MAT Paper Analysis 2020 (Available): Check Section-wise MAT Exam Analysis by Experts

Updated On - May 11th, 2020

Anam Shams

Content Curator

MAT 2020 was conducted on February 16 for PBT mode and on Feb 2, 2020 for CBT mode in different time slots across 29 Exam Centers across the nation. This has been the second time around that the CBT Mode of Exam is being conducted before the PBT Mode.

Latest Update: Application form for MAT 2020 May session is available from March 6 to April 26, 2020 for CBT mode and uptill May 10, 2020 for PBT mode. Apply Here

MAT 2020 remained content with similar lines of the previous years’ exam pattern. Without having any surprise element, the February Session came with few difficult questions in Quant, Data Analysis and Language Comprehension Sections. Few quetions related to Critical Reasoning and Intelligence Sections were also found a bit tricky and difficult to comprehend.

MAT 2020 February Session Analysis Highlights

• The February 2020 Paper had 4 Reading Comprehension Passages of 500 words along with 20 Questions in the Language Comprehension segment
• 2 RC Passages were factual while 2 more were based on opinions and depended heavily on hypothetical situations
• Reasoning comprised of almost 18-20 questions related to Statements – Cause & Effect and Family Relations
• Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency - both as an independent segment - had more queries on Pie Charts and Graphs
• Arithmetic had a significant portion of questions of moderate difficulty along with few sections of Verbal, Reasoning and Data Analysis taking some longer time than normal
• An overall raw score of 110 is estimated to earn 90+ percentile Cutoff in MAT test

Mathematical Questions

• Out of the 40 questions within the section, more weightage was offered to Arithmetic based questions.
• Around 15 questions were based on Arithmetic like Interest, Time and Work, Percentages, Partnership, Profit & Loss. The questions were a little lengthy although they were of moderate difficulty.
• Other questions were based on topics like Ratio, Proportion & Variation, Equations, Geometry & Mensuration, Probability, Permutation & Combinations, etc.
• The section can prove to be a booster for the percentile of candidates' who did well in this section.
• A 29-30 marks-score could fetch 90+ percentile in this section.

Data Sufficiency & Data Analysis

• The section contained the maximum amount of questions on Data Interpretation.
• The most common mentions in this section were Graphs, bar diagrams, charts, Pie charts, line graph, data comparison.
• Time proved to be the major hurdle whilst solving these questions with accuracy.
• Questions on Data Interpretation had more than 50% weightage in the section, the rest, covered questions on data sufficiency and comparison.
• A 22-23 marks-score should get you 90 and above percentile.

Intelligence & Critical Reasoning

• This section came with 40 Questions. Most of the questions were on Analytical & Logical Reasoning and very few were present on Critical reasoning.
• 10 Questions were based on Statements-Cause & Effect, 10 were on Family Relations, and others were on Assumptions, Direction, Series, Reasons, Analogies, Incorrect Terms.
• The questions came in the form of individual questions as well as in sets.
• A 26-27 marks-score should lead to a percentile above 90.

Global & Indian Environment

• AIMA mentioned 15 minutes as the suggested time limit for this section. But for the 40 questions present, 10 minutes should have been ideal to attempt all of it.
• Questions were framed on Government policies, Rules, Regulations, Awards, GST, Constitution of India, Capitals, Current National and International Events, Appointments, US Trade Policy.
• Ideal time to attempt one question should not have been more than 30 seconds.
• This section does not anyway count for percentile calculation in MAT exam.
• Aspirants generally skipped or answered very few questions in this section.

For the previous sessions, MAT December 2019, MAT May 2019 and MAT Feb 2019, there were 200 questions to be answered in 150 minutes comprising of five different test areas which are, Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence, and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with 40 questions in each section. A brief about MAT Analysis is given below.

MAT Previous Year Paper Analysis: December 2019

• There were 5 sections with 200 questions divided across MAT 2019 December exam paper.
• All the questions bore equal marks in MAT exam.
• Each and every right answer will be awarded 1 mark credit.
• Every wrong answer will be attracting a penalty of 0.25 mark (¼ negative marking) which is deducted from the collective score awarded for right answers.
• All the questions were in MCQ format presented with 4 options as answers.
• Individual Sectional Time Limit was present not allowing candidates to switch between two random sections.

MAT Paper Analysis: May 2019

AIMA conducted the examination on May 18 in offline and online both mode. As per the analysis, both the PBT and CBT exams had a moderate level of difficulty. But, Data Sufficiency and Verbal were considered the most difficult. There was no surprise element and were conducted on similar lines. The level of difficulty was easy to moderate.

