Section-wise MAT Paper Analysis

September 2026 PBT and CBT: reported section difficulty

The September CBT included more grammar and vocabulary questions than reading-comprehension questions. Arithmetic formed a large part of Mathematical Skills.

MAT Paper Structure and Marking

MAT has 150 questions in 120 minutes. Each of the five sections contains 30 questions. An incorrect answer attracts a 0.25-mark penalty.

All five sections have equal weight in the composite score, including Economic & Business Environment. AIMA reports the composite score on a scale of 200-800.

The average time available is 48 seconds per question. A passage or chart can support several questions, so the reading time is shared.

MAT Section-wise Topics

Language Comprehension

Passage questions test the main idea, inference and details. Grammar questions require a separate check of sentence structure. The MAT Language Comprehension guide includes reading and verbal practice for both types.

Mathematical Skills

For percentage change, divide by the original value. A rise from 80 to 100 is 25%, while a fall from 100 to 80 is 20%. In profit-and-discount problems, profit uses cost price and discount uses marked price.

Data Analysis and Sufficiency

Check the units before using a chart: INR 2 lakh and INR 2,000 are different values. In Data Sufficiency, test each statement separately before combining them. For example, x + y = 18 and y = 7 together give x = 11, but neither statement alone fixes x.

Intelligence and Critical Reasoning

In an arrangement, "immediately right" fixes adjacent positions; "to the right" can leave a gap. For a conclusion to be definite, it must hold in every arrangement allowed by the question.

Economic and Business Environment

Economic & Business Environment combines business concepts and current affairs. For example, revenue is total sales, while profit is revenue minus costs. The MAT syllabus covers business topics alongside the other four sections.

MAT Attempts and Scores

Correct answers and negative marking both affect raw performance. Compare these two attempts in a 30-question section:

Both students answered 18 questions correctly. Student B attempted four more questions but got them wrong, increasing the deduction by 1 mark.

AIMA normalizes and scales scores across test administrations. A raw mock score therefore has no fixed conversion to the 200-800 composite scale or to a percentile.

Use the MAT study plan to work on the section losing the most marks. Separate concept errors from calculation errors; increasing attempts without correcting either can raise the negative-marking deduction.

MAT PBT and CBT

PBT and CBT have the same five sections and total duration. In PBT, responses are marked on an answer sheet; in CBT, answers are selected on screen.

When comparing practice scores, use the same 120-minute limit and include time spent marking answers. For CBT practice, read charts and passages on screen; for PBT, keep answer-sheet marking within the test time.

AIMA's normalization and scaling account for differences between test administrations. Neither PBT nor CBT has a guaranteed difficulty advantage.