IIFT 2020 Exam Analysis by T.I.M.E., CL, IMS: Pattern, Difficulty Level, Likely Cut offs

One of the most sought after MBA entrance exams IIFT 2020 MBA (IB) with 39572 registered candidates has been over at 12 Noon on December 1, 2019 as the first computed based test conducted by National Testing Agency. The exam was conducted in a single session from 10AM to 12 noon.

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Well known preparation centres for IIFT 2020 exam namely T.I.M.E., Career Launcher, IMS, have come up with their comprehensive analysis of IIFT 2020 exam immediately after the exam is over. The overall and sectional analysis for IIFT 2020 with cut off score based on the expected score in the exam are announced by the experts at these top preparation centres.  Besides the IIFT percentile predictor, based on your performance in IIFT 2020 exam, can also be used to know the nearest IIFT 2020 percentile. IIFT 2020 exam analysis reveals that IIFT considers individual sectional cut offs. The experts have predicted the cut off scores for the low and high percentile range.

IIFT Exam Analysis by T.I.M.E

T.I.M.E.4education has found IIFT MBA 2020 admission exam of moderate to high difficulty level. The overall expected cut offs are estimated by TIME around 130 out of 300 marks. Detailed IIFT exam analysis by TIME is shared below:

IIFT 2019 was conducted today (1st Dec 2019) for admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) located in Delhi, Kolkata, and Kakinada (AP). The test was conducted across various centers in the country from 10 AM to 12 Noon in the CBT (computer-based test) format. The duration of the exam was two hours with no sectional time limit. With there being only four sections this year as against six last year, most of the students would have heaved a sigh of relief. While there was no mention of sectional cut-offs in the paper, going by the previous track record of IIFT, we have good reason to believe that there could be sectional cutoffs this year too. The exam interface which was different from that of the mock test shared by NTA involved a lot of horizontal and vertical scrolling which would affect a test taker’s experience. However, it could have been mitigated by just viewing the paper in the question paper mode or by hiding the question palette.

SNAPSHOT OF THE EXAM

There were four sections this year.

A detailed analysis of the sections of the paper is given below:

Section A (Quantitative Reasoning)

The difficulty level of this section was higher as compared to that of last year on account of lengthier and tougher questions. This section had questions from diverse topics, though arithmetic appeared to rule the roost. Test takers would have noticed a huge surge in the number of questions from arithmetic like Percentages, SI-CI, Time & Work, Time & Distance etc. As compared to last year, when there were only five questions from arithmetic (out of 20 questions in the Quant section), this year there were 12 arithmetic questions in the section. This increase came at the cost of algebra which is underrepresented this year. The distribution is as given below:

The section had some really difficult questions from geometry, mensuration, SI-CI (the one on EMIs as well as the one on Mudra loan) and Time & Work. Test takers also felt that apart from being lengthy, quite a few questions in this section also had additional information which was not necessary to answer the question.

There were only about three questions that could be classified as relatively easy – one from Venn Diagrams, one from Clocks (Time & Distance), and one from Numbers. The remaining questions were either moderate or difficult to handle during the test. A good candidate would have been able to attempt around 6-8 questions in QA. The cut-off in this section is expected to be 14-16 marks.

Section B (Reading Comprehension & Verbal Ability)

This section consisted of 16 questions on RCs and 19 on Verbal Ability with a total of 35 questions.

There were four RC passages with four questions each. Most of the questions were inference based or specific detail based. There was only one question on the Title of the passage in the passage about Negotiation and Bargaining Personalities. Following is a brief description:

Passage 1 was fairly lengthy, and the choices were also rather close. Passages 2, 3, and 4 were shorter and reader-friendly. The answers were mostly direct. Test-takers with due diligence would have found the IIFT RC section eminently do-able.

The questions in the Verbal Ability segment were an assorted mix predominantly on vocabulary, with grammar and para jumbles following suit. A test taker with comprehensive command over vocabulary would have attempted all word-based questions successfully.

Vocabulary questions were split into matching words with meanings (1 question), crossword (1 question), analogies (4 questions), and fill-in-the-blanks (2 questions) and one question based on the meaning of a phrase.

Grammar questions were limited to two questions on phrasal verbs, two questions on idioms, and one question on error identification. All could be considered elementary. Choices were not close either.