A brief summary of MAT Paper Analysis for May 2019

• The major share of questions was from Arithmetic which was of moderate difficulty level in the Mathematical skills section 
• The test contained four RC Passages (2 fact-based and 2 opinions based) of 500 words followed by 20 Questions in Language Comprehension section 
• Reasoning had 18-20 questions based on Family Relations and Statements – Cause & Effect
• Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency as separate section had more questions on Graphs and Pie charts
• Data Sufficiency had a few difficult questions on Graphs and Pie charts
• Candidates would need higher scores as there would be tough competition in getting admission to a good MBA college.

Check detailed  MAT Exam Pattern

Ideal Attempts for MAT 2019 May

MAT Paper Analysis: February 2019

The offline and online MAT was conducted on 17th February 2019. There were 200 questions in 150 min comprising of five different test areas viz. Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence, and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with 40 questions in each section. The level of difficulty was easy to moderate. 

A comparison between the section-wise difficulty level of MAT 2019 May and MAT 2019 February exam reveals the exam difficulty for each section, more-or-less, remains the same. 

MAT Analysis: February 2019

MAT exam conducted on February 17, 2019 had 200 questions to be attempted in a duration of 150 minutes. The exam as usual divided into 5 sections namely Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment. The score of the last section Indian and Global Environment isn’t accounted for percentile calculation. As per the MAT Exam Pattern, each section had 40 questions each, with one mark per question. 

Ideal Attempts for MAT 2019 February: 

Latest AIMA has extended the date of registration for MAT September 2019  Registration Open

Sectional Analysis for MAT Previous Years Papers

The Paper-Based and Computer-Based exam was conducted on February 17, 2019. The level of difficulty was easy to moderate. However, the exam had some of the difficult questions in the Language Comprehension section. A few questions in Intelligence and Critical Reasoning section were also found a bit tricky. Below is given a detailed MAT previous year analysis. 

Both Paper-Based and computer-Based May MAT exams were of moderate difficulty level. Below is given a May vs February analysis for each section. This MAT analysis will help you to have an idea about the type of questions being asked and their corresponding weightage:

Language Comprehension: MAT Analysis 2019

There were 40 questions in the section. Except for a few questions the section had moderate difficulty level and could be answered in time. A score of 27-28 marks could lead to 90 percentile in the Language Comprehension section.

Mathematical Skills: MAT Analysis 2019

The questions were of moderate difficulty level. The questions were a little time consuming although were moderate. The section could prove to be a percentile booster for the candidates who did this section well. A score of 29-30 marks could earn 90+ percentile in this section.

• In this section, maximum weightage was awarded to Arithmetic based questions.
• Around 15 questions were based on Arithmetic like Interest, Percentages, Time and Work, Profit, Loss, Partnership.
• Other questions were based on topics like Equations, Ratio, Proportion & Variation, Geometry & Mensuration, Permutation and Combinations, Probability etc.

Data Analysis and Sufficiency: MAT 2019 Analysis

• This section had maximum questions on Data Interpretation
• More prominent in this section were Graphs, Pie charts, bar diagrams, charts, line graph, data comparison
• Conclusion: Time remained the major hurdle to solve these questions with speed and accuracy. Questions on Data Interpretation (DI) occupied more than 50% space in the section, rest of the part covered questions on data sufficiency and data comparison
• Ideal Attempt: A score of 22-23 marks is expected to get 90 and above percentile

Intelligence and Critical reasoning: MAT 2019 Analysis

• There were more questions on Analytical and Logical reasoning and fewer questions were there on Critical reasoning
• 10 Questions were based on Family Relation, 10 on Statements-Cause & Effect, and others were Statement –Assumptions, Reasons, analogies, direction, series, Incorrect Terms.
• The questions were formed in sets as well as individual questions
• Conclusion: As compared to other sections, it was a little lengthy with a moderate level of difficulty
• Ideal Attempt: A score of 26-27 marks may lead to a percentile above 90 in this section.

Indian and Global Environment: MAT 2019 Analysis

• As per AIMA, the time limit to answer the 40 questions in this section was 15 minutes but 10 minutes were enough to attempt this section
• Questions were formed on Awards, Government policies, rules, regulations, GST, Constitution of India, Appointments, Capitals, Current National and International Events, US Trade Policy.
• No re-thinking or recalling was required for what you do not know or are confused about it.
• Ideal time to attempt one question was less than 30 seconds
• Conclusion: This section is not counted for percentile calculation in MAT exam. Many Candidates skipped or answered very few questions in this section to save time for other sections

Marking Scheme for MAT 2019

The consolidated score is evaluated based on four sections, only. Indian and Global Environment (GK) is not part of the consolidated score. Hence, the scoring is done out of a maximum possible score of 160 marks (+1 mark for 160 questions). However, the scorecard (by AIMA) does not give the net marks. It gives the scaled score and section-wise percentile. It also gives the overall composite score and the overall percentile.

