MBA common admission test from 2012-13

In a move that will cut down the multiple entrance exams that students are forced to take for admission to management courses across the country, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to conduct a common admission test from 2012-13. The test will cover admissions to both MBA and postgraduate diploma in management.

The decision to hold a pan-India Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) was taken at the recent executive council meeting of the AICTE, the umbrella body for professional courses. While CMAT will be one of the entrance exams to be held in 2012, the Council wants all its colleges and institutes to admit students based on their CMAT scores from 2013.

"Almost every college was holding an entrance exam. Moreover, each state has its own entrance tests, and private associations have their own exams," AICTE chairman S S Mantha said. "In principle, CMAT will be a test for all AICTE-approved institutes and will reduce the stress and financial burden on students."

However, the Indian Institutes of Management, which are independent and autonomous B-schools, will continue to conduct the CAT (common admission test). Deemed universities will also hold their individual entrance tests. But admission to 4,000 colleges that offer an MBA and another 500 which run diploma programmes will take place on the basis of the CMAT.

"We still have to work out the modalities of conducting the CMAT. But having so many exams, all of varied difficulty levels, also raises concerns about the quality of students who enter this professional course," Mantha added. It is for the first time that the AICTE has spoken about holding an entrance exam; to date, it has largely been an approval-seeking body for new colleges and institutes wanting to expand student intake.

The Management Aptitude Test, which is taken by 3.85 lakh students every year, is currently the largest B-school entrance test. Hari Krishna Maram, governing council member of AIMA which conducts MAT, said "I welcome the idea of a single entrance exam for management courses in the interest of students. The government has been talking about it for quite sometime, but the idea hasn`t taken off. I do not know if a single exam will work since different universities have different admission schedules. MAT, on the other hand, is conducted four times a year and this helps students to take the exam whenever they are free."

AIEEE goes online in 2012

Pattern change Since many students were forced to take the exam twice on account of a question paper leak last year, the CBSE has decided to go online in 2012.

The All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) will go completely online from this year, just like the Common Admission Test (CAT) for IIMs.

The CBSE, which conducts the national exam every year, decided to to go ahead with the move on account of the leak of a question paper last year which forced several students to take the exam again.

The next AIEEE is scheduled to be held nationwide on April 29, 2012.

Last year, a majority of the students opted for the conventional exam since the option was allowed. The plan was to conduct online exams for one lakh students out of the 11.5 lakh applicants, but less than 5,000 students opted for the online exam. In Andhra Pradesh, of the 1.5 lakh applicants, less than 100 opted for the online exam last year.

This year, the CBSE has decided not to give students the option.

“This year, the CBSE is planning to conduct online exams on a mass scale. Students are advised to acquaint themselves with the new method,“ a CBSE circular stated. An competent agency will be employed to ensure smooth conduct of the test.

About 28,000 B.Tech seats and 1,000 B. Arch seats are filled annually through the AIEEE.