NMAT 2026: Exam Dates, Syllabus, Pattern, Registration & Eligibility

Graduate Management Admission Council conducts the NMAT exam within a particular exam timeline. Every year, NMAT exam is usually scheduled to be conducted in the last quarter of a calendar year. Candidates are able to take the exam until December. Candidates can appear for the NMAT exam three times during the testing window. Soon after taking the first exam attempt, candidates can fill the retake registration form to apply for the NMAT retake. However, one can schedule a retake of the NMAT exam 15 days after the first take.

NMAT 2026 exam dates will be revealed later.

NOTE: NMAT exam dates can vary every year. However, the timeline remains the same.

A total of 108 questions appear in NMAT exam. Each section of NMAT exam has 36 questions. All three sections have equal weightage in NMAT exam.

GMAC conducts NMAT with a aspirant-first approach. Candidates can appear for NMAT three times during one exam session. That means, GMAC provides one main attempt and two retake attempts for the NMAT exam. The meaning of retake of the NMAT exam implies that any applicant can attempt the test thrice, including the first attempt. In other words, the process of reappearing for the exam is known as exam retake. Candidates aspiring for a retake attempt have to apply using the NMAT retake window. However, candidates can reappear for the exam, not before 15 days after the first attempt. Similarly, third exam attempt can only be scheduled on a date 15 days after the second attempt for NMAT exam.

Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) conducts NMAT exam with a aspirant first approach. Therefore, GMAC provides several facilities, including the retake attempts, rescheduling window, etc. Unlike other MBA entrance exams, the NMAT exam is held over a period of approximately 90 days. An examinee can appear for the test three times during this window, including the first attempt and two retake attempts. This opportunity is provided to the candidates to improve their score. In the previous session, an additional phase of the exam was conducted from January 11 to 15. During the additional window, candidates who did not appear for all three attempts were allowed to apply for NMAT exam for an improved score.

NMAT registration typically commence in the first week of August every year. Candidates must complete the NMAT registration before the deadline to appear for the exam. Candidates who wish to retake the exam later within the current testing widnow are also required to apply before the last date.

For real-time updates on exam dates of NMAT exam, follow NMAT exam date and schedule.

NMAT exam is conducted for admission to more than 45 b-schools in India. The exam eligibility criteria can vary from the eligibility criteria of a particular institute. Additionally, MBA eligibility conditions for all participating institutes can vary. However, the NMAT exam eligibility remains the same. The space below mentions the NMAT eligibility criteria:

• Candidate must have a bachelor's degree, completed under 10+2+3 or four years of education pattern, irrespective of the stream.
• Aggregate score in the graduation degree level should not be less than 50 per cent the final year of the degree course.
• Candidates waiting for results or are currently in the final year of graduation are eligible to apply for NMAT exam.

Those who are yet to pass the bachelor's degree course get a provisional admission until the graduation mark sheet and certificate of the qualifying examination are submitted at the participating institute.

No. GMAC does not provide any facility for NMAT form correction. Candidates who make errors during the NMAT registration will have to fill the form again.

NMAT by GMAC registration is now open. As per the NMAT examination process in the past exam sessions, GMAC conducts the NMAT exam from within a testing window facilitated until the third week of December. Candidates can appear for the NMAT exam thrice during this window. Candidates have to complete the retake registration to apply for another exam take.

Candidates can take NMAT up to three times during one admission session. Candidates are allowed to register for NMAT and schedule an exam attempt. However, the acceptance of NMAT scores depends on the NMAT participating colleges. All NMAT colleges will have different selection criteria. Some of the NMAT colleges, such as NMIMS will only accept the NMAT score from first exam attempt. Therefore, attempting NMAT exam three times will be of no use if the applican t is desirous of admission to any of the campuses of NMIMS.

No, you cannot join NMIMS without NMAT. Candidates need to appear for the course specific entrance exams conducted by the University. NMIMS also accepts several national-level entrance tests to admits students for UG, PG and PhD courses. 

Yes, there is an option to review answers in the NMAT exam. Candidates can review as well as make changes in the answers in different sections within the slated sectional time limit. There is no option to move back and forth between sections. If a test taker moves to the next section, they will not be able to make any changes in the previous section. After the candidate submits the responses, NMAT score will appear on the screen. Once the candidate knows the NMAT score, he/she can plan the next attempt for the exam. The retake registration window is open for the candidate immediately after appearing for the NMAT exam.

NMAT exam is conducted by GMAC three times during one MBA admission session. GMAC facilitates the three exam takes within a testing window. The test window for NMAT ranges around 45 days. Once the candidate has a valid score, he/she can compete the retake registration process and schedule any date that is 15 days after the previous attempt.

Candidates can choose to appear for NMAT up to three times on chosen dates within the test window specified by GMAC. Of all the three test scores, best exam score is sent to the NMAT participating colleges, chosen by the applicant while filling the form.

