MAT Exam Pattern 2025 (Updated Pattern): Section-Wise Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme

The MAT exam pattern 2025 has changed from the previous years’ pattern. In short, there are a total of 150 questions spread over 5 sections – Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, and Economic and Business Environment. The total exam duration is 120 minutes.

MAT Exam Pattern 2025: Overview

The MAT exam is a national-level management aptitude test. The top private business schools in the country accept the MAT scores, including Amrita Business School, Amity University, Noida, Lovely Professional University, and Christ University. Moreover, unlike other national-level tests such as CAT and XAT, MAT is significantly easier. The exam has been designed to assess your grasp of the basics and how well you can apply those basic concepts under pressure.

To build your strategy for the exam, to maximise your marks by capitalising on your strengths and shoring up your weaknesses, you first need to understand the MAT exam pattern for 2025.

In this blog, we’ll break down the MAT paper pattern to give you a deeper look into the intricacies of the exam.

Read more – MAT Exam: Updated exam dates, exam pattern, syllabus, and colleges

What is the MAT Exam Pattern 2025?

Students have the option of 2 different modes to take the exam – paper-based test and computer-based test. Students can choose to take the test once or twice in either mode, i.e.:

1. PBT
2. CBT
3. PBT + CBT

MAT Features	Exam details
MAT Exam sections	Language Comprehension Data Analysis & Sufficiency Mathematical Skills Intelligence & Critical Reasoning Economic & Business Environment
Total number of questions	150 (5 Sections with 30 Questions in Each Section)
Marking Scheme in MAT exam	+1 Mark for Each Correct Answer; -0.25 Mark for Each Wrong Answer; 0 Mark for Un-attempted Question
Exam duration	120 minutes
Conducting Body	All India Management Association (AIMA)
Number of Colleges accepting MAT	200+
Frequency of MAT Exam	Held in February, May, September, December
MAT Exam Modes	Paper Based (PBT) and Computer Based (CBT)
Upcoming MAT 2025 Exam Dates	PBT on December 14 and CBT on December 21, 2025
MAT Official Website	www.mat.aima.in
MAT Exam Application Fees	Rs 2200 for Paper Based Test (PBT) or Computer Based Test (CBT). Rs 3800 for both PBT + CBT Exams.

The MAT exam pattern is the same across all modes. The only factor that changes is the delivery of the exam. PBT is paper-based and requires students to fill in an OMR sheet physically. The CBT mode is computed-based, wherein students fill in answers on their computer screens at designated test centres.

Read More – MAT Registration Last Date

Highlights of the MAT Exam Pattern 2025

MAT exam pattern 2025 – Sections and Sub-Sections

While the difficulty level of the MAT exam has historically been easy to moderate, and significantly simpler to solve than the likes of CAT or XAT, it can become challenging for students who are unaware of the nuances of the paper.

Although there are five official sections according to the MAT paper pattern, further scrutiny reveals three more subsections too.

1. The first section, namely, Language Comprehension, has two sub-sections; Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension.
2. The second section, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning is further broken down into Logical Reasoning and Analytical Reasoning.
3. The Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency section consists of Data Analysis questions that closely mimic Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency questions.
4. The Mathematical Skills section is largely similar to the Quantitative Aptitude section of other MBA entrance tests.
5. The last section, Economic and Business Environment, has questions encompassing current affairs and static GK. 

Now, let’s look at the detailed distribution of questions and marks across all the sections and subsections.

Language Comprehension (Verbal ability + Reading comprehension)

Reading comprehension

1. No. of questions – 3 short passages with 5 questions each
2. Weightage – 15 marks
3. Types of questions – Questions such as central idea, true/ false statements, and antonyms/ synonyms based on the contents of the passage itself.
4. RC passages appear on different topics, such as current affairs, political developments, business & economy, English literature, science, historical events, etc. 

Verbal ability

1. No. of questions – 15 questions
2. Weightage – 15 marks
3. Types of questions – Jumbled paragraphs, sentence correction, sequence correction, fill-in-the-blanks, antonyms/ synonyms, word substitution, and idioms and phrases.

Intelligence and Critical Reasoning

1. No. of questions – 30 questions
2. Weightage – 30 marks
3. Types of questions – Family relations, cause and effect, assumptions, clocks and calendars, reasons, analogies, directions, series, incorrect terms.

Mathematical Skills

1. No. of questions – 30 questions
2. Weightage – 30 marks
3. Types of questions – Arithmetic questions based on SI/ CI, percentages, time and work, profit/ loss, ratio and proportion. Other topics are mensuration, geometry, PnC, probability, and quadratic equations.

Data Analysis and Sufficiency

1. No. of questions – 30 questions
2. Weightage – 30 marks
3. Types of questions – More than half the questions will come from data analysis (data interpretation), while the rest will be from data sufficiency and data comparison. The questions largely require students to analyse bar, line, table, and pie graphs to extract, interpret, and manipulate data to reach conclusions.

Economic and Business Environment

1. No. of questions – 30 questions
2. Weightage – 30 marks
3. Types of questions – Questions are formed on film awards, taxation & duties, the Indian constitution, who’s who, states of India, sports, and recent events. A combination of static GK and current affairs can be expected.

Despite the straightforward nature of this test, you must prepare well; with only 120 minutes provided to answer 150 questions, speed and accuracy are of the utmost importance. Both these skills can be picked up with dedicated practice and extensive coverage of the syllabus. 

MAT Exam Marking Scheme 2025

Each correct answer in MAT exam gets 1 mark,  and an incorrect answer gets negative 0.25 marks. All sections carry equal weightage, with a total of 150 questions and a maximum possible score of 150 marks.

Key points about the MAT 2025 marking scheme:

• Equal weightage: Each section of the MAT exam has equal weightage.
• Marking per question: 1 mark for each correct answer.
• Negative marking: 0.25 marks for each incorrect answer.

Understanding the MAT exam pattern 2025 is key to scoring well on this test. Due to the lack of time and dependence on speed, students need to be aware of the questions they should and should not attempt to maximise their scores. This requires tons of practice. Giving mock tests is the best way to solidify this practice. Sign up here to gain free access to full-length mock tests along with detailed solutions to take your score beyond the 90 percentile mark.

FAQs

What is the total time for the MAT 2025 exam?

The total time for the MAT 2025 is 2 hours.

What are the types of questions in the MAT exam?

The MAT exam is based on Multiple-Choice Type questions.

What is the exam pattern for MAT 2025?

MAT exam pattern 2025 has 5 sections; Language Comprehension, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Data Analysis, and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Economic & Business Environment. Each section has 30 questions totaling to the 150 questions.

What’s the marking scheme in MAT exam?

Each correct answer gets 1 mark and an incorrect answer gets -0.25 mark in MAT exam.