IIFT 2021

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Admission Test-2021 popularly known as IIFT Exam 2021, is the MBA Entrance Exam for Admission to all the three campuses of IIFT.  Every year around 60,000 students from all disciplines including Engineering, Commerce, Humanities and even Law take IIFT MBA admission test to get MBA admission in one of three campuses of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. Since last year, IIFT has changed its question paper pattern from paper based to computer based. To get a high 95+ percentile in IIFT requires 4-5 months of serious preparation.

 

Based on past trends, IIFT exam date 2021 will be December 6, 2020 and the time will be from 10 AM to 12 Noon. It will be a computer based test. This is the second computer based test in the history of IIFT MBA admission exam. IIFT MBA admission test is now conducted by National Testing Agency and not by IIFT. The difficulty level for the exam is high and is like CAT and XAT exams. GK section plays an important role in scoring high percentile. Experts at MBAUniverse.com, TIME, CL, IMS expect a cut off between 110-115 marks that may fetch 93 to 96 percentile.

 

NTA is expected to release IIFT Notification in the third week of August. After that, IIFT Registration will start by the second week of September 2020. In this article, you will read all key points to plan your IIFT MBA Admission exam journey, including important dates, syllabus & pattern, how to prepare, expected cut offs, past IIFT toppers interviews and much more. You will also find important links to Free IIFT previous questions papers. So, read through till the end.

 

What is IIFT MBA Admission Test?
IIFT full form is Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Admission Test. It is the mandatory MBA entrance test for admission to all the three campuses of IIFT. The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is ranked among top 35 management institutes in MHRD-NIRF Ranking 2019. IIFT MBA (IB) 2021 entrance exam will be held in a single session as a computer based test. The exam will be of 2 hours duration with a maximum marks of 300 and will be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) for the second time and not by IIFT as was conducted earlier. 

 

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) MBA Admission Test is conducted annually for admission to its flagship MBA (IB) program offered at its three campuses located at Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada (AP). The IIFT MBA exam 2020 will lead to MBA admission 2021 and therefore the exam is more prominently known as IIFT 2021 instead of IIFT 2020, although the exam will be held in 2020.

 

IIFT MBA (IB) Exam 2021: Highlights
One of the most important MBA entrance exams – IIFT has following key highlights:

Exam Conducting Body	National Testing Agency (NTA)
Number of MBA colleges under IIFT	IIFT Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada
Mode of Exam	Computer Based Test
Application Process	Online
Exam Application Fee	Rs.2000
IIFT Full Form	Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Entrance Exam
Cut off Percentile for Shortlisting	95 Percentile
Raw Score cut off out of 300	115 to 120 marks (Based on last year cut off)
Total Questions in IIFT Exam	110 (based on Last Year number)
Sectional Division of Exam	4 Sections with different number of Questions in Each Section
Test Duration	2 Hours (10AM to 12 Noon)
Names of Test sections	VARC, Quant, DILR, GK
Exam Difficulty Level	Moderate to Difficult
Maximum Marks	300
Scoring Pattern	Varying Scoring pattern of 1.5 Mark to 3 Marks for each correct answer
Negative Marking	1/3 of the Marks allotted for correct answer
Importance of Sectional Score	Candidates to qualify in each section and achieve the minimum cut offs

IIFT MBA 2021: 5 Important Changes
Many changes have been effected in the conduct of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) MBA Entrance exam to be held on Sunday December 6, 2020. Some of the key changes are:

 

1. Conducted by NTA, Not by IIFT
With effect from last year, NTA announces the complete schedule of the entrance test after taking over the responsibility to conduct the exam from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

 

2. Changed to Computer Based Test
IIFT Admission Entrance Test for MBA (IB) 2021-23 will be a computer based test. IIFT Director Prof Manoj Pant has confirmed that IIFT format has been changed to computer based test from paper based exam. The exam will be conducted at national level in more number of cities than earlier.

