Independent entity to manage CAT

The Common Admission Test (CAT) – the gateway to the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) – will be managed by a company or a society that would be run by professionals, but guided by IIM professors.

“We want to create CAT as an independent kind of organisation so that the faculty is not burdened with organising the exam. We are in the process of creating a Section 25 company or a society for organising CAT. This structure will be managed by professionals, but guided by professors and directors. There is some movement in this direction,” said IIM Lucknow Director Devi Singh.

Singh said it would be a structure within the IIMs and supported by faculty members.

“This is being looked into by a committee headed by IIM Bangalore Director Pankaj Chandra and, hopefully, we will agree on something soon,” he added.

IIMs are also planning to conduct CAT on the lines of GMAT and GRE, wherein students can take the exam more than once a year.

“CAT could happen twice in a year and the IIMs may look at winter admissions also over time. In fact, CAT has stabilised at this level and the next logical step is to take it global, as the acceptance of the exam is already there and we have to only publicise it,” Singh said.

This year, more than 200,000 students registered for the exam, which took place at 78 centres across 33 cities over 20 days.

For the next year, IIMs and Prometric — the US-based testing agency that conducted the computer-based CAT— plan to reduce the 90-minute waiting period before the exam for students’ convenience, besides making the voucher sales online.

Singh said the IIMs would meet in December to take a call on how to move forward on CAT. Prometric would analyse the data collected over the month in the next few days.