CAT candidates confused over scores

Some of the candidates who appeared in the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2013, are not satisfied with their percentile scores and have pointed to discrepancies in the system. Candidates have said on social media and other avenues, there have been huge differences in their percentile scores in the two sections of CAT. They complained their overall percentile had dropped.

Some students personally went and met the CAT convenors to address their concerns. Candidates have given their written concerns to the CAT convenors, which have been sent to Prometric, the US-based testing agency that conducted the examination.

However, Prometric has said the system is accurate and reliable. "Prometric's number one priority for delivering the CAT is to provide accurate scores for candidates to differentiate themselves and earn placements in distinguished B-school programmes. For CAT 2013, we have conducted additional quality control to verify that 100 per cent of our reporting is accurate and our methodology is fair, reliable and determines the right scores according to candidate performance," said Soumitra Roy, general manager, Prometric India. He said they provide a scoring process that is secure, reliable, accurate and recognised as a global best practice. According to Indian Institute of Management direction, Roy added that it was their job to heighten the exam's difficulty and hence only the best performing test takers earned the highest scores.

Roy explained that CAT 2013's two sections were designed to assess different abilities, consistent with previous years of the test. For example, success in Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation did not dictate success in Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.

In his statement, Roy said that as a provider of testing and assessment for more than 350 organisations around the world, they have experienced this in prior years as well.

"Prometric remains committed to ensuring fairness and reliability to best serve honest candidates seeking to accomplish their education and career goals," said Roy.