IBSAT Exam Preparation 2025: Top Books You Must Refer To

ICFAI Business School Aptitude Test 2025 ( IBSAT )

DeskCalelnderRegistration - 1 Jul '25 - 19 Dec '25

Shruti
Shruti Garg
Assistant Manager- Editorial
Updated on Nov 6, 2025 13:43 IST

IBSAT 2025 will be held on December 27 and December 28 in online mode. Candidates appearing for the exam must start their preparation. Here are best books to prepare for IBSAT 2025 for Reading Comprehension, Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation & Adequacy and Quantitative Aptitude.

IBSAT Preparation Books

IBSAT Preparation Books

Best Books for IBSAT Preparation: IBSAT 2025 will be held on December 27 and December 28. As per the IBSAT 2025 exam pattern the question paper will comprise 140 multiple-choice questions for one mark each. While mock tests and study materials provided by coaching institutes play an important role, there is no denial of the fact that books are one of the most important resources for preparing for an MBA entrance exam. This article of Shiksha brings to you a list of section-wise books for IBSAT preparation. Candidates can also refer to CAT preparation books to practice for IBSAT exam as the syllabus and subjects are similar. ICFAI Business School has begin IBSAT 2025 application process and the candidates who want to appear for the exam can apply before the due date which is December 19, 2025.

Also Read:

IBSAT mock test

Here is the section-wise list of top books candidates could refer to while preparing for IBSAT 2025:

Table of contents
  • Verbal Ability Preparation Books for IBSAT
  • Reading Comprehension Preparation Books for IBSAT
  • Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation Preparation Books for IBSAT
  • Quantitative Aptitude Preparation Books for IBSAT

Verbal Ability Preparation Books for IBSAT

Verbal Ability (VA) section in IBSAT exam carries 50 questions, the highest among all sections. Therefore, it should be the prime focus of candidates preparing for the exam. To score well in this section, a candidate should go through the syllabus and books recommended by the experts. These include:

Q:   Which is the top course of ICFAI Business School Ahmedabad?
A:

Based on the programme strengths highlighted on NTPC School of Business's website and educational ranking portals, the top course offered at the institute is:

MBA in Power Management

Some key reasons why the MBA in Power Management seems to be their flagship course:

1. Uniquely Specialized: The programme is specially designed for the power and energy sector. This gives graduates an edge in relevant job roles.

2. Industry-Oriented Curriculum: The course is crafted in collaboration with IIM-Calcutta with subjects like power trading, renewable energy management, energy laws etc. directly applicable for the sector.

3. Strong Placements: As per reports, graduates get placed majorly in power, oil and gas companies at leadership posts indicating good ROI.

4. Faculty Pedigree: Faculty is highly qualified with past experience in the power industry to provide the right guidance.

5. Live Projects: Program has live case study projects for practical orientation.

While NTPC SOB also has other courses like Project Management, Business Analytics, Finance - their tailored MBA programme for the power management sector seems to be their most popular course making it officially their flagship offering.

 

Q:   What is the PGPM course of IBS Mumbai?
A:

IBS Mumbai Postgraduate Programme in Management (PGPM) is a two-year course divided into four semesters. The course is offered in a full-time mode. Aspirants seeking admission must meet the minimum eligibility requirements. Moreover, the selection process is entrance-based. Candidates have to appear for IBSAT and secure a good score of admission. However, candidates with a valid score in CAT/XAT/GMAT/NMAT by GMAC with the required minimum score are exempted from IBSAT. Candidates shortlisted based on the exam score are further invited for group discussion and personal interview round. Read here about on Career Scope of PGDM.

Q:   Which courses are offered by IBS Hyderabad?
A:

The modes of ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad course admissions are online and offline. Admission to various undergraduate and postgraduate courses is based on merit, entrance exam scores, and interview rounds. At the undergraduate level, the ICFAI Business School Hyderabad offers three-year BBA or a four-year BBA (Hons) to students. At the postgraduate level, the ICFAI Business School Hyderabad offers two-year MBA programme. IBS Hyderabad also offers full-time PhD courses to students.

