IBSAT 2025 Registration (Open), Eligibility, Exam Date, Syllabus, Pattern, Sample Papers, Cutoff, Admission

ICFAI Business School accepts applications for its MBA/PGDM program through IBSAT 2025 for all 9 IBS campuses. Candidates can now apply for admission to IBS online at – general.ibsindia.org. from July 1, 2025. While the application deadline has not yet been officially announced, it is anticipated to close sometime in the third week of December 2025.

The IBSAT 2025 exam is scheduled on December 27 and 28, 2025.

IBSAT conducted by the ICFAI Business School is a proctored online test for admission to MBA and PGPM courses. It is an aptitude-based exam divided into 4 sections: Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, and Data Adequacy with Data Interpretation. Keep reading for more information on important dates, exam patterns, eligibility, syllabus, cut-off, and placement details compiled with all the latest updates just for you.

What is the IBSAT Exam?

IBSAT is a national level entrance exam conducted by ICFAI foundation for higher education for admission to MBA and PGDM programs at 9 ICFAI Business schools.

• IBSAT is conducted once a year and the exam can be taken from home since it is conducted as a remote proctored test.
• The IBSAT exam is held only in the English language and the registration fee for the exam is ₹1800.
• There are a total of 140 MCQs distributed across 4 sections including verbal ability, reading comprehension and quantitative aptitude and data interpretation.

Ques. How much does the IBSAT cost?

Ques. Can I attend IBSAT twice in 2 days?

Ques. Can I select my IBSAT test date?

IBSAT Important Dates to Remember

• Application window for the IBSAT 2025 is from July 1, 2025 to December 3rd week, 2025.
• National mock tests are expected to be conducted anywhere between August to December 2025.
• Admit cards are expected to be released in the month of December 2025.
• IBSAT 2025 is scheduled on December 27 and 28, 2025. And the results will be announced on 2nd week of January, 2026
• Selection process for MBA and PGDM programs will start from February 2026.

Check out this table to learn more about upcoming events for IBSAT 2025.

Ques. When is the IBSAT usually conducted?

Ques. When will IBSAT results be out?

Am I Eligible for IBSAT?

You are eligible to register and appear for IBSAT for admission to courses in MBA, and PGPM if you have a minimum 50% in graduation with English as a medium of instruction, and have completed 15 years of education. For candidates applying for PhD, a post-graduation with 50% in Finance/Management/HR/Sociology/Economics or an allied subject is a must.

What is the Selection Procedure for IBSAT?

The Selection Process for the IBS MBA/PGPM program includes a Micro-Presentation and Personal Interview

• A Micro-Presentation in Selection process is a brief talk or presentation where candidates demonstrate their communication, presentation skills, and ability to think quickly on their feet. Candidates have the opportunity to select one topic out of three. The format allows for 4 minutes in total: 1 minute for preparation and 3 minutes for delivering the presentation.
• The Personal Interview is an important part of the Selection Process. Each candidate will be interviewed for 5-7 minutes. The interview panel will focus on assessing the attitude and aspirations of the candidates besides evaluating their General Knowledge, communication skills, clarity of thought and expression, as well as aptitude for a career in management.

List of Colleges Accepting IBSAT Score

Here is the list of MBA colleges accepting IBSAT exam scores 2025:

What will be the expected difficulty level of IBSAT 2025?

The ICFAI Business School will conduct the IBSAT 2025 on 28th and 29th December 2025. It is a 2 hours online proctored test. The difficulty level of IBSAT 2025 is expected to be easy to moderate.

IBSAT 2025 Pattern

The IBSAT 2025 exam consists of a total of 140 MCQs covering 4 sections Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation.

Section wise Difficulty

• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VA & RC) – These two sections are typically the most scoring as compared to the other sections, a candidate with a good grasp of English can score good scores as these sections take up the major portion of the exam, adding up to an aggregate of 57% of the total marks. 80 out of 140 questions are from these two sections. In IBSAT 2025, this section is expected to be moderate in difficulty.

The questions of the Grammar section are expected primarily from topics such as synonyms/antonyms, meaning of idioms, cloze test, picking out the errors in usage, word relation, one-word substitution, phrases, fill-in-the-blanks, sentence correction, and jumbled paragraphs.

• Quantitative Aptitude – As per the past years’ exams this section has been considered moderately challenging, questions in this section are generally designed to check the student’s fundamental math skills, problem-solving skills, and accuracy. For IBSAT 2025, while the overall difficulty of the exam is expected to remain stable, the students are expected to focus on the following topics, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry; these types of questions require conceptual clarity.
• Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation - This is a time-consuming area and slightly challenging compared to the rest of them. This needs an individual to be highly analytical and logical. It is expected that this section will maintain a high level of difficulty in IBSAT 2025: with questions around intricate sets of data, pie charts, bar graphs, and caselets demanding quick calculation and decision-making abilities.