Of the three parajumble questions, two were moderate and one was tricky.

On the whole, test takers would have found VARC to be the most scoring section.

Section C (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning)

The distribution and level of difficulty of questions in the Data Interpretatiom & Logical Reasoning section are as follows:

The set on food spent/style spent had easier questions and the calculations were also not very rigorous. It should have been attempted without fail. The set based on product purchasing patterns wasn’t straight forward and test-takers would have struggled with the interpretation of the language of the caselet. While a couple of questions seemed do-able, this was a set better left out. The set based on Chennai and Kanpur plants was very heavy on data but once the data was tabulated, it would have been a relatively easy affair. The set on ‘T-shirts’ was a must-do set as it involved simpler calculations and an option-based approach would have saved precious time.

The questions on Circular arrangement & Blood relations were time-consuming and tricky in nature. The questions on Input-output also needed a good amount of concentration. The questions based on the linear arrangement and 12-floor building were relatively easy to solve. The missing number question might have seemed slightly trickier at first glance, however, it was rather pretty straight forward. The case-let on Venn Diagrams was moderately difficult. The overall difficulty level of this section can be classified as moderate-difficult. The cut-off is expected to be around 18 to 20 marks.
 

Section D (General Awareness)

This year the GK section was easier than that of the last few years. Students who avidly read the Newspapers would have been able to handle this section with some ease. The questions were from diverse topics like Personalities, Sports, Brands, Geography, Space science, Awards, Corporate entities, Government Schemes etc. Unlike previous years, the questions were not lengthy in nature. This would have enabled students to attempt the section in 5-10 minutes. Some difficult questions like the one on ‘Afghanistan neighbours’ and ‘Hongkong protests’ would have baffled many students. Historically, the sectional cutoff for this section has been very low however this year there could be a northward movement.
 

The cut-off in this section is expected to be around 6 to 7.5 marks.

Overall

This year, the sectional cut-offs are expected to be as below

The overall cut-offs are expected to be around 130 marks.

Note: These cut-offs are for General category students

IIFT 2020 Exam Analysis by Career Launcher (CL)

With IIFT 2020 going online for the first time, the exam, as expected, became easy. In fact, it was easier than the IIFT paper of the last two years. Overall, the VARC section was easy and the RCs were not as lengthy as it used to be in the paper-based format of the exam.

In LRDI, there was a good contrast as the DI questions were easy while the LR sets were difficult. QA, as always, was a lengthy section and an attempt of 10-12 questions in this section would have been a good attempt.

Quantitative Aptitude

The Quantitative Aptitude section of IIFT 2020 was lengthy as always and your performance in this section depended on how much time you decide to spend on this section. If you gave yourself about 25 minutes for this section then around 10 questions with an 80% accuracy was possible, and if 35 minutes were spent on QA then around 12-13 questions with a similar accuracy were possible.

Good Attempt - 10 - 12 questions

Cutoff ~ 9 - 10 marks

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 

The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section was an easy section this year. The 35 questions in this section comprised 16 questions on RCs and the remaining 19 questions from the various topics of Verbal Ability. 

A good way to attempt the paper would have been to attempt all the 16 questions on RCs. All of these questions should have been solved as they were easy, just like IIFT RC questions usually are. Most of these questions were factual in nature. When it comes to Verbal Ability, around 8 - 10 questions could have been solved easily without many challenges.

The 2 - 3 questions on Grammar were easy to the extent of being sitters. The 2 Fill in the blanks questions and the questions on ParaJumbles were also easy.

Good Attempts - 25+ questions

Cutoff ~ 30 marks

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation

This section in IIFT 2020 was moderate to difficult in terms of the level of difficulty. This section represented a dichotomous nature. While the Data Interpretation questions were extremely easy, the Logical Reasoning questions were extremely difficult.

In Data Interpretation, out of the 4 sets, 3 were easily doable. In Logical Reasoning, the sets on circular arrangement and mirror were slightly tricky and were better left alone. The set on set theory and the missing number were of easy-moderate level of difficulty. The input-output type questions also seemed to be easy. 

If the section has to be seen in terms of the number of attempts then from Logical Reasoning around 4-5 questions and in Data Interpretation around 8 - 9 questions were extremely good attempts. 

