NMAT 2018 Analysis By IMS Experts

Overview

NMAT 2018 on the first day was similar to previous year's exam in terms of its structure. However, there were some differences in the topic-wise composition of the sections. According to the students who took the test on the first day, (October 4, 2018) the level of difficulty of the sections was more or less similar to that in the previous years. Continuing with NMAT tradition, half of Data Interpretation sets were significantly calculation intensive. Students also reported that there were differences in the question-sets for different candidates.  

Quantitative Skills

This year, out of 48 questions in the Quantitative Skills section, 23 were on Problem on Solving, 16 on Data Interpretation and 5 on Data Sufficiency. Surprisingly, the remaining 4 questions in the Quantitative Skills section were on Grouping and Conditionalities set typically asked in the Logical Reasoning. In the previous NMAT exams (mainly NMAT-2014 to NMAT-2016), the questions from one area were grouped together. This pattern was loosely followed in NMAT-2018. Majority of the questions on problem-solving were easy to medium level of difficulty. In the past, the Quantitative Skills section of NMAT