IIFT 2018 MBA (IB) eligibility criteria changed: 50% Min marks applicable this year

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) has changed its eligibility criteria and IIFT 2017 exam registration criteria for admission to MBA (IB) 2018-20 programme. This year IIFT has prescribed minimum 50% marks in graduation to register and apply for admission to MBA (IB) 2018-20 as against the admission criteria announced last year when no such percentage of marks to register and apply for the IIFT entrance exam 2016 was prescribed.

IIFT 2017 entrance exam date has also been changed from traditional 4^th Sunday of November every year to 1^st Sunday of December to avoid clash with CAT 2017 exam date which also will be held on November 26, the 4^th Sunday of November month.  

Important links:

• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade - IIFT Exam 2017
• IIFT 2017 exam syllabus: Prepare accordingly
• IIFT 2017 exam: Exam pattern, eligibility, how to prepare, exam schedule

50% Min marks not prescribed last year
The IIFT 2017 exam notification released on July 25, 2017 and IIFT prospectus for admission to its flagship 2 years MBA (IB) 2018-20 batch have now clarified the eligibility criteria academic requirement as ‘Recognized Bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 years duration in any discipline with 50% marks in Graduation (45% for SC/ST/PWD candidates). Candidate appearing in the final year examination of Graduation can also apply.’

However, the last year eligibility criteria prescribed as per IIFT 2016 exam notification released on July 15, 2016, all the candidates who had following qualifications were eligible

• Recognized Bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 years duration in any discipline.
• Candidate appearing in the final year examination of Graduation can also apply subject to submission of proof of requisite qualification by next year 7^th October 2017.

Accordingly, all candidates with 3 years of recognized bachelor’s degree in any discipline were eligible to apply for the IIFT 2016 exam which was held in paper pencil mode on November 27, 2016 in 20 test cities from 10AM to 12 Noon.

This facility for graduates with less than 50% marks to register and apply for IIFT 2017 exam has been withdrawn by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in 2017 registration and application process.

Since all other national level MBA entrance tests require minimum 50% marks in bachelor’s degree to become eligible to register and apply for the exam, IIFT has also amended its eligibility criteria to register and apply for IIFT 2017 exam.

SNAP, NMAT by GMAC, and AICTE-CMAT also require recognized bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 Years duration obtained with at least 50% marks at the qualifying Examination. CAT 2017, despite asking for 50% marks in graduation, does not insist on minimum 3 years of bachelor’s degree. IIFT entrance exam however, till last year was an exception to this fact but from IIFT 2017 entrance exam, the IIFT exam notification as well as the brochure released for IIFT 2017 exam specifies the requirement of 3 years bachelor’s degree with 50% marks now.

Hidden Age limit in IIFT entrance exam
IIFT 2017 exam according to the notification, can be attempted by the candidates in any age group provided only that they are graduates with 50% marks. A candidate at the age of 70 years can also appear in IIFT 2017 entrance exam.

But there is hidden age limit as most of the Universities till their early 80’s awarded bachelor’s degree of 2 years duration. Since IIFT requires minimum 3 years of bachelor’s degree, and those who did their graduation before late 80’s with 2 years duration can not apply for the entrance exam. Accordingly most of the candidates above 52-54 years of age may not be able to compete for IIFT admission.

Last date for IIFT registration extended to September 15
Registration and application process for IIFT 2017 entrance exam has been extended to September 15 from earlier September 5, 2017.

Registration & Application fee 
The application fee for IIFT 2017 entrance exam is Rs.1550/- for general category candidates. The application fee for SC/ST/PH Candidates  is Rs.775.

According to IIFT  ‘The cost of Prospectus and Application Form is one-time payment of Rs.1,550 which includes application screening and Entrance Test Fee and the candidates are not required to pay any other fee while sending back the filled-in Application Form to IIFT”.

Facility to apply online or offline
IIFT has offered the facility to apply both online as well as off line.  However the last date of submission of completed application forms in either mode will remain the same on September 15, 2017.

How to apply On-line
For online registration to IIFT entrance exam, candidates are required to visit IIFT website and register themselves with their mail id. The online form for IIFT 2017 registration will be available thereat. The form is to be filled in as per the given instructions.

How to apply Off line
IIFT 2017 registration can also be done in off-line mode. The application fee will remain the same Rs.1550/-. The candidates should buy the Prospectus in cash or through demand draft. They need to complete the Application Form and send the same in the envelope provided for the purpose to the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, B-21, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016 so as to reach IIFT on or before the last date.

It is advisable to retain a photocopy of the completed application form and demand draft for future reference.

IIFT Exam Pattern
IIFT MBA (IB) admission 2017 entrance test will be a paper pen based exam with multiple choice objective type written test (in English) consisting of questions covering English Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis.

Exam date Clash with CAT 2017 resolved
Moving forward to avoid the exam date clash with CAT 2017 exam, IIFT has changed its exam date from November 26 to December 3 now.

Accordingly, the issue of exam date clash for IIFT 2017 entrance exam for MBA (IB) 2018-20 and CAT 2017 now stands resolved. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade has changed the IIFT 2017 entrance exam date to Sunday December 3 from earlier November 26 and the last date of registration has been extended to September 15 from earlier September 5, 2017. IIFT has extended the online registration date to make up the loss of time as thousands of candidates have not registered and applied to IIFT entrance exam due to the date clash.

Announcing the new dates, IIFT has shared the changes in Dates, “ Last date to apply online: Friday, 15th September 2017 & Written Examination: Sunday, 3rd December 2017.” With the announcement of new exam date by IIFT, the issue of date clash is over and stands resolved.

IIFT 2017 entrance exam will offer admission opportunity to 360 seats in MBA (International Business) 2018-20 batch at its Delhi and Kolkata campuses. IIFT has also recently launched its Kakinada campus in Andhra Pradesh. Till the permanent Kakinada campus is ready, IIFT will operate from a rented campus. For admission to its management programme, IIFT doesn’t accept any other score than the score of its own entrance test for domestic candidates. For NRIs and foreign nationals GMAT scores are accepted.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIFT 2017 exam

Related links:

IIFT 2017: Entrance exam date changed to December 3; no clash now with CAT 2017 exam date

IIFT 2017 exam notification delayed: Exam date may clash with CAT 2017

IIFT 2017: Exam notification on July 15; MBA (IB) entrance test on Nov 26, 2017