CAT vs NMAT: Which Exam is Better?

The major difference between NMAT and CAT is that the former allows a candidate three attempts while in latter, they can appear only once in a year.

NMAT vs CAT: Exam Pattern

NMAT paper consists of three sections. This year, a big change has been introduced in the NMAT exam pattern. According to the news exam pattern, there will be only 108 questions divided equally among three sections. Total duration of the exam remains the same as 120 minutes. 

Section	No. of Questions	Time
Language Skills	36	28 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation	36	52 minutes
Logical Reasoning	36	40 minutes
Total	108	120 minutes

Check: NMAT exam pattern

CAT

CAT exam consists of three sections and a total of 100 questions. Candidates need to solve the question paper in a duration of 180 minutes. 

Section	No. of Questions	Time
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	34	60 minutes
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	32	60 minutes
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	34	60 minutes
Total	100	180 minutes

Check: CAT exam pattern

NMAT VS CAT: Exam syllabus

NMAT Syllabus

The sections on which NMAT test-takers are assessed are Language Skills, Quantitative Skills, and Logical Reasoning. Few core topics covered under these sections are: 

Language Skills

English Grammar and Usage	Fill the Blanks	Para-Jumbles
Cloze Test	Reading Comprehension	Vocabulary Questions (Synonyms and Antonyms)
Analogies	Verbal Reasoning,	Sentence Correction

Logical Reasoning

Tables	Pie Charts	Bar Graphs
Line Charts	Clocks’ Questions	Caselets
Blood Relations	Syllogisms	Seating Arrangements
Numbers and Letter Series

Quantitative Aptitude  & Data Interpretation

Time and Work	Ratios and Proportions	Number Systems
Simple and Compound Interest	Surds and Indices	Percentages
Number Series	Permutations and Combinations	Mixtures and Alligations
Mensuration	LCM and HCF

Check: NMAT exam syllabus

CAT Syllabus

The sections on which CAT test-takers are assessed are Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). Few core topics covered under these sections are: 

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Fill the Blanks	Cloze Test	English Grammar and Usage
Verbal Reasoning	Reading Comprehension	Vocabulary Questions (Synonyms and Antonyms)
Sentence Correction	Analogies	Para-Jumbles

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

Blood Relations	Seating Arrangements	Syllogisms
Numbers and Letter Series	Tables	Pie Charts
Caselets	Clocks’ Questions	Line Charts
Bar Graphs

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)  

Time and Work	Number Systems	Mixtures and Alligations
Simple and Compound Interest	Ratios and Proportions	Percentages
Permutations and Combinations	LCM and HCF	Mensuration
Surds and Indices	Number Series

Check: CAT exam syllabus

NMAT vs CAT: Marking scheme & Nature of questions

• NMAT

NMAT question paper contains only MCQs. Every correct answer in NMAT attracts one mark and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers. The score card is created based on Scaled Score which is a range between 12 to 120 (sectional) and 36 to 360 (overall). 

• CAT

CAT question paper contains both MCQ as well as non-MCQ questions. Candidates attempting CAT will be awarded three marks each for every correct. There is negative marking in CAT. In case a candidate chooses not to attempt a given question, there will be no deduction of marks. The final score card created based on Scaled Score and Percentile. 

Number of attempts

• NMAT

A candidate can attempt NMAT thrice within the test window of 75-days (October to December) in a particular year.

• CAT

CAT is an annual exam. It is held only once in a year in November.

Difficulty level

• NMAT

The difficulty level of CAT is higher than NMAT. Infact, CAT is considered the toughest MBA entrance exam in India. NMAT on the other hand, is an adaptive exam, i.e. the questions in second/third attempts will be based on your performance in the first attempt meaning, if you solved tough questions correctly in your first attempt, you will get tough questions in the next attempt and if you didn’t perform well in tough questions, you will be given moderate questions in your next attempt. This makes NMAT a more student friendly entrance test than CAT.

• CAT

As mentioned above, CAT is held only once a year, and lakhs of MBA aspirants appear in the exam. Not only this, there are test-takers who attempt CAT for the second or third time. Last years’ 100 percentilers could also be re-appearing for the exam – all this contributes to the exam’s difficulty level. 

• List of colleges accepting CAT score
• List of colleges accepting NMAT score

To conclude, though CAT and NMAT are tough in their own respect, CAT exam is tougher as compared to NMAT. However, since the syllabus of both the exams is more or less the same, if a candidate prepares for CAT, s/he will be able to ace NMAT, too.

Also Read:

• What is the difference between MAT and CAT exam?
• How difficult is IIFT exam as compared to CAT?
• Is XAT tougher than CAT?
• What is the difference between CAT and GMAT?