CAT 2009 extended by a day

The first computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT), which has been disrupted by virus attacks, was toady extended by a day till December 8.

The entrance for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will now spread over 11 days instead of 10 days as earlier scheduled by Prometric, the American firm conducting the test through computers. The test was scheduled to run in a staggered manner for 10 days from November 28 to December 7.

"Prometric and the IIMs have extended the CAT 2009 till 8 December," a statement issued by the firm said.

The step was taken as the test has been marred by technical problems right from day one. About 8,500 students could not appear in the test for the first four days of the entrance. The tests for the affected students are being rescheduled.

About 2.41 lakh students are scheduled to appear in the test for admission into seven IIMs and a few other B-schools.

"The CAT 2009 has been extended to accommodate, within this year's testing period, all the registered candidates to whom the test has yet to be delivered as scheduled," the statement said.

On December 8, which is the extended day, the CAT will be held over one morning session in 20 cities -- Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Pune and Varanasi.

More than 1.12 lakh candidates have completed testing by yesterday, it said. Majority of affected candidates have already been rescheduled and many of these have also completed their testing, it said.

"As part of our planned contingency, Prometric prepared the registration and scheduling system to accommodate volumes in excess of the projected number of candidates to ensure any additional demand can be fulfilled," Prometric said.

Certain testing labs experienced technical difficulties, mainly due to viruses and malware, leading to disruption.

"Majority of these issues have been identified and eradicated," Prometric said in the statement.

"We understand and regret the additional stress and inconvenience caused to candidates who have not been able to test on their scheduled day due to technical difficulties," said Ramesh Nava, vice-president and general manager (Asia Pacific, Japan and Africa) Prometric.