Common Management Admission Test 2026 ( CMAT )
Exam On - 25 Jan '26
CMAT 2025 aspirants have been working hard on various topics for past few months now. As the exam day closes in, it is time to know the common pitfalls to avoid. Steer clear of these pitfalls on CMAT 2025 exam day to score high.
By Mikin Shah
CMAT exam is not too tough to crack. It is conducted after CAT, XAT, SNAP and NMAT, which makes it more manageable as the candidates have already experienced other aptitude tests. However, if one doesn’t pay the right amount of attention, they may face unfavourable situation during the CMAT exam. One may get sweaty palms on seeing difficulty level of the questions. So, the important thing to do is, be confident and calm. Also, be aware of the exam process. As the CMAT 2025 closes in, know how to manage the 3-hours test, what to do and what not to do.
CMAT is a MCQ based test having five sections, every section of CMAT 2025 exam will have 20 questions, which means you need to prepare equally well for all five sections. To get good overall CMAT percentile, you need to solve equal number of questions in every section. Given the exam structure and difficulty level, candidates must solve 2/3rd of the total questions in every section.
The difficulty level of CMAT 2025 exam was overall moderate. Interestingly, the GK questions were not tough as they usually are. Check below section wise CMAT 2025 difficulty level.
CMAT 2025 section | Number of questions | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation | 20 | Easy |
Logical Reasoning | 20 | Easy |
Language Comprehension | 20 | Easy |
General Awareness | 20 | Moderate |
Innovation & Entrepreneurship | 20 | Moderate |
The National Testing Agency or NTA will conduct CMAT 2025 on January 25 2025. The final few days before CMAT exam is the right time to give preparations a final push.
By now, the candidates must have completed the CMAT syllabus, practiced enough number of CMAT mock tests and are comfortably placed viz. the topic revision routine. Right now what is worth paying attention to is knowing the common mistakes that candidates make in CMAT exam and how to avoid them.
15 Dec '25 - 23 Jan '26
21 Jan '26 - 25 Jan '26
6 Oct '25 - 26 Jan '26
26 Jan '26
25 Nov '25 - 29 Jan '26
29 Jan '26
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7 Feb '26
Mikin Shah, MBA expert shared with Shiksha a few common errors made by students in CMAT exam. He listed down eight pitfalls to steer clear of in CMAT exam:
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About the Author
Mikin Shah is the co-founder and director of a popular educational institute which specialises in entrance exams, MBA tuitions and finance courses such as CFA.
Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8
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26 Feb '26 | MAT Feb 2026 PBT admit card |
24 Dec '25 | CAT 2025 result announcement |
8 Dec '25 - 10 Dec '25 | CAT 2025 answer key challenge |
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Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 days ago
GIBS is pretty flexible when it comes to entrance exams. They accept almost all the common management tests — CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, State CET, and even GMAT. In my batch itself, we had students who came through different exams, not just CAT.
Honestly, that's one thing I liked about GIBS — they d
M
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
No, GIM Goa does not accept CMAT scores for its PGDM programs for admissions. It only accepts CAT or XAT exam score. CAT score of previous year is accepted and XAT score of current year is accepted.
J
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
No, CMAT scores are not compulsory for admissions into the MBA course at NSUT. Even CMAT scores are not the first priority of the admission committee to shortlist the students. Because the university considers the scores of CAT/ MAT for selecting the students. If the seats get vacant, then only CMAT
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
CMAT is one of the important examinations for admission to the MBA course at Biyani Group of Colleges. However, as the MBA course at Biyani Group of Colleges is offered with the affiliation of Rajasthan Technical University. Thus, there are chances that the college can accept the relevant scores of
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
CMAT 2026 admit card will be available for download until exam day (January 25). After that, link to download it will be deactivated. Candidates must download CMAT-NTA admit card as soon as it is released and save it.
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 weeks ago
CMAT 2026 admit card will be released 4-5 days before the exam. Since CMAT 2026 is scheduled on January 25, the admit card can be expected to be released by January 20, 2026. NTA has not announced any date for CMAT 2026 hall ticket release, though.
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 3 weeks ago
After the declaration of CMAT result, PIGM Indore will start the selection process. The candidates who shall have passed the CMAT exam will be required to fill the application forms for admission. Aspirants will need to apply on the basis of their score and cut offs fixed by PIGM Indore. If a candid
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
With the release of the CMA June 2025 results, 5,491 candidates completed Intermediate Course of the Institute. Such candidates were marked eligible for the practical training.
R
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a month ago
According to Shiksha, CMAT score is accepted by over 1600 MBA colleges in India. These include, government, government aided and private institutions. So, you can select any college based on its cut offs, ranking, location, fees, placements and infrastructure.
E
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a month ago
There is no provision of result evaluation in CMAT. The scores mentioned on result will be final and cannot be challenged. Candidates can only challenge the provisional answer key which is released before CMAT result.
M
Contributor-Level 6
Since every section of CMAT has 20 questions in total, solving 15 to 18 questions in each section with 80 percent accuracy is considered a good attempt in CMAT, and it can ensure a good percentile in the exam. In the GK section, about 10 to 12 correct attempts will be enough. Out of 100 questions, candidates must try to solve about 70 to 75 questions to achieve a 99 percentile. However, candidates must aim to solve a higher number of questions with maximum accuracy and minimize negative marking. To be able to achieve this target, candidates have to prepare for the CMAT in a disciplined manner. Candidates must set aside about three months to complete the CMAT syllabus, as they have to study five subjects and their numerous topics. If they have appeared for CAT, XAT, and IIFT exams, then they can complete the CMAT syllabus in one month as well. However, it is advised that candidates spend at least three months on CMAT syllabus for complete preparation.