CAT to go global in 2013!

Until now, the Common Admission Test (CAT), conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), was only open to Indian citizens. But from next year, non-resident Indians (NRIs) and people of Indian origin (PIOs) will also be allowed to appear for the exam. So far, the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) was the standard gateway for international students seeking admission to IIMs.

Readying itself to compete with the GMAT, which is accepted by management institutes and business schools worldwide, CAT will now cater to international students as well as foreign business schools from 2013.

Prometric India, the testing partner to conduct computer-based CAT examinations for IIMs, will bear the responsibility to take the entrance exam to the global level.

CAT may also be conducted exclusively for international B-schools in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and West Asia that wish to accept CAT scores for admission. The student bases in these countries share their characteristics with Indian students and hence, B-schools there would like IIMs to extend the scope of CAT to cover them. These international B-School conduct their admissions mostly through GMAT.

Both GMAT and CAT assess the potential of candidates for business courses at graduate level. The difference lies in the fact that GMAT is an adaptive test while CAT is a linear computer-based test. Moreover, GMAT is inclusive in nature and CAT is more exclusive and thrashes out top scorers from their peers.

However, the details about CAT going global are still not finalised. For instance, while GMAT exams can be taken five times a year and GMAT scores are valid for five years, it is still not clear as to how many times will CAT be conducted in an academic year and how long will its scores remain valid.

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