This means an overall attempt of about 12 - 14 questions would have been a good attempt.

Good Attempts - 12 - 14 questions

Cutoff ~ 12-14 marks

General Knowledge

The General Knowledge section in IIFT 2020 was as usual. One could have attempted 8 - 10 questions in General Knowledge overall. There were more number of questions from Static GK than there were from Current Affairs.

Good Attempts - 8 - 10 questions

Cutoff ~ 3.5 - 4.5 marks

Overall As of now, it seems that a score of 105-108 would be the cutoff score for IIFT 2020. As we gathered more data on your attempts, our AI-driven prediction engines will be able to give you a more accurate cutoff. 

IIFT 2020 Exam Analysis by IMS Learning

IMS, one of the top preparation institutes for IIFT entrance exam has rated the test as ‘one notch easier as compared to the previous three years.’ The detailed IIFT 2020 exam analysis for MBA (IB) admission by IMS Leaning is shared below;

For the first time, the entrance test for Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was held ONLINE, on December 1, 2019. The test was conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).

There were major changes in the pattern from the previous years’ pattern when the test was conducted on-paper. There were four sections in IIFT-2019, unlike 6 in the previous two years. There was a change in the weight age allotted to questions in the four sections. In terms of level of difficulty, the test was one notch easier as compared to the previous three years.

The test had a total of 110 questions divided over FOUR sections with different weight ages for different sections, as shown below:

* The cut-off shown in the table pertains to the cut-off for general category male students. Going by the trend of IIFT-2018, we expect the cut-off for OBC male candidates at 110-115 marks and that for SC-ST male students at 95-100 marks. Further, going by the trend of IIFT-2018, we expect the cut-off for female students lower by around 6 marks in each category than corresponding cut-offs for male students.

Data Interpretation-Logical Reasoning
Out of the 30 questions in the section, 18 questions were on Data Interpretation and 12 questions were on Logical Reasoning.

Data Interpretation sets in IIFT-2019 were one notch easier than the types of calculation intensive DI sets traditionally asked in IIFT exam. There were five DI sets (4 sets having 4 questions each and one set having 2 questions). The questions asked on DI sets involved mostly simple calculations. There were no very time-consuming questions such as ‘Which of the following is third highest’ etc, which have been traditionally asked in IIFT exam. Similarly the options to questions were also not very close and did not have too many ‘None of these’ or ‘Cannot be determined’ options.

Out of the 12 questions on Logical Reasoning, 11 were spread across four sets and there was one standalone question. LR sets were dominated by questions on arrangements. There was one set on Sequential Output and one set on puzzles.

Overall, the questions on DI were easier than that on LR. Moreover because DI and LR were combined in the same section, ideally students should have aimed at solving majority of DI questions before attempting LR questions.  

The following table shows the break-up of the sets in the section:

Several students have reported similarity of Sequential Output set in this exam with that of a set in IIFT-2018.

An attempt of about 12-14 questions with 80-85% accuracy in 35-40 minutes would be considered a good attempt in this section.

Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability

IIFT 2019 Reading Comprehension and Verbal ability were combined into a single Section. However, the change in the overall pattern did not deviate much from its earlier format with 16 Reading Comprehension Questions and 19 VA Questions. 16 Reading Comprehension questions were based on 4 passages of around 500-600 words each with 4 questions on each passage.

There were no long or difficult passages. The passages were easy to comprehend and interpret. Most of the questions were direct and easy to answer. Since time constraint is severe in IIFT, attempts in RC are often moderate.

Verbal Ability

An attempt of about 16 to 18 questions including RC with 80-85% accuracy in about 35 minutes would be considered a good attempt.

General Awareness
The GA section this year was of Medium difficulty level, compared to the tough GA of last year. The General Awareness section had 20 questions. The section consisted of normal MCQs and matches the column questions (2 column questions) typical of IIFT made up the Section.

Overall the section was not very tough.  There were 6 static GK questions and 14 CA questions.  Questions covered a wide range of areas and gave no special advantage to people who may be experts in a particular area.

Several questions from IMS GK tests for IIFT appeared in the test.

An attempt of about 8 to 10 questions with about 60-70% accuracy in about 7-8 minutes would be considered a good attempt.