IBSAT Syllabus for VA Section

  • Punctuation
  • Incorrect words
  • Arrangement of words
  • English usage
  • Errors in grammar
  • Sentence correction & completion
  • Replace the missing words
  • Para jumble
  • Idioms
  • Cloze test
  • One-word substitution

Best Books for IBSAT Verbal Ability:

Book

Publication/ Author

Objective General English 10,000 questions

R. S. Aggarwal

Word Power Made Easy

Norman Lewis

Mastering the Verbal Ability for CAT

Ajay Singh

Business English and Communication

Clark

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Reading Comprehension Preparation Books for IBSAT

The section carries 30 multiple-choice questions or MCQs and is based on common topics such as:

  • Comprehension (passages)
  • Syllogism
  • Vocabulary
  • Antonyms & Synonyms

Candidates can refer to the below-mentioned books for RC section of IBSAT exam:

Book Name

Author/Publisher

English Reading Comprehension

RPH Editorial

Verbal Reading and Reading Comprehension for CAT

Pearson

Proficiency in Reading Comprehension

Arihant Publications

Effective Comprehension

H. S Bhatia

Also Read:

IBSAT Syllabus 2025

IBSAT Exam Pattern 2025

IBSAT Question Papers and Sample Papers

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Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation Preparation Books for IBSAT

This section carries 30 MCQs based on topics such as:

  • Cause and Effect
  • Assumptions and Conclusion
  • Critical Reasoning
  • Shapes
  • Series
  • Statements and Conclusion
  • Data represented in charts, tables, and graphs.

Candidates should practice with these books for DI & DA preparation:

Book Name

Author/Publisher

Data Analysis & Interpretation, Data Sufficiency

Think Tank of Kiran Prakashan

Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency

Ananta Ashisha

Quantitative Aptitude And Data Interpretation 

Pearsons

Data Analysis and Sufficiency

Arun Sharma

Quantitative Aptitude Preparation Books for IBSAT

The section also carries 30 questions and is based on mathematical skills questions including topics below:

  • Arithmetic
  • Number system
  • Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Ratio & proportion
  • Percentage
  • Profit & loss
  • Mensuration
  • Linear equation
  • Mean, median & mode
  • Arithmetic and geometric progression

To practice these topics and more from Quantitative Aptitude section, candidates should refer to the books below:

Book Name

Author/Publisher

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams

R. S Aggarwal

Quantitative Aptitude & Reasoning

R.V. Praveen

Shortcuts in Quantitative Aptitude

Disha Experts Publication

Rapid Quantitative Aptitude - With Shortcuts & Tricks

Disha Experts

Read More:

Q:   Is there BBA in IBS Hyderabad?
A:

BBA is a three-year course offered by IBS Hyderabad. The duration of BBA is divided into six semesters. The duration of BBA (Hons) is four-years. The programme consists of 44 courses (of which 37 are compulsory, 5 are elective and 2 are of soft skills). For BBA (Hons) degree, aspirants need to complete four-years. Additionally, there are two summer internship programmes, one at the end of the first year and the second at the end of the second year to provide corporate exposure to the students. Candidates after completing Class 12 can apply for IBS Hyderabad BBA course.

Q:   Which electives are offered in the IBS Hyderabad weekend MBA course?
A:

The b-school offers various elective options under different specialisations. Candidates can choose the desired specialisation and the preferred elective. The university reserves the right to revise the offered courses or the course curriculum. Some of the electives along with the specialisations are mentioned below:

Specialisation

Electives

Economics

  • Business, Politics, and Government
  • Rural Development and Panchayati Raj

Marketing

  • B2B Marketing
  • Brand Management
  • Digital Marketing
  • Product Management, etc.

Finance

  • Actuarial Principles
  • Financial Analysis
  • Financial Econometrics
  • Corporate & SME Banking
  • Advanced Topics in FinTech
Q:   What is the syllabus and exam pattern of IBSAT?
A:

Candidates who wish to pursue MBA/ PGPM programme from ICFAI Business School (IBS) need to appear for IBSAT exam. This is held in computer-based mode. IBSAT comprises Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) that are distributed among 4 sections Verbal Ability. Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Sufficiency and Data Interpretation. The total number of questions asked in the exam is 140. Exam is of 120 minutes without negative marking. Find below the section-wise syllabus: 

1. Verbal Ability: The questions are based on sentence correction, fill in the blanks, synonyms, antonyms, grammar, idioms etc. The No. of questions asked in Verbal Ability section is 50.

2. Reading Comprehension: The candidates are required to read the passages and answer the questions based on these passages. No. of question asked is 25.

3. Quantitative Aptitude: Question are from numerical ability and problem-solving skills of the candidates. The questions are based on topics like algebra, LCM, HCF, mensuration, ratio & proportion, geometry, time & speed, statistics, probability, simple & compound interest, permutations & combinations etc.

4. Data Sufficiency & Data Interpretation: The questions are based on pie charts, tables, bar/ line graphs etc. These questions must be answered on the basis of quick calculations. 

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About the Author
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Shruti Garg
Assistant Manager- Editorial
Shruti is a graduate in Education and Literature with expertise in exam preparation, admissions, and higher education content. She creates reliable guides and resources to help students acheive their academic and ca Read Full Bio
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Answered 2 months ago

For admission to ICFAI Business School, candidates must meet the overall cutoff criteria specified for CAT, XAT, GMAT and IBSAT. Based on the cutoff criteria, candidates will be shortlisted for the micro presentation and personal interview rounds. Candidates who are shortlisted through IBSAT scores

...Read more

D

Dhanya Dhyani

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

IBSAT 2025 cutoff is decided based on following:

  • Total number of students appeared for exam
  • Difficulty level of exam
  • Number of seats in course and college

ICFAI Business School release IBSAT cutoff based on above factors. Candidates meeting the cutoff criteria will be shortlisted for the selection round

...Read more

N

Nishtha Kumar

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

ICFAI School of Business specifies the cutoff for the following exam for admission to its MBA/PGPM programs:

  • CAT and XAT: 60 percentile and above
  • GMAT: 500+
  • NMAT by GMAC: 150+

S

Satyendra Kaur

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

Once the IBSAT 2025 results are announced, candidates must appear for the following rounds:

  • Selection briefing
  • Micro presentation
  • Personal interview

The IBSAT 2025 selection rounds will commence in second week of February 2026 at IBS Hyderabad. Candidates with IBSAT/CAT/NMAT/XAT or GMAT scores will be s

...Read more

N

Nishtha Singh

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

IBSAT 2025 scorecard will be issued online to all the test takers. Candidates who will appear for the online exam on December 27 and December 28 can download the result online at general.ibsindia.org. Candidates will not be issued the scorecard offline. To download the IBSAT result 2025, candidates

...Read more

K

Kritika Malhotra

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

IBSAT 2025 result will be announced in last week of December 2025. Candidates who will appear for the exam can check their results online when released. IBSAT 2025 exam will be held on December 27 and December 28 in remote proctored mode. To download the IBSAT scorecrad, candidates must enter their

...Read more

78471350
Shruti Garg

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 months ago

yes, candidates can take IBSAT exam more than once. The IBSAT exam is conducted annually. If candidate is not able to appear for the current session, he/she may apply for the next session examinations. ICFAI has not specified the number of attempts for IBSAT exam.

M

Mamona Shukla

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

Yes, candidates can appear for IBSAT mock test online. However, for better experience and analyse the performance accurately, candidates must take the mock test on desktop or computer. If the candidate is appearing for IBSAT mock test on mobile, he.she must be careful of following things:

  1. Put phone o

...Read more

N

Nishtha Datta

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 months ago

To appear for IBSAT 2025 exam online, candidates must:

  • Login with IBSAT 2025 details shared on registered email ID and SMS
  • Complete online verification process by capturing the photo and showing IBSAT 2025 admit card
  • Read IBSAT exam instructions to appear for exam
  • Start attempting questions online and t

...Read more

N

Nishtha Bhandari

Beginner-Level 5