The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Science (IISc.) on Friday announced that they would use common admission test (CAT-2011) as part of the student selection process of their Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and Masters in Management programmes from the academic year 2012-13. The Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) previously used for admission by the IITs and the IISc will be discontinued.

Those having taken this decision are the Indian Institutes of Technology at Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee, and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

A recent review revealed that the relatively young JMET is not too dissimilar from CAT, and that the effort to organise JMET each year seemed enormous in relation to the approximately 40,000 candidates who took the test each year.

“The intersection of candidates who take both CAT and JMET in a single year is quite large. The decision to use CAT for admission into the IITs and IISc will minimise the test preparation and financial burden on candidates,” said Professor L.S. Ganesh, former head of the department of the Management Department, IIT Madras.

“CAT is an ideal fit for IITs as it is a well evolved, established, standardised and widely accepted entrance exam for admission into PG programmes in Management in India. It is also conceived and developed by the IIMs, which serve as the benchmark for Management education in our country and are highly regarded national institutions like the IITs,” he added.

Welcoming this move, Professor Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 convenor, said: “This is a major initiative that brings two premier higher education systems together. We anticipate that this will result in closer tie-ups and collaborative research work that will provide both sets of institutions a competitive edge in the long run.”

20-day window

CAT 2011 will be held over a 20-day window from 22 October to 18 November 2011 across 36 cities. Online registration, opened on 17 August, will be available until 28 September 2011.

Prometric, a provider of market-leading test development and test delivery solutions, is IIMs' partner in developing and delivering CAT 2011.

( Courtesy: The Hindu )