IBSAT 2025: No Drastic change is expected

The difficulty level of IBSAT 2025 is expected to be moderately difficult, no changes are expected in the pattern or structure of the exam and the section-wise difficulty level is also expected to remain the same as analyzed in previous years. However, the students should still stay updated with the latest announcements.

Here's a comparative analysis of the last three years to provide a clearer picture:

Observation:-

IBSAT 2023

The difficulty level of the IBSAT 2023 exam is moderate. The section of Data Interpretation / Data Adequacy was more difficult as compared to the other two sections. There is no change in the pattern and structure of exam in the year of 2023.

• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VA & RC) – In the IBSAT 2023, the questions in the verbal ability section were relatively easier than the other sections. Verbal Ability consists of questions about vocabulary, Jumbled Paragraphs, fill-in-the-blanks, and Error Correction in Sentences based on Grammar and Tenses, one-word Substitution. In the Reading Comprehension section, the questions were direct and some were logical, there were 3-4 passages, 500-600 words per passage.
• Quantitative Aptitude – This section was moderately difficult, in IBSAT 2023 the questions came from various topics such as arithmetic, geometry, number systems, profit, and modern Maths majorly focusing on problem-solving skills, basic fundamental Maths skills, and accuracy.
• Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation - The data interpretation section consists of questions about bar graphs, pie charts, and data tables which require strong data visualization skills. The questions in data adequacy were around Statements, Clocks & Calendars, Data Based Relations, and Data Surveys. The difficulty level of this section was moderate in IBSAT 2023.

IBSAT 2022

It has been observed that the overall difficulty level of the IBSAT 2022 exam lies between moderate to difficult. The section of Data Interpretation / Data Adequacy was more difficult as compared to the other two sections. There is no change in the pattern and structure of exam in the year of 2022.

• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VA & RC): In IBSAT 2022, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension holds the highest weightage and is the easiest, except for a few vocabulary questions that were a bit difficult, overall this section was easy - to - understand. The questions were from the following topics, idioms/phrases, synonyms/antonyms, jumbled words, error correction, and fill-in-the-blanks. The Reading Comprehension section consisted of 4 passages of 500-800 words each passage. The passages were time-consuming.
• Quantitative Aptitude – In the IBSAT 2022, the level of difficulty of quantitative aptitude was moderately difficult. It consisted of tricky questions from geometry, arithmetic, probability, speed, and time, some candidates faced difficulty in solving them. This section needed good calculation skills and accuracy.
• Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation - It has been observed that this section was the lengthiest and moderately difficult as compared to the rest of the sections, as the questions were based on the tricky data sets, and long caselets. It was more about logical reasoning than sheer data manipulation.

IBSAT 2021

Quantitative Ability and Data Adequacy / Data Interpretation remain challenging sections in the IBAST 2021 Exam, while Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension are typically easier. Because of this the overall difficulty is Moderate.

• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VA & RC)- This section in IBSAT 2021 is a highly scoring area whereas, it has a mix of easy and tricky questions based on vocabulary and grammar. The questions were from the following topics, Synonyms/Antonyms, Picking out Errors in usage, Word relation, One-word substitution, Phrases, Fill in the blanks, and Jumbled Paragraphs.
• Quantitative Aptitude: The questions of this section were a mix of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra which required a good knowledge of basic maths. This section was moderately difficult.
• Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation- Good observational skills were required to solve this section as it was loaded with complex data sets and caselets including pie charts and bar graphs.

Ques. Is there a negative marking in IBSAT 2025?

Ques. How much is each question worth in IBSAT?

What is the Average Package for IBSAT?

Students qualifying IBSAT with admission to IBS campus may receive an average placement package of INR 9.71 LPA. The highest international package for 2025 received by 20 students is INR 36.76 LPA, while the highest domestic package is INR 26.19 LPA. Over 750 companies including Deloitte Consulting, HDFC Bank, BlackRock Services, Axis Bank, Bank of America KPO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, ICICI Securities, PWC SDC, WellsFargo, Accenture, WIPRO Ltd and others.

Is IBSAT Worth Giving?

If you are looking for admission to one of the best B-schools in India offering comprehensive knowledge on the various aspects of Business Management with a good placement opportunity, this examination is worth taking. Depending on your percentile, you can get admission to one of the 9 IBS campuses. Your performance during your course duration can get you a salary package as high as Rs 58 LPA.

Where Can I Find IBSAT Sample Paper?

One of the best ways to improve your scores in this examination is to solve the previous years’ question papers along with the sample questions. As a measure to help aspiring candidates with better scores and rank, we bring to you free sample papers covering questions from all sections in the syllabus. Download the practice papers and improve your scores.