Quantitative Ability

This was the toughest section in IIFT-2019. The questions were lengthy and were on difficult side in general. This section was dominated by questions on Arithmetic. Out of 25 questions in the section, 11 were on Arithmetic, followed by 7 on Geometry and 4 on Modern Maths.

IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis by T.I.M.E.

The duration of the exam was 2 hours with no sectional time limit. However, with there being 6 sections this time, VA and RC as separate sections along with LR and DI, students needed to manage their time across sections extremely deftly to ensure that they go past the sectional cutoffs. 

The detailed analysis, key, and the score calculator to estimate the possible scores have been made available on the T.I.M.E. website. The score calculator would especially be useful in knowing about the realistic chances of getting a call from IIFT. We, hence, encourage all the IIFT test-takers to make use of the same. 

SNAPSHOT OF THE EXAM 
There were six sections this year as against four last year. Each of the sections had sectional cut-offs applicable (as was mentioned in the test instructions). Below is the snapshot of various sections ( based on Set - A).

IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis by Career launcher with Cut offs

IIFT 2018 Analysis by Bulls Eye

MBAUniverse.com has summarised the IIFT analysis and predictions by IMS, T.I.M.E, CL, Bulls Eye and bring it to you with the key observation points by experts.

IIFT Exam Analysis by T.I.M.E.
The total number of questions that appeared in IIFT last year were 114 as compared to 123 in 2016. The reduced number of questions, however, was offset by the increase in the number of sections, from 4 to 6.   With there being 6 sections this time, VA and RC as separate sections along with LR and DI, students needed to manage their time across sections extremely deftly to ensure that they go past the sectional cut-offs. 

 Sectional Analysis

Expected cut offs by T.I.M.E
The overall cut-offs are bound to move south to be around 40±2 marks. The sectional cut-offs are expected to be as below

Sectional cut offs

IIFT Exam Analysis by Career Launcher (CL)
This year’s paper was designed to literally test the endurance of the students. Unlike last year, IIFT did not prove to be easy or moderate. The paper was excruciatingly lengthy and some of the questions were agonizingly tricky. Questions in English came from unfamiliar areas. Hence, the overall difficulty level of the paper went a few notches higher. The total number of questions went down to 114.

Sectional Analysis

Expected cut offs by CL
Cut-off for General category students is most likely to be in the range of 38-40 marks. The corresponding figures for NC/OBC and SC/ST/PWD should be around 33-35 and 28-30 marks respectively. The cutoff for ST might go lower if number of applicants are lesser.

Sectional cut offs

IIFT Exam Analysis by IMS
The overall structure of the IIFT 2017 was markedly different from that of 2016. The difficulty level also went much further. IIFT 2017 had SIX sections instead of the four Sections that we found in 2016 and 2015. The total number of questions in the test was 114 which was down from 123 in 2016.

Another surprise was the weightage given to each DI question (0.75 marks) was lower than that for each question in the LR Section (1 mark). IIFT-2017 was, in short, fewer questions, more difficult and a greater number of cut offs to cover!

Like in the previous years, each question had 4 options and carried negative marks of 1/3rd of the allotted marks for each question.

Sectional Analysis

Expected cut offs by IMS
We expect the overall cut-off for the next round of admissions for IIFT-Delhi, IIFT-Kolkata and IIFT-Kakinada to be around 37.5-39.5 marks for General Category of students. For SC/ST/PH category of students, it is expected to be around 30 marks while for OBC (NCL) category of students, it is expected to be around 35.5 marks.

Sectional cut offs

IIFT Exam Analysis by Bulls Eye
This year IIFT has done a few changes in terms of distribution of sections and marks allocation. This year VA, RC, Data & Reasoning were all separate hence taking number of sections to six as compared to four, last year. This year different sets had different sequence of sections.

Sectional Analysis

Expected cut offs by Bulls Eye
To maintain the cutoff, in all the six sections, was really a difficult task and a lot of student will end up in not clearing cutoffs in one or two sections.

Sectional cut offs

The expected overall score at which one can expect a call from IIFT will be around 40+.
MBAUniverse.com research team will be the quickest to bring before you the IIFT 2018 exam analysis, difficulty level, expected cut offs with all the inputs gathered from the test takers and IIFT experts.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIFT Exam