The CMAT (Common Management Admission Test) is a national-level entrance exam in India conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). CMAT 2026 exam date is tentatively scheduled to be held on 25th January 2026. It is designed for admission to management programs like MBA and PGDM offered by over 1,000 AICTE-approved institutes across the country.
The CMAT 2026 Exam will be a computer-based test of 400 marks in 3 hours (180 minutes) with 100 MCQs divided into 5 sections. As per the CMAT marking scheme, +4 marks will be awarded for each correct answer, -1 for each incorrect, and no marks for unattempted questions.
CMAT 2026 Exam Highlights
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CMAT Features |
Details |
|---|---|
|
CMAT Full Form |
Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) |
|
Conducting Body |
National Testing Agency |
|
CMAT 2026 exam date |
25th January 2026 (Tentative) |
|
Exam Level |
National |
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Exam Frequency |
Once a year |
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Exam Mode |
Computer Based Test |
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Exam Duration |
180 minutes or 3 hours |
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Exam Syllabus |
|
|
Exam Pattern |
100 questions in MCQ format (20 questions in each section) |
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Language |
English |
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CMAT Exam Fees |
INR 2,500 (General category male) INR 1,250 (General category female/reserved category students) |
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Exam Purpose |
Admission to 1,300 MBA colleges |
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Course Offered |
MBA/PGDM |
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No. of Test Cities |
107 |
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No. of applicants |
74,012 (for the year 2025) |
CMAT Eligibility Criteria 2026
Candidates must follow this eligibility criteria for CMAT 2026:
- The candidate must have a graduation degree (any stream) or an equivalent qualification from a recognized university.
- Final-year graduation students can also apply for CMAT 2026. Their admission will stay provisional until they submit their final graduation certificate to the MBA institute.
- There is no minimum percentage requirement for CMAT. You just need to pass your graduation.
- However, MBA colleges accepting CMAT scores may set their own criteria – usually 50% for general category and 45% for reserved categories.
- There is no upper age limit for CMAT. Anyone at any stage of their career can appear for the exam.
CMAT Test Centers and Cities 2026
The option to choose the test city for CMAT 2026 is given in the application form. Candidates have the option to choose up to 4 cities for test center allotment. The NTA will allot the CMAT test center in the city of the first preference. The allotment will be done on first cum first-served basis; thus, candidates must fill the CMAT form and pay the fee at the earliest.
CMAT Exam Timeline: Past 5 Years
As the CMAT 2026 official exam dates have not been released yet, we have mentioned the last 5 years CMAT exam date trend:
| Year | CMAT Exam Date |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 January 2025 |
| 2024 | 15 May 2024 |
| 2023 | 4 May 2023 |
| 2022 | 9 April 2022 |
| 2021 | 31 March 2021 |
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