IIMs announce new pattern for CAT 2011|| CAT 2011 pattern changed !!!!!!!!!!

CAT 2011 will now have only two sections and not three as earlier and the examination time has been extended to 140 minutes.
IIMs and their partner in conducting the online CAT test -- Prometric -- said that the two sections would be: Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning. In the new method the IIMs have clubbed the sections which were divided into three parts in the older method. As per that method the three sections included Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability and Analytical Reasoning and Data Interpretation.

The candidates will also be provided 15 minutes tutorials before the examination starts. Including the tutorials timing, examination will be of two hours and 35 minutes- (140 minutes of exam and 15 minutes of tutorials).

Candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions in each section which will have an on-screen countdown timer. Once the time ends for the first section, they will move to the second and will no longer be able to go back. Although new in the computer-based version of CAT, this format was previously practiced in some of the earlier paper-and-pencil years. Earlier, the three sections had 20 questions each.

“The reason for changing the method is that we aim to get candidates who are good at both -- verbal ability and analysis,” Professor Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 convenor told DNA.

“Considerable effort has been invested in maintaining similar level of difficulty across papers. A small number of statistically and psychometrically validated questions are randomly inserted in each question paper as equating blocks. These will be used for assessing post test equality across the days. Also, as the candidates have a time frame to complete one section, they will be more focused,” said Prof Moorthy.

The number of test days has been retained at 20 within the window -- from 22 October to 18 November 2011. This would provide candidates with the flexibility of choosing a suitable test day based on their convenience.For those candidates who are differently abled, additional support will be provided as required.

Parasharan Chari, academic head at Endeavour Tutorials in the city believes that the CAT module is gradually shifting to that of GMAT. “The change is not going to make much of a difference to students as there is no change in syllabus,” he said.

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