IIFT to Accept CAT 2023 Exam Score for MBA (IB) Admission 2024; IIFT Exam Cancelled; Revamps Admission Criteria

IIFT has announced significant changes in its Admission 2024 criteria and has made CAT 2023 exam mandatory for MBA (IB) Admission 2024. The present NTA IIFT Exam is cancelled and will not be conducted any more.

IIFT Admission 2024: Key Changes

• CAT 2023 is Mandatory Exam for IIFT MBA (IB) Admission 2024
• IIFT Exam is Cancelled and will No More be Conducted by NTA
• IIFT Aspirants to apply and appear in CAT 2023
• IIFT Applications to Open in September 2023 last week

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will accept only CAT 2023 exam score for admission to MBA (IB) 2024-26 batch for its Delhi and Kolkata campuses and has cancelled the present IIFT entrance exam conducted by NTA. It is a big step in the IIFT admission process 2024 and is good news for CAT aspirants as they do not need to separately appear in IIFT entrance exam conducted by National Testing Agency.

Announcing the significant change in admission criteria 2024 and cancellation of IIFT exam, IIFT has clarified, “From Academic Year 2024-25, for admission to IIFT’s two years MBA (International Business) and MBA (Business Analytics) programmes, the Institute will consider the score of CAT 2023. Candidates will be shortlisted for the second round of the admission process i.e. WAT/Group Discussion/Extempore/Personal Interview etc. of MBA (International Business) and MBA (Business Analytics) programmes on the basis of their CAT Score and other parameters. Therefore, to take the admission to IIFT’s MBA(IB) and MBA(BA) 2024-26 programmes, it is mandatory for all the aspirants to have valid CAT 2023 score.”

With CAT 2023 being the mandatory exam for IIFT Admission 2024, IIFT aspirants need to register and apply for CAT 2023 to get admission opportunity in IIFT. They should also separately apply for IIFT admission, as they do for admission to other top Non-IIM B-schools like FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon among others. IIFT will open its application process by the end of September 2023.

IIFT Admission 2024: Important Dates
Following are the important dates and time line for IIFT MBA (IB) admission 2024

IIFT Admission 2024 Timeline	Key Dates
CAT 2023 Registration Dates	Aug 2 to Sept 13, 2023	Register and Apply till 5 PM
IIFT Application date for Admission 2024	From Sept 2023 last week	To remain Open for more than a month
CAT 2023 Exam Date	November 26, 2023	Mandatory Exam for IIFT Admission 2024

With IIFT accepting CAT score for the first time, the registration numbers in CAT 2023 may go up by 40 to 50 thousand as all the IIFT aspirants will apply for CAT. Last year CAT registrations had gone up by 11% at 2.55 lakhs and it is expected that registration number may further go up to around 3 lakhs in CAT 2023.

How CAT 2023 is different from IIFT Entrance Exam conducted by NTA
If we compare CAT Vs IIFT exam, following 5 key differences are there

Exam Components	CAT 2023	IIFT Entrance conducted by NTA
Duration	2 hours	2 hours
Total Questions	66	110
No. of Sections	3	4
Name of Sections	VARC, DILR, QA	VARC, QA, DILR, GK
Scoring Pattern	Uniform, 3 Marks for right answer	Varying, from 1.5 Mark to 3 Marks for right answer
Negative Marking	-1 (33%) for wrong answer	- 0.75 to -1 (33%) for wrong answer
Type of Questions	MCQs & Non-MCQs	MCQs
No Penalty Questions	25-28 Percent	None
Maximum Score	198	300

IIFT Admission Tests so far: Used to Delay the Selection Process

• Prior to 2019, IIFT used to conduct its own entrance exam comprising 5-6 sections and varying scoring pattern immediately after CAT exam latest by December first week
• From 2019 to 2022, National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted IIFT entrance exam with 4 sections and 110 questions which was conducted as late as in December and the result was sometimes declared in January third/last week
• IIFT Admission 2024 will be based on CAT 2023 score. CAT exam date is November 26, 2023 and the result is declared in the first week of January or last week of December. Last year CAT 2022 result was declared as early as on Dec 21, 2022. The early declaration of CAT result will help IIFT to timely release its shortlist and complete the final selection process much early as against the present trend of lingering on till May/June  

IIFT is a deemed to be University and is also closely linked with Ministry of Commerce. IIFT is led by Prof Satinder Bhatia as its Director and Vice Chancellor.  She is Professor of Finance and Chairperson (International Projects Division). The Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India is the Chairman of  Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. IIFT offers 2 years full time MBA (IB) program leading to high placements. IIFT has a consistent record of 100% placement with high salary packages. IIFT MBA Placements 2023 registered 16% rise in average placement package which has gone up at Rs.29.10 LPA, and 62% rise in Highest domestic salary at Rs.75.60 LPA for the MBA (IB) 2021-23 batch.

One of the most sought after destinations for MBA (IB) program, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was established in 1963 by the Government of India as an autonomous organization and as a Centre of Excellence in International Trade and Business. AACSB Accredited, IIFT is a highly ranked management institute and is ranked # 27 among top 125 management institute in India, in the Govt. of India MHRD NIRF Rankings 2023 – Management; IIFT is ranked # 12 in MBAUniverse.com B-School Ranking 2023. IIFT is also NAAC Accredited and is duly recognized by UGC.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on Indian Institute of Foreign trade (IIFT)