According to information shared by IIM Bangalore, on behalf of all IIMs, with MBAUniverse.com.
IIMs have selected Prometric ETS, a US-based testing company, after an elaborate search process to be their partner in delivering the computer-assisted CAT Entrance Exam.
Says IIM Bangalore, “CBT CAT will be a candidate-friendly test in terms of flexibility in the selection of test date, ease of registration process, better physical environment and test experience, and enhanced security in terms of biometric identification of candidates and video monitoring.” CBT format of the CAT Entrance Exam would also improve communication between candidates and IIMs in terms of programme information, test delivery, receipt of admit cards, and receipt of score reports, inform IIM B.
IIMs have been conducting the CAT entrance exam in paper-&-pencil format for the last 33 years. The CAT entrance exam is reputed to be the toughest entrance exam for management and business schools worldwide. With growing student aspirations to undertake management education, the number of candidates appearing for CAT entrance exam has been increasing manifold. While about 95,000 candidates appeared for CAT entrance exam in 2003, the number rose to about 250,000 in 2008 indicating a rise of a whopping 163 percent. This has resulted in severe strain on the administrative system of IIMs to conduct the CAT exam in its existing format.
CBT is a natural culmination of the modernization the CAT entrance exam has undergone, says IIM B. In the late 1960s, multiple choice questions (MCQ), an educational testing innovation, were introduced for the first time in the entrance examinations of IIMs.
Later, in the late 1970s, entrance exams of different IIMs were merged to form the CAT entrance exam. In the late 1980s, another technology feature was introduced in the form of optical machine reading (OMR) of the answer-sheets. Now, the CAT entrance exam is poised to take a CBT format comparable to the existing exams such as GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL but at substantially lower cost.
The CAT 2009 is going to be a breakthrough entrance exam heralding the new era computerization, focusing on the ease of MBA aspirants and IIM administration alike. CAT 2009 dates and other information related to the CAT 2009 entrance exam is going to be increasingly easily available.
