CMAT (Common Management Admission Test) is a national-level MBA entrance exam conducted by NTA for admission into management programs, MBA or PGDM across India.
Any graduate or final-year student from a recognized university can apply for CMAT 2025. The candidate must be a citizen of India.
Yes, generally CMAT is considered easier than CAT and is ideal for students looking for MBA entrance exam alternatives. Also, some tier 1 colleges accept the CMAT score for MBA/PGDM admissions.
The CMAT exam has 100 questions divided across five sections. Each section has 20 questions.
The overall duration of CMAT exam is 3 hours (180 minutes). There is no sectional duration in the CMAT exam.
Sections in CMAT 2026 are: Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension, General Awareness, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
CMAT exam scoring: Each correct answer earns 4 marks, and 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer.
Total marks in the CMAT exam is 400.
CMAT 2026 is expected to be conducted in January. Exam notification is expected to be released in November 2025 by National Testing Agency (NTA).
The complete syllabus of the CMAT 2026 can be downloaded as a pdf in our 'Free Downloads' section.
No, CMAT does not have sectional time limits; you can manage time across all sections freely in the total duration of 3 hours.
Yes, there is Negative Marking in CMAT. One mark is deducted for every incorrect answers.
All the five sections of the CMAT exam have equal weightage towards the composite scoring.
Innovation and Entreprenurship section in the CMAT exam is an unique section which is not there in any other MBA entrance exams. This section has mulitple choice questions testing: Concepts of Innovation, Innovation Framework, Theories of Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Challenges, Types of Entrepreneurs, Role of the Government in Promoting Entrepreneurship, The legal structure of start-ups, Marketing and growth strategy, Funding of start-ups.
CMAT Language comprehension section mainly tests your grammar skills and some questions for vocabulary.
CMAT 2026 exam registration fee: General category: Male- Rs. 2500/- Female- Rs. 1250/- EWS/ OBC (NCL) SC/ ST/ PWD/ Third Gender: Male- Rs. 1250/- Female- Rs. 1250/-
CMAT exam is a computer based test conducted in the test centers.
In the CMAT exam, the medium of question paper is English only.
CMAT 2026 score is valid only for the current academic session i.e. 2026 admission into management programmes.
https://exams.nta.ac.in/CMAT/
You can apply online at https://cmat.nta.nic.in once registrations open.
Yes, with focused CMAT coaching and daily practice, 3 months can be sufficient.
In the CMAT exam, 250+ out of 400 is considered to be good score.
275+ out of 400 can yeild 99th percentile in the CMAT exam.
Over 1,300 AICTE-approved institutes across India accept CMAT scores for MBA/PGDM admissions. Some of the tier 1 colleges that accept CMAT score are, JBIMS, SIMSREE, Welingkar, K.J. Somaiya, Great Lakes.