GMAC conducts NMAT with a aspirant-first approach. Candidates can appear for NMAT three times during one exam session. That means, GMAC provides one main attempt and two retake attempts for the NMAT exam. The meaning of retake of the NMAT exam implies that any applicant can attempt the test thrice, including the first attempt. In other words, the process of reappearing for the exam is known as exam retake. Candidates aspiring for a retake attempt have to apply using the NMAT retake window. However, candidates can reappear for the exam, not before 15 days after the first attempt. Similarly, third exam attempt can only be scheduled on a date 15 days after the second attempt for NMAT exam.

Candidates can download the NMAT admit card from the website. NMAT admit card is made available around 7 days before the scheduled exam date inside the login dashboard.

Retake option for the NMAT exam is available in the candidate's existing registration account after the first attempt. The option to retake the test is present in the Retake tab in the dashboard of the candidate account. Candidates have to wait 15 days before retaking the NMAT exam again. It is subject to payment of the application fee. Candidates can retake the NMAT exam twice during the test window. That brings total attempts in one exam session to three. To apply for each attempt, candidates have to pay the application cum exam fee. Besides applying for retake, candidates who wish to take only one attempt can also do so. In such cases, the available score will be sent to the selected colleges.

Yes. GMAC issues the NMAT admit card as soon as the candidates completes the scheduling process. Candidates are able to choose the NMAT reschedule option at least 72 hours before the exam date. Hence, the option to change the exam date is available after the issuance of the admit card. However, with only 72 hours left for the exam, GMAC will not allow the candidates to access the rescheduling window.

Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) releases the NMAT scores immediately after the exam has been submitted. However, the scorecard is not downloadable immediately after the submission of responses. Candidates can download the NMAT scorecard within 48 hours of the test date. The scorecard can be downloaded and kept for future references while applying at different participating institutes. GMAC will share best of three exam scores within the NMAT participating institutes selected by the candidate while applying for the exam.

Candidates who take the NMAT exam get an email regarding the release of the scorecard. The scorecard is to be downloaded for future references at the time of admission. Graduate Management Admission Council, the conducting body of NMAT, will intimate the test takers about the release of the scorecard via an email. Typically, GMAC send an email for the release of official scorecard within 48 hours of the exam delivery. Alternatively, candidates will get the realtime updates on the release of NMAT results from shiksha's NMAT result article.

Yes, there is an option to review answers in the NMAT exam. Candidates can review as well as make changes in the answers in different sections within the slated sectional time limit. There is no option to move back and forth between sections. If a test taker moves to the next section, they will not be able to make any changes in the previous section. After the candidate submits the responses, NMAT score will appear on the screen. Once the candidate knows the NMAT score, he/she can plan the next attempt for the exam. The retake registration window is open for the candidate immediately after appearing for the NMAT exam.

Graduate Management Admission Council releases the NMAT scorecard online on the official exam website. Candidates need to access the NMAT scorecard from the login dashboard which was used while filling the online application form. The official NMAT scorecard is downloadable within 48 hours of taking the exam. The login credentials required to download the NMAT score card include:

- Email ID
- Password (generated at the time of registration)

In addition to the login credentials mentioned above, candidated may have to enter the captcha code as displayed on the login window.

Candidates appearing for the NMAT exam will come across the unofficial scorecard immediately after submitting the test responses on the exam day. The score report for NMAT appears on the screen on submission of the responses. Candidates will recieve the NMAT scorecard with the sectional and overall scaled scores within 48 hours of appearing for the NMAT exam. However, the issuance of official scorecard for NMAT can be delayed subject to any test delivery incidences or audit of online exams. The issuance of the official NMAT scorecard will not take more than 5 to 7 working days.

NMAT official scorecard will be considered for admission to NMAT participating colleges.

The NMAT scores obtained by a medical school applicant at any given examination year are deemed sufficient and valid as basis for evaluating applicants for admission to a college of medicine. NMAT by GMAC allows you to self schedule the preferred NMAT by GMAC exam date to appear in NMAT exam. NMAT by GMAC exam offers three chances of taking the test including two retakes to improve your score. This gives students opportunity to do their best. NMAT is an important national level MBA entrance test leading to MBA Admission in NMIMS Mumbai and other top MBA colleges. GMAC is the exam conducting body for NMAT by GMAC. A score range between 230 to 240 which is around 90 percentile is a good score in NMAT Exam.

NMAT sectional cutoff is the minimum score required in each section of the exam for admission to a particular B-school. NMAT exam has three sections.

Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the conducting body of NMAT exam, do not release the NMAT cutoff scores or percentile. The cutoff scores are released by the NMAT participating institutes at the time of the admission process. For NMAT exam conducted from October 10 to December 19, the MBA admission process at participating b-schools typically start from the month of November. While some b-schools also conduct the NMAT based MBA admission process from the month of February in the subsequent admission cycle.