More management aspirants take GMAT

The number of MBA aspirants taking the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) for admission in US business schools has gone up 11 per cent in one year. This is a record increase for the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which conducts the test.

GMAT exam volume for the 2012 testing year (July 1, 2011,to June 30, 2012), was up 11 per cent from the previous year. This was also eight per cent higher than the previous record of 265,613 in 2009, GMAC said in a press statement.

Indian citizens, the third-largest citizenship group, took 30,213 GMAT exams, a figure that increased 19 per cent in 2012.

“Testing year 2012 has witnessed the highest ever GMAT volume in India till date. In addition to this, 128 programmes in India have received GMAT scores for admissions from Indian aspirants, a huge growth of 450 per cent over the last five years. As Indian business schools are widening their search for candidates with a view to creating more diversity in their classroom, the GMAT offers an excellent pipeline of aspirants,” said Ashish Bhardwaj, regional director, South Asia, GMAC.

Chinese test takers, the second largest citizenship group after the US, represented 20 per cent of global testing. In 2012, the number of exams taken by Chinese citizens increased 45 per cent to 58,196 exams.

“GMAT testing outside the US continues to grow quickly. Tests taken by non-US citizens rose 19 per cent in 2012 and represented 59 per cent of global GMAT volume,” said GMAC.

The percentage of exams taken by women hit 42.9 per cent in 2012—a record for the third straight year. “2012 was a remarkable year,” said David Wilson, GMAC president and chief executive officer. “GMAT testing rose from 2011 to 2012 in all world regions. The number of programmes receiving GMAT scores rose to an all-time high.”

Last year, wherein GMAC launched the new GMAT Integrated Reasoning section, was a record year for the exam. A total of 286,529 GMAT exams were taken, with 831,337 score reports sent to 5,281 graduate business and management programmes around the world — all historic highs, the GMAC announced.