The paper pencil based test of MAT May 2011 started on Sunday, May 1, 2011. The computer based test will start from this Saturday, May 7, 2011.

The MAT aspirants, who will be appearing for the computer based MAT, should be well aware of the highlights of the past five exams to get an idea about the test they are going to take. In this article of MBAUniverse.com we present you analysis of the past five papers of MAT exam.

MAT has a regular pattern of 200 questions divided over five sections, Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Language Comprehension, Indian and Global Environment and Intelligence and Critical Reasoning. There are one mark for each correct answer and 0.25 negative marking for each wrong answer.

Let us have a look at the past five tests:

MAT February 2011
The MAT February 2011 paper was also of moderate to difficult in nature. The Quantitative Ability section was of easy to moderate difficulty level. The questions were from the areas of Time-Speed-Distance, Work and Time, Pipes and cisterns, Percentages, Partnerships, Trigonometry, Mensuration, Probability and Permutation & Combination.

The Logical and Critical Reasoning section was of easy to moderate difficulty level. The questions were from Data arrangement, Relations, Linear arrangements, Number and Alphabet Series, Assumptions Statements, Assertion Reason. In the RC & EU section, the questions were RC were direct as well as inferential. The EU questions were on fill in the blanks, para jumble, sentence correction and Grammar.

The Data Analysis and Sufficiency was moderate in nature. Some of the questions on graphs were calculation extensive. The Data Interpretation questions were on Line Graph, Caselet, Pie Charts, Bar Graph and Tables. The General Awareness section was moderate to tough. The questions were on Economics, Current Affairs, Awards and Prizes, Indian Constitution, Business and Sports.

MAT December 2010
The overall difficulty level of the paper was moderate. The Quantitative Aptitude had 40 questions. The questions were from the topics Time Speed Distance, Work and Time, Pipes and cisterns, Percentages, Partnerships, Averages, and Mixtures and Alligations, Trigonmetry, Geometry, Mensuration, Probability and Permutation & Combination. The questions were of moderate difficulty level. The questions on Logical and Critical Reasoning were on Data arrangement, Relations, Linear arrangements, Coding Decoding, Number and Alphabet Series, Venn Diagram, Assumptions Statements, Assertion Reason. The difficulty level was easy.

The English Usage and Reading Comprehension section was easy to moderate. There were five RC passages and the EU questions were on Fill in the Blanks, Para Jumble, Sentence Correction and Gist of the Paragraph. The Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency questions were moderate in nature. The questions on caselets were moderate. The questions on graphs were calculative. The General Knowledge questions were moderate to tough in difficulty. The questions came from the topics Economics, Current Affairs, Awards and Prizes, Indian constitution, Business and Sports.

MAT September 2010
The difficulty level of the MAT September 2010 paper was of moderate difficulty level. In the Quantitative Aptitude section the questions were from Time Speed Distance, Work and Time, Pipes and cisterns, Percentages, Profit and Loss, Partnerships, Averages, and Mixtures and Alligations, Trigonmetry, Geometry, mensuration, Probability and Permutation &Combination. The questions were of moderate nature.

The Logical and Critical Reasoning were from the topics of Relations, Linear arrangements, Coding Decoding, Number and Alphabet Series, Venn Diagram, Assumptions Statements, Assertion Reason and Statement Course of action. This section was predominantly easy. The Reading Comprehension and English Usage passages were of easy to moderate difficulty level. The topics were Fill in the Blanks, Para Jumble, Sentence Correction and gist of the paragraph. The Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency section had questions from Line Graph, Caselet, Bar Graph, Data Sufficiency and Data Comparison. This section was of moderate difficulty level.

The General Awareness section was of easy to moderate difficulty level. The questions were on Economics, Current Affairs, Awards and Prizes, Indian constitution, Business and Sports.

MAT May 2010
The difficulty level of the MAT May 2010 was moderate. The Mathematical Skills section had questions from Time Speed Distance, Work and Time, Pipes and cisterns, Percentages, Profit and Loss, Partnerships, Averages and Mixtures and Alligations, Trigonmetry, Geometry, Mensuration, Probability and Permutation &Combination. The questions in the Logical & Critical Reasoning were from the topics Blood Relations, Linear arrangements, Coding Decoding, Number and Alphabet Series, Venn Diagram, Assumptions Statements, Assertion Reason and Statement Course of action, Direction Sense etc. The difficulty level was easy to moderate.

The RC passages were of medium length. The EU questions were from Fill in the Blanks, Para Jumble, Sentence Correction and gist of the Paragraph. The section was of easy to moderate difficulty level. The Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency were of easy to moderate difficulty level. The topics covered in this section were Tables, Line Graphs, Bar graphs, Pie chart, Quantitative Comparison, Caselet and Data Sufficiency. The section of Indian and Global Environment had questions on the topic Economics, Current Affairs, Awards and Prizes, Business and Sports.

MAT February 2010
The difficulty level of this test was moderate. The Language Comprehension section was divided into Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension. The RC section was tough but the EU questions were easily attainable. The Mathematical Skills section had Arithmetic questions from Percentages, Profit and Loss, Time and Work, Geometry, Time and Distance, Compound Interest etc. This section can be classified as Moderate to Difficult.

The Intelligence and Critical Reasoning section had 31 questions. The Analytical Reasoning questions were easy but Critical Reasoning questions were tough. The questions of Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency were easy in nature. The Indian and Global Environment section was moderate to difficulty in nature.