WAT and AWT in IIM Selection

WAT asks you to develop a written response to a given prompt. Ahmedabad calls its test Analytical Writing Test (AWT); Calcutta uses Writing Ability Test (WAT). The writing stage belongs to institute admission after CAT, not to the VARC section of the entrance examination.

The Ahmedabad PGP criteria combine the writing and interview stages with an earlier composite score. Calcutta assigns separate points to CAT, WAT, PI and profile factors. These selected examples show why one WAT weight cannot be applied to every IIM.

The task instructions determine the writing time, word limit, format and language.

WAT Topics for Practice

Work on a mix of decisions and abstract statements. Choose a prompt, identify the competing considerations and decide which condition matters most.

Turn a broad theme into a question before writing. For example, technology in recruitment is too wide for a short essay. Whether every application should be screened by software gives you a specific decision: what software can judge, which errors matter and where a person should review its output.

For a real current-affairs example, note the event date, the source and the exact claim the evidence supports. A company's statement, a survey and a government statistic describe different things. Use the example only for the point it can actually establish.

WAT Essay Structure with a Worked Example

Practice prompt: Should a small company train existing staff before hiring specialists?

Sample essay

A small company should usually train existing employees before recruiting for a skill gap within an established role. Existing staff already understand the product, customers and internal process. Training can build on that knowledge rather than requiring a new employee to learn the entire operation.

The decision should begin with the task, not the training catalogue. If a support team repeatedly struggles with one reporting tool, focused instruction and supervised practice may solve the problem. The company can then compare error rates or completion time before and after the training.

Recruitment may still be the better choice when the work requires expertise that the team cannot develop within the available time. A new specialist can also introduce methods that no current employee knows. Training has a cost too: staff must spend time away from their regular duties.

The sensible choice is therefore conditional. Train when the gap is teachable, the role is established and the company can allow practice time. Hire when the need is urgent or highly specialised. In either case, define the expected improvement first and review whether the decision actually delivered it.

The example follows one decision through the whole essay. The support-team case explains how training might help; the recruitment paragraph supplies a genuine exception. The conclusion then names the conditions behind the choice instead of merely saying that both sides are important.

An illustrative example does not need a made-up statistic. In a real essay, use a documented figure only when you know its source and scope. Otherwise, explain the mechanism or mark the situation as hypothetical.

How to Improve a WAT Answer

Edit sentences that announce a topic without adding an argument. Each change below replaces a broad statement with a reason or a condition.

• Prompt: underline the actual question. An essay about training benefits alone does not answer whether to train before hiring.
• Reason: identify what causes the proposed benefit, not just the benefit's name.
• Counterargument: use the strongest objection to your position, not an obviously weak alternative.
• Conclusion: answer the same question you opened with and state any necessary condition.

After reading, ask someone to state your position in one sentence. If they cannot, the issue may be an unclear argument rather than difficult vocabulary. Replace one vague paragraph before adding more words.

This is a self-review method for practice, not a published IIM marking rubric. Ahmedabad does not publish individual AWT/PI performance details, so an unofficial essay score cannot be treated as your admission score.

Timed WAT Practice and Unfamiliar Topics

Try a twenty-minute home exercise: use four minutes to identify your position and counterargument, thirteen minutes to write, and three minutes to revise. Choose a length you can finish within that practice window. Replace these targets with the actual test instructions when you receive them.

If the prompt is abstract, define it through a concrete situation. For “A useful rule should also make room for exceptions”, compare a standard deadline with a documented emergency. Explain why the exception is justified and how it can be limited so that the rule remains meaningful.

For an unfamiliar policy question, distinguish what the prompt tells you from what you are assuming. You can compare effects on workers, customers or costs without inventing the law, its implementation date or a statistic.

Practise revising as well as writing. Take the same essay a day later and remove a repeated reason, strengthen the counterargument and make the conclusion more precise. Comparing these versions shows the specific improvement more clearly than simply counting completed essays.

1. Writing-Test Weightage
2. Practice Topics
3. Worked Essay Outline

1. Essay Revision Checklist
2. Timed Practice