While the dates for CAT and other entrance exams for MBA/PGDM Admission 2021 are yet to be announced, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has released NMAT 2020 Exam dates, schedule and pattern.

NMAT 2020 will remain a centre-based exam, to be held from October 6, 2020 – December 19, 2020 at 57 exam centres in India.

While dates may undergo some change due to COVID 19 pandemic, as of now, NMAT 2020 Registrations will begin from August 1, 2020.

Given the changes, discussed below, NMAT 2020 promises to be a more balanced exam with fewer questions and more time available for each question.

Also, with a much lower weightage to Quantitative Section, this exam will increase its appeal to non-engineers.

NMAT is one of the top national MBA entrance exams that is accepted by NMIMS University Mumbai for its flagship 2 years MBA program.

Many private universities including VIT Vellore, ICFAI University Hyderabad, Shiv Nadar University Greater Noida, UPES Dehradun, LM Thapar University Chandigarh accept NMAT for their flagship MBA program.

NMAT is also accepted by top b-schools like ISB, SPJIMR and XIMB for their specialized programmes. Check list of MBA colleges accepting NMAT

NMAT 2020 Exam: Important Dates

Read more about NMAT 2020 Exam Schedule

NMAT Exam 2020: Important Changes

Following key changes have been introduced in NMAT 2020 exam:

Change in Exam Pattern: Fewer Questions, Balanced Paper

This year NMAT exam pattern has been substantially changed. The exam will have a fewer number of questions as compared to last year. All the questions will be equally divided into three sections with a changed time limit for each section. Following are the key changes in NMAT Exam Pattern 2020 as compared to last year:

NMAT 2020 will feature a lesser number of questions while keeping the exam duration as same.

Sectional Division of Questions in NMAT 2020 Changed

Although NMAT 2020 will have same three sections, the number of questions in each section have been changed.

Changes in Sectional Time Duration

Not only the number of questions in each section is changed but the individual time duration to solve each section has also been changed as under:

Implication of Changes in NMAT 2020 Exam Pattern

• Overall number of questions in NMAT 2020 have been reduced by 12 with the same time duration of 2 hours. It gives more time to the test taker per question to maximise attempts.
• Each section in NMAT 2020 has equal number of 36 questions as against a varying number of questions last year. This change has made NMAT by GMAC 2020 a more balanced exam as compared to last year.
• Weightage to Quantitative Skills section has been reduced to 33% as against 40% last year.
• More proportionate time in QS section is given to solve each question.
• Weightage to Language Skills Section has increased to 33% this year from 26% last year.
• Candidates from Humanities and Commerce backgrounds, who struggle to solve the Quantitative section, will benefit from this change.

Read More NMAT 2020 Exam Pattern

NMAT Registration: Shorter Window

The registration window for NMAT used to be more than 3 months long for earlier NMAT exams. This year the NMAT registration window has been reduced to 2 months period. Following are the key changes in NMAT Registration 2020

Implication of Changes

• The candidates will need to quickly choose their preferred test date and slot, retake date
• Candidates must reschedule their exam date and slot in two months now, instead of earlier three months.
• The three months registration window was perhaps too long. Now the window is more in line with other top MBA entrance tests like CAT and XAT

Scoring Pattern Key Changes

This year NMAT will award scaled score in a range of 36 to 360 overall and 12 to 120 for each section. The score range that used to vary for each section last year has been streamlined. The scaled score pattern – sectional and overall in NMAT 2020 will be as under:

How the Scaled Score will be Calculated?

GMAC, the NMAT exam conducting body has shared the process for calculation of scaled score as below:

• Questions in the NMAT by GMAC exam are selected from the question pool for each examinee based on his or her performance on the questions previously answered
• The questions a candidate receives are targeted at his or her ability level
• A high- scoring candidate will receive more difficult questions than a low- scoring candidate
• The NMAT exam first obtains the candidate’s final ability and will then transform to a scaled score ranging from 12 to 120

NMAT Exam 2020 Result: Aspirant Friendly Changes

Although NMAT 2020 Exam overall result will be declared in the third week of January 2021, you can check your scorecard immediately after taking the exam.

Following are the aspirant friendly changes announced by GMAC in regard to NMAT 2020 result declaration and scorecard download:

• Check Result Immediately after Exam: Test takers will be able to see unofficial scorecard on screen after the test is successfully completed
• Download Scorecard in 48 Hours: Test taker will also receive an email alert within 48 hours post successful test delivery once the official scorecard is available for download from the candidate dashboard
• Final Result with Percentile: The final NMAT 2020 result with scorecard and percentile will be released in the 3^rd week of January 2021.

NMAT 2020 - Exam Fee, Scheduling, Retakes Remains Unchanged

While a lot has changed in NMAT 2020, many procedural things have remained the same as last year.

There is no change in the NMAT Registration Fee which remains Rs.2000/- as was last year.

Candidates have the facility to schedule, reschedule, retake the test at their own convenient date when they are ready to appear in the exam as was available earlier.

The exam continues to allow candidates to choose the section order before they start their test.

The time limit for each of the 3 sections in NMAT by GMAC exam is fixed like that of CAT and candidates should complete each section within the time limit provided.

Like CAT, candidates are not allowed to move between the sections during the NMAT exam.

Before we close, a caveat on NMAT dates. Above NMAT schedule is subject to COVID 19 risks and disruption.

Exam dates and testing mode may undergo changes depending upon the situation and government directives in coming month.