• MAT scorecard will contain 6 scores. For each of the 6 scores, a percentile score will also be provided. 
• The exam conducting authority awards marks/scores keeping the Indian and Global Environment section out from percentile calculation.
• Therefore, the marks are awarded out of 160 marks and accordingly the aspirants will get their merit position for admission.
• A raw mark of 70+ is expected to award the percentile of 80+ and the raw score of 100 marks can award you the percentile of 94.

Main purpose of the exam analysis is to make the candidates familiar with the MAT exam pattern. This analysis is also aimed at ascertaining the topic-wise weightage of every section in the MAT exam.

MAT Previous Year Analysis: MAT 2018

MAT exam is conducted four times a year. Here’s a brief summary of the section-wise difficulty of MAT 2018:

MAT December 2018

MAT 2018 December Exam for Phase 2 was held on 15th December 2018 – Saturday. To facilitate the exam for a maximum number of aspirants, the test was held in both the modes i.e. Paper Based Test (PBT) and Computer Based Test (CBT) simultaneously. Overall, the MAT 2018 December exam was of moderate difficulty for both the exams.

MAT September 2018

MAT September 2018 was held on September 2, 2018. There were 200 questions comprising five sections viz. Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with 40 questions in each section. The level of difficulty was moderate to difficult.

MAT MAY 2018

MAT May 2018 was held on May 6, 2018. There were 200 questions comprising five sections viz. Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Indian and Global Environment with 40 questions in each section. The level of difficulty was moderate to difficult.

MAT February 2018

The consolidated score is evaluated by taking only four areas into account. Indian and Global Environment (GK) is not part of the consolidated score. Hence, the scoring is done out of a maximum possible score of 160 marks(@1 mark for 160 qs). However, the scorecard(by AIMA) doesn't give the net marks. It gives the scaled score and the percentile in each and every section. It also gives the overall composite score and the overall percentile. A net score in excess of 60 marks (excluding the score in GK) is considered to be a very good score.

Section-wise MAT 2018 Exam Analysis

MAT Mathematical Skills

Geometry & Arithmetic dominated this section of the exam. This section was dominated by arithmetic questions which were around 18 and followed by geometry & mensuration, permutation & probability, etc. The questions were a little time consuming and tricky.

These questions are a moderately difficult level

MAT Language Comprehension

RCs this time was tricky in terms of understanding and questions were also tricky. After RCs, the other dominated section was of vocabulary. There were nine questions based on vocabulary and they included sentence-completion, idioms, and one-word substitutions. Questions in the usage section required a good knowledge of English usage and Vocabulary.

MAT Data Analysis and Sufficiency 

There were tricky questions on data interpretation which were maximum in number and rest of the questions were of Data sufficiency, data analysis & comparison

• 50% of the questions asked in this section are based on data interpretation and others are based on data comparison and data sufficiency
• Questions are based on the prominent pictorial representation like the chart, line graph, graphs, bar diagrams, and pie charts
• Time is based on the candidate's accuracy and speed.
• Maximum marks: 22-23 (to lead more than 90 percent in this section).

MAT Intelligence and Critical Thinking

This section was dominated by Analytical & Logical Reasoning. This section also had a few tricky questions based on verbal reasoning.

• Most of the questions are asked in this section based on logical and analytical reasoning and only a few questions asked about the critical reasoning
• 10 questions – Family Relations
• 10 questions – Statements Cause and Effects
• Other questions are based on topics like analogies, reasons, direction, assumptions, incorrect times, and series
• Moderate difficulty level
• Maximum marks: 26-27 (to lead above 90 percentage)

MAT Indian and Global Environment  

• 40 questions asked in this section
• Based on current affairs, conventional GK, international affairs, and business and economics questions will be asked
• This section marks will not be counted for the MAT Scoring Methodology for computing percentile score.

MAT 2017 Paper Analysis

Candidates who appeared in MAT 2017 (May) should expect lower cut off in top MBA colleges. The exam had tricky Data Analysis and Sufficiency questions, whereas there were time-consuming questions based on Intelligence and Critical Reasoning sections. The exam was held on May 7 from 10 AM to 12.30 PM. There was no surprise element in the test. It is expected that MAT Result may report high percentile.

Management Aptitude Test (MAT) 2017 May exam was taken by an approximate number of 20,000 candidates. Test pattern remained more or less at the same difficulty level as was in MAT 2017 February exam.

Here is MAT question paper analysis and bifurcation in tabular form for each section described precisely:

Language and Comprehension

The questions in this section were based on vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension, etc. Number of questions asked from each topic has been tabulated below:

Intelligence and Critical Reasoning

Intelligence and critical reasoning questions tested the candidates’ ability to exercise their reasoning and logical abilities. The division of questions was as follows for each topic:

Mathematical Skills

Mathematical Skills section was purely based on the topics related to numbers and shapes. Candidates had to display their ability to deal with numbers, shapes and other mathematical concepts:

MAT 2020 Paper Analysis FAQs

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College