 

3. Total Sections, No. of Questions & Scoring Pattern Changed
Instead of 6 sections IIFT admission test now has 4 sections with 110 questions and maximum 300 marks with varying sectional scoring pattern.

 

4. IIFT Notification in August 2020
Instead of releasing its admission test notification in the month of July, IIFT Notification for MBA 2021 entrance test will be released by NTA in August 2020. IIFT notification contains all the key dates for the exam, registration dates, admit card download date.

 

5. IIFT Registration & Application 2021: Starts on September 9, 2020
IIFT Registration and application process for IIFT admission 2021 starts on September 9, 2020. The Registration process is online and has to be completed at NTA official website. Last date to apply for the exam is October 25, 2020. Earlier IIFT registration used to start in the month of July.

 

6. IIFT Result Date: December 15, 2020
Moving faster in declaration of exam result, NTA will declare the exam result on December 15, 2020 – within 10 days from the conduct of the exam for admission 2021.

 

7. IIFT Kakinada (AP) Campus: Yet to Commence Operations
According to the Director, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Dr Manoj Pant, the Kakinada campus of IIFT in Andhra Pradesh is yet to commence operations. The campus was supposed to take off with a strength of 60 students in 2019 but the date of its launch has not yet been finalized.  

 

8. Changes in Exam Pattern
Not only the Exam is computer based, you will find changes in its number of sections, scoring pattern, maximum marks among others which will also change the cut off score in the revamped format of IIFT Admission test.

 

IIFT Not to offer Admission to Dar-es-Salaam campus
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade has advised that the Agreement with IMF Tanzania has not been renewed and therefore its MBA entrance exam will not offer admission opportunity to the IIFT Dar-es-Salaam campus

 

IIFT 2020 or IIFT 2021: Clear the Confusion
The IIFT 2021 is the exam for MBA admission 2021-23 batch and will be conducted on December 6, 2020. Similarly, the IIFT 2020 exam for admission to MBA (IB) 2020-22 batch was conducted on December 1, 2019.

 

Although the exam was conducted in the year 2019, its score was accepted for IIFT MBA admission 2020 and the exam on December 6, 2020 will lead to admission in 2021, at all the campuses of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The exam is therefore, referred to IIFT 2020 and IIFT 2021 in accordance with the admission session instead of exam year.

 

IIFT Admission Test 2021: Important Dates and Schedule
All the details of the Exam being conducted by NTA this year, will be made available with the release of IIFT notification. The IIFT important dates will be officially announced by National Testing Agency. The exam related dates for all the activities are as under:

 

IIFT Exam Date 2021

Exam 2021 Activity	Key Dates 2021
IIFT Notification	August 21, 2020
Registration Start Date	September 9, 2020
Last date for Registration	October 25, 2020
Application Fee	Rs.2000/-
Last date to Submit Request for change of Test Centre	November 5, 2020
Fee for change of Exam Centre	Rs.1000/-
Admit Card Download Starts	November 11, 2020 onwards
IIFT Exam date 2021	Sunday, December 6, 2020
Last date to apply online for admission and to submit GMAT score for Foreign Nationals/NRI	February 15, 2021
Exam Result Date	December 15, 2020

Exam Pattern, Sections, Question paper-Key changes
In 2017, IIFT changed its exam pattern by increasing the number of sections in the exam. The format of the exam for admission 2021 has changed to computer based test from earlier paper based test. IIFT is now reduced to 4 sections with questions on VARC; DILR, Quant and GK sections. The exam remains a multiple choice objective type written test (in English) of 120 minutes.  

Section	Total questions	Mark awarded for each correct answer	Max marks out of 300
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	35	3	105
Quantitative Analysis	25	3	75
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	30	3	90
General Awareness (GK)	20	1.5	30
Total	110	--	300

Read More

 

MBA (IB) Admission Process

 

How to Apply?
NTA will release the detailed notification for IIFT MBA (IB) application process in August. You can register for online on the official NTA website and can pay the exam fee of Rs.2000/- online. The exam registration fee includes the exam application form fee. 

 

Step by Step Registration Process
The IIFT MBA Admission exam Registration and Application form can be filled up in four steps:

• Step-1: Register as New User & Fill in Personal Details at NTA website
• Step-2: Login again with your registered ID & Password and complete the IIFT Application form
• Step-3: Make Payment of Rs.2000/- online towards application fee
• Step-4: Submit the IIFT Application form at NTA website and take print

  No IIFT Application Offline
The earlier practice of IIFT application in offline mode has been discontinued and candidates should apply online only at NTA website. To apply for entrance exam, you must visit NTA website to fill in the online form as per details given on website. Read more

 

How to Prepare for IIFT
IIFT Admission test preparation guide how to start preparation at home as per the revised exam pattern, is focused on following points:

• IIFT Exam Pattern: You must be aware about the Changed exam pattern
• IIFT Syllabus: Read through Important topics & Changes
• Choose the best Books for IIFT preparation
• Plan your IIFT Preparation Time - How to start IIFT preparation at home?
• Check the time left and learn How to prepare for IIFT in 6 months, 3 months or 2 months?
• Make a choice whether to prepare for IIFT without coaching or with coaching?
• Weigh the pros & cons on benefits of IIFT Preparation with or without coaching
• Solve IIFT Previous test papers & Mocks: How to attempt and analyse? 
• Strategy to score 95+ percentile in IIFT exam – Tips from Toppers
• GK Preparation for IIFT Exam Read More

IIFT Syllabus
IIFT Syllabus & exam pattern comprises the questions on English verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation and Quantitative Analysis.

 

In a major shift introduced in IIFT Syllabus, now the IIFT admission test will have questions split in more number of sections. Not only this, the IIFT syllabus for the different sections has also changed. The number of questions in each section have also been changed in the revamped exam pattern. Read More

 

IIFT Admission Test Eligibility
The candidates with following qualifications are eligible to apply for IIFT 2021 exam for admission to MBA (IB) 

• Recognized Bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 years’ duration in any discipline with 50% marks.
• Candidates appearing for a qualifying examination can also apply subject to submission of proof of requisite qualification by October, 2021
• No age limit to appear in the entrance exam.
• Work experience not necessary

The admission of a candidate who joins the programme on provisional basis but fails to qualify in the Bachelor’s degree examination with requisite percentage of marks is liable to be cancelled. Read More

  

IIFT Application Form: Error Correction Process
National Testing Agency will open the Application Details Edit facility for the IIFT  application for 3-4 days in the first week of November. NTA allows the candidates to amend and modify the details in their IIFT registration and application form. Error correction in IIFT application form is a one-time option to modify the data. Modification option is available for those who have completed all four stages of application form - Primary registration, Academic and Personal details, Payment and Photo/Sign upload. No change in Resident status, Mobile No., E-mail, Category, Written Test & GD Centre can be done. 

 

You can edit limited details in your IIFT application form by entering your IIFT registration number and password, Please note that Resident, Mobile No., E-mail, Category and Written Test & GD Centre cannot be modified by the candidate.

 

Exam Centre Change: One Time Facility
For once, NTA will permit the facility to submit request for IIFT admission entrance test Centre Change. The last date to submit request for IIFT Exam centre change is usually November 5.  The Application fee for IIFT test centre change is Rs.1000/-.  The Request can be submitted online only. No requests in this regard can be entertained offline.  

 

 

Exam Fees
The Exam Fee to appear in the IIFT entrance test on December 6, is Rs.2000/-(Unless the IIFT Fee is increased further this year.) The exam fee includes the IIFT Registration Fee, IIFT Application Fee also. The fee also includes the participation and registration fee for GD-PI-WAT process, after the result declaration of IIFT 2021 entrance exam.

 

IIFT Intake
With the launch of Kakinada campus, the IIFT intake of students campus wise stands as under:

IIFT Campus	Intake for MBA (IB) 2021-23
IIFT Delhi	220
IIFT Kolkata	140
IIFT Kakinada	60

In case the Kakinada campus is not again launched this year, IIFT MBA (IB) 2021-23 intake will remain 360 students.

 

The IIFT 2021 MBA (IB) admission test score will be accepted only by IIFT for admission to its campuses and no other MBA college accepts IIFT exam score. The IIFT entrance exam is now conducted on the first Sunday of December, across the country instead of 4^th Sunday of November.

 

More than 60,000 candidates are expected to register and apply for IIFT MBA entrance exam 2021 as happens every year. With the growing popularity, unique learning process and high placement prospects of MBA (IB) at IIFT, it is expected that the Admission Test will have more than 60,000 registrations.

 

Free Practice Sessions for IIFT Computer Based Exam 
4000 Schools/ engineering colleges with computer centres are available on every Saturday/Sunday starting from 1st September, 2020 and more Schools/ engineering colleges with computer centres will be added in time to come for IIFT Test Practice. NTA has established a countrywide network of Test Practice Centres (TPCs) across India to familiarise aspiring students.

 

All students have an opportunity to practice and have experience of taking “Computer Based Test (CBT)” before the exam. The candidates can choose the nearest TPC. This facility is available free of cost as a support measure, especially for candidates hailing from remote and rural areas. The experienced, qualified and professional Nodal Officer and staff available at the TPC will help the candidates so that they become familiar with the CBT mode of examinations.

 

The TPCs will have a downloaded “Computer Based Test (CBT)” which will be similar to the actual test to be conducted on the IIFT exam day. The TPCs will help the candidates to familiarise themselves with logging into the systems, going through the detailed instructions regarding the test, using mouse or numeric keyboard on screen (virtual) for attempting calculation based questions, scrolling down or scrolling up for the next questions, navigating between questions, review and editing their options and submitting them

 

After launching its one more campus at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, IIFT will offer MBA (International Business) at its 3 campuses in India namely New Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada campuses. MBA (IB) at IIFT is considered as one of the best 2 years MBA programmes in International Business. IIFT offers great learning experience with high placement to its students.

 

The IIFT Notification Dates
Following has been the trend of IIFT notification release:

IIFT year	IIFT notification release date
2020	Expected on Aug 21, 2020
2019	August 21, 2019
2018	August 6, 2018
2017	July 25, 2017
2016	July 15, 2016
2015	July 15, 2015
2014	July 15, 2014

IIFT 2021 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. When will IIFT Exam registration start?
A. NTA will start IIFT entrance exam registration process in the second week of September 2020

 

Q. What is the IIFT Exam date?
A. The IIFT entrance exam is expected to be held as computer based test on December 6, 2020

 

Q. From where I can purchase IIFT MBA Entrance exam registration and application form?
Ans. You can not purchase IIFT entrance exam application form any more. Now IIFT MBA exam Registration process is available online only.

 

Q. What is the IIFT Exam registration fee? Can I pay it by Demand Draft?
Ans. IIFT MBA entrance exam registration fee is Rs. 2000/-. You cannot pay the fee by DD. The Fee can be paid only by Debit/Credit Card/Net Banking/PAYTM/UPI Service

 

Q. Is there any concession in IIFT entrance exam registration Fee for reserved category candidates?
Ans. Yes, the SC/ST/PwD/Transgender category candidates need to pay Rs.1000/- online towards IIFT exam registration fee. No concession in IIFT Registration fee is applicable for EWS/ OBC(NCL)  category candidates.

 

Q. If I am unable to appear in IIFT MBA (IB) entrance exam due to severe illness, will NTA refund the application fee paid for the exam?
A. No, even if you submit the Medical Certificate and reports from top medical institutes of India, NTA will neither refund the fee nor it will be adjusted for future exams.   

 

Q. What is the time at which IIFT Registration closes?
Ans. IIFT 2021 registration process closes at 11.50 PM on October 25, 2020 at NTA-IIFT exam website