Over 2 lakh IIM aspirants for first paperless CAT

Test to be conducted at 105 centres in 32 cities, between Nov 28 and Dec 7

The test, which goes paperless from this year, is to be held  between November 28 and December 7. It  will be conducted at 105 centres in 32 cities across the country.

A total of 241,582 students will appear for the exam this year, which is a marginal drop as compared to last year when 246,000 students appeared for CAT. To make the students appearing for the exam abreast of the computer-based format, American agency Prometric, which is conducting the test on behalf of the IIMs, has released a practical guide to CAT.

Available for download on www.catiim.in, the guide serves as a supplement to a YouTube
video that gives the students a demonstration of the computer-based test. While the pattern of the exam — the questions and the weightage of subjects — is to remain unchanged in the new format, the test does away with paperwork.

The practical guide provides a detailed tutorial into a range of things from using the mouse to navigating through the test paper and how to mark or unmark questions for review.
“We are positive this will help mitigate any anxiety faced by the candidates and provide them with a clear picture of what will happen on the actual test day,” said Ramesh Nava, Vice-President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Japan and Africa, Prometric.

The guide also offers some practical tips, to help reduce candidate anxiety,  Nava said.
The guide which comes along with sample papers will allow the students to practise on the computer-based format before actually appearing for the exam, he said.

Students qualifying the test will be eligible for admission into IIMs and a number of leading B-Schools in the country.

There are seven IIMs having about 1,700 seats. The government is set to open six more
IIMs, of which four are expected to start functioning from the coming session.