IIFT December 2022 Analysis

The entrance test for Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) for the batch 2022-2024 was held on December 18, 2022. The test was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). 

There was no change in the pattern from last year. The paper  had 4 sections and a total of 110 questions. The number of questions in each section and the marking scheme also remained the same as IIFT-December-2021. 

The structure of the test, and IMS suggestion of time allocation along with expected cut-off are given below::

*Section Time Limit: None 

**Negative Marks for incorrect answer: QA, VARC, and DILR -1 ;  Gen. Awareness  – 0.5

Verdict

In IIFT exam, the overall cut-off is significantly more than the sum of the sectional cut-offs. Therefore, since there is no sectional timing, a student should attempt a few questions in each section and devote more time and maximise the score in the sections of his/her strength. 

* The cut-off is for general category male students. Going by the trend of the previous years, we expect the cut-off for OBC  candidates at 100-105  marks and that for SC-ST students at 80-85 marks.  Further,  we expect the cut-off for female students to be lower by around 5-7 marks in each category than corresponding cut-offs for male students.  

Quantitative Ability

This was the toughest section in this question paper. The correct selection of questions will decide the performance of a student. Several questions were lengthy and time-consuming in general. This section was dominated by questions on Geometry and Arithmetic. Out of 25 questions in the section, 8 were on Arithmetic, 8 on Geometry, followed by 5 on Modern Math, 2 on Algebra, 1 on Numbers and 1 on Calendar. One of the trigonometry questions was from advanced trigonometry.

A total attempt of about 8-9 questions with 80-85% accuracy in about 30-35 minutes would be considered a good attempt in this section.

Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability

The Section was of Medium difficulty level.  The majority of the questions in VA were based on Vocabulary.   There were 16 Reading Comprehension questions based on 4 passages and 19 Verbal Ability questions. The passages were all of almost the same length with around 600 words. 

The Verbal Ability part was dominated by Vocabulary. All 19 questions were vocabulary based questions. 

Overall, the VARC section was similar to  last year in difficulty level.  It is wiser to attempt the VA questions first. One could spend about 12  minutes and attempt about 11 or 12 questions in VA; then turn to RC and attempt 10 or 12 questions in the remaining time of about 15 -20  minutes. Overall one could attempt 20 to 22  questions in the Section. 

Verbal Ability

An attempt of about 20 to 22  questions including RC with 80-85% accuracy in about 35 minutes would be considered a good attempt.

Data Interpretation-Logical Reasoning

Out of the 30 questions in the section, 16 questions were on Data Interpretation (Four sets with four questions each) and 14 questions were on Logical Reasoning. Overall, this section was medium to difficult. 

The Data Interpretation sets appeared more difficult than they actually were. Two out of four DI sets had multiple graphs. The questions were based on observation as well as calculations. The set based on Percentage Bar Graph was logical in nature.  The DI set based on Pie chart and Line graph was fairly calculation intensive. However, the other sets involved relatively simpler calculations.

Out of the 14 questions on Logical Reasoning, 13 were spread across five sets (one set with four questions, one set with three questions, and three sets having two questions each). There was only one standalone question in LR and it was based on Groups & Conditionalities (Team Selection). The LR set with four questions involved tournaments (Game of coin), the set with three questions involved circular arrangement (3 men from developed countries and 2 from developing countries representing WHO were sitting around a circular table), and the other 3 sets with 2 questions each were based on single-row arrangement (Office cabins), network diagram (Transportation) and puzzle (Quiz competition with positive and negative marking in three rounds, questions were based on maximum and minimum values). There was no question on Verbal Reasoning in the section this year in comparison to last year when there was a single question.

Overall, the questions on DI were easier than that on LR. Moreover because DI and LR were combined in the same section, ideally students should have aimed at solving the majority of DI questions before attempting LR questions. One should not have missed the 8 easy DI questions and 2 easy LR questions.

The following table shows the break-up of the sets in the section:

  An attempt of about 12-14 questions with 80-85% accuracy in 35-40 minutes would be considered a good attempt in this section.

General Awareness

The General Awareness section had 20 questions. The section consisted of normal MCQs and match the column questions (2 column questions) typical of IIFT.

The Section was predominantly on Current Affairs and none of the questions were  typical Static GK. 

A majority of the questions – about 15 – were based on International Affairs and 5 or 6 questions on National Affairs. Overall the difficulty level of the GA Section was comparable to that of last year. 

Several questions were from IMS GK material, especially the Compendium. 

An attempt of about 10 to 12 questions with about 60-70% accuracy in about 6 to 8 minutes would be considered a good attempt.