Is MAT tougher than CMAT Exam? Know Major Differences in Pattern & Syllabus

Difficulty level of MAT exam is lower than other MBA entrance exams. The question paper is usually of easy to moderate difficulty level. The exam is now held for 120 minutes. There are now 150 questions in the exam paper. There is no sectional time limit in MAT which allows the candidate to plan a strategy according to their strengths and weaknesses. The score of Indian and Global Environment section is not considered for percentile calculation thus candidates don't have the stress of fifth section. Also, solving 150 questions is not mandatory so candidates can choose to solve only those questions which they know they can solve accurately. Sectional difficulty level of MAT is also lower than other MBA exams. Candidates can attempt the exam multiple times in the same academic year to improve their score. They also have the option to choose the mode of test - CBT, IBT, PBT - which makes it the most student friendly exam. Also, the MAT cut offs for admission are much lower as compared to other entrance exams. 

MAT and CMAT have similar syllabus but the difficulty level is different. Both exams have Quantitative Aptitude Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation, English and General Knowledge. CMAT has an additional section - Innovation and Entrepreneurship which was introduced in 2021. While MAT is an easy exam, CMAT is moderately tough but to say which is better totally depends upon the college a candidate is targeting for MBA Admission. The participating colleges for both exams are different. If a candidate's dream college accepts MAT score, then they appear for MAT but if their dream college accepts CMAT then they should appear for CMAT. The CMAT exam is conducted by the NTA only once in a year but MAT is conducted multiple times in a year. AIMA conducts MAT in February, May, September and December. So, unlike CMAT MAT gives a candidate the choice to appear for the exam when they are well prepared and improve test score in the same academic session. The benefit of CMAT or MAT is that former is accepted by all government and state universities/institutes whereas latter is accepted by mostly private institutes.

Test cities for MAT CBT and MAT PBT are different. So, while selecting an exam mode in the MAT application form, candidates must check the list of cities in which that MAT exam mode is being held or not for that session or exam phase. Check here the MAT test cities: MAT PBT Test Cities: Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi (NCR), Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Ranchi, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam. MAT CBT Test Cities: Amritsar, Bareilly, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi (NCR), Gorakhpur, Hisar, Imphal, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kotak, Madurai, Mangaluru, Nagpur, Pune, Raipur, Rajkot, Rourkela, Shillong, Siliguri, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhilai, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi (NCR), Dharwad, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nanded, Patna, Ranchi, Udaipur, Varanasi and Visakhapatnam.

The CMAT exam is conducted for three hours or 180 minutes. There is no sectional time limit in CMAT unlike in CAT or XAT. No break is given to candidates in between the exam. Extra 30 minutes are granted to PwD candidates for completing the paper. Candidates must manage the three hours in such a way that they get enough time to spend on every section of CMAT exam. Candidates can divide time among all five sections of the CMAT question paper according to their convenience. They must make a time management strategy ahead of the exam so that they are able to solve a good number of questions in each section and reach the sectional cut off. GK is a memory based section and you need to get 8-10 questions correct to get meet the sectional cut off. So attempt it in the end and not spend more than 10 minutes on it.

CA exams are held in over 150 cities across India and in 8 overseas locations – Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Kampala, Kathmandu, Kuwait and Muscat. 

Indian cities where the CA exams are held include Port Blair, Anantapur, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajamahendravaram, Srikakulam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar and Tinsukia, Bilaspur, Durg, Raigarh, Raipur, Rajnandgaon, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mapusa, Margao, Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Gandhinagar, Himatnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Mehsana, Nadiad, Navsari, Palanpur, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat, Surendranagar, Vadodara and Vapi, Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurgaon (Gurugram), Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Narnaul, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat and Yamuna Nagar, Shimla, Jammu, Srinagar, Bokaro Steel City, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Ramgarh and Ranchi, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bellary, Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Gadag, Hassan, Haveri, Hubli, Kalaburgi (Gulbarga), Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mangalore, Mysore, Raichur, Shimoga, Sirsi, Tumakuru, Udupi, Vijayapura, Adoor, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kalpetta, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam (Quilon), Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, Bhopal, Burhanpur, Chhindwara Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Katni, Khandwa, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Rewa, Sagar, Satna and Ujjain, Ahmednagar, Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad, Badlapur, Beed, Bhiwandi, Khamgaon (Buldhana), Chandrapur, Dhule, Gondia, Ichalkaranji, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Nandurbar, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, Palghar, Panvel, Parbhani, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Vasai, Wardha and Yavatmal, Shillong, Balangir, Berhampur (Brahmapur), Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Rourkela and Sambalpur, Puducherry, Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Pathankot, Patiala, Sangrur, Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Beawar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Marwar, Rajsamand, Sikar, Sirohi, Sri Ganganagar and Udaipur, Gangtok, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Hosur, Kancheepuram, Karaikudi, Karur, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Nagercoil, Namakkal, Pudukkottai, Salem, Sivakasi, Theni, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli, Tirupur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Vellore and Villupuram, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Warangal, Agartala, Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Noida, Saharanpur and Varanasi, Dehradun, Haldwani, Haridwar and Kashipur, Asansol, Durgapur, Hooghly, Kharagpur, Kolkata, Raniganj and Siliguri.

Yes, CMAT is much easier that CAT exam. Despite the fact that CMAT and CAT syllabus are same and that CMAT has two more sections than CAT the former is much easier than the latter. The CAT exam is usually of moderate to high difficulty level, whereas the CMAT exam is of easy to moderate difficulty level.

There are key differences between CMAT and CAT which make the former easier. There is no sectional time limit in CMAT so candidates do not face the pressure of completing a given section within certain time limit. In CAT there are 4-5 Reading Comprehension passages which are 500-600 words, and 12-14 question.

In CMAT there is usually, only one Reading Comprehension passage, having 4 questions. The Quantitative Aptitude questions of CMAT are also easier than CAT and so are Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation questions. It is easier to score high percentile in CMAT as the number of applicants is more than one Lacs less in CAT.

Validity of CMAT score is one year in most of the colleges. There are a very few and Tier 3 colleges that may accept CMAT score from previous years. So, if they wish to drop a year, they should appear for the exam again in the next session.

MAT and CMAT both are moderately difficulty exam, but have their own challenges. While, CMAT has one extra section Innovation and Entrepreneurship, MAT has a separate section for Data Interpretation having 30 questions. With focused preparation, you can crack either of the two that you choose.