective from 2019, all such exams will be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).

JBIMS, SIMSREE Accepting CMAT Score
CMAT exam scores are accepted for MBA admission in almost all the MBA/PGDM colleges offering AICTE approved programmes including the 325 MBA colleges in Maharashtra where admission process is still open. Some of the top MBA colleges accepting CMAT scores include JBIMS Mumbai, SIMSREE Mumbai, K J Somaiya Mumbai, PUMBA Pune, GIM Goa, Great Lakes Chennai among others.

CMAT: Remains Yearly test – Others get Bi-Annual Status
NTA has announced that CMAT, GPAT will be the yearly exams as against JEE and NEET which will be conducted twice a year.

It may be noted that till 2015 CMAT also offered the opportunity to improve your score as it used to be conducted twice a year – in September and in February. However, since 2016 the exam has turned into a yearly event.

Need for NTA
On the pattern of advanced countries, a specialized body in India National Testing Agency (NTA)  has been set up in pursuance of the Finance Minister’s Budget speech  2017-18. According to the Government, establishment of NTA will benefit about 40 lakh students appearing in various entrance examinations. It will relieve CBSE, AICTE and other agencies from responsibility of conducting these entrance examinations, and also bring in high reliability, standardized difficulty level for assessing the aptitude, intelligence and problem solving abilities of the students.

From this year, the NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the AICTE as CMAT, GPAT; CBSE such as JEE Main for B.Tech and B.Arch courses, NEET UG for MBBS / BDS courses, National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) and others. Other examinations will be taken up gradually after NTA is fully geared up.

NTA will use highly secured IT software and encryption to ensure delivery of tests just in time. This will ensure no leakages and other malpractices.

All tests would be set in a scientific manner with the test items developed jointly by the subject matter experts and psychometricians. Before developing the question papers, the item writers for the exams will be given feedback on the functioning of the previous years’ items so that they are able to make test items which are more valid and reliable. All the above mentioned examinations will be held in existing number of languages.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CMAT 2019