IIMs, students spar over CAT score method

More than 20 RTIs filed.

It’s akin to a boxing match. On one side of the ring stand the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) backed by Prometric — the institute which implemented the computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT). On the other side of the ring are students who have the support of test-preparing institutes.

Both sides are sparring over the methodology used for the CAT scores which enable MBA aspirants get into the IIMs and other prominent B-schools. While the IIMs and Prometric maintain that the scores are fair to students, the other is not amused and is raising a “transparency” issue.

Over 20 right to information (RTI) applications have been filed across the country till date by students, and many more are expected, say students and faculty members of test-preparing institutes.

In its defence, Prometric has even put up a statement on the CAT IIM website: “We have reviewed the test scoring and we are completely confident that the results are appropriately distributed across the population, and that the test performed well within international standards. We are absolutely confident that the scores and rankings are accurate,” asserts Soumitra Roy of Prometric India. The statement added that candidate concerns will be addressed by Prometric’s candidate care centre.

But the student community is insisting that it wants “the IIMs and Prometric to come clean on the whole issue and be transparent”. “We want to know what action has been taken on people who had cheated and the database used to equate scores across different question sets,” said a student who has filed two RTI applications.

Prometric also states that the CAT test development process was conducted in alignment with the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. It adds that the content of the examination was developed and confirmed by individuals with high levels of expertise in each of three content domains — Verbal, Quantitative, and Data Interpretation. Post-administration analysis was conducted by “credentialed psychometricians to confirm the validity of the examination scores and to ensure that every candidate was provided a fair and equal opportunity to display their knowledge”.

“Candidates are not awarded inappropriate points for random guessing. This is a standard process in the testing industry and is a methodology employed in scoring similar admissions tests such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE),” Prometric states.

"Step one is the same as it was for the paper-pencil test. But we have a problem with step two. Unlike in GRE, there was no time limit attached to the sections. How do you equate 24 sets of question papers with different levels of difficulty? The process of equating is not explained. The students have an issue with sectional scores, which needs to be explained,” counters Gautam Puri, vice-chairman of Career Launcher.

"As would be expected with the more difficult CAT exam, no candidate answered 100 per cent of the items correctly and no candidate achieved the top theoretical score. The exam design accomplished the goal of identifying the top performing candidates who were, indeed, ranked at the top of the list. If the exam were designed to be substantially easier, it would be theoretically possible for a candidate to achieve a score of 450,” states Prometric in its defence.

Students and test-preparing institutes, however, are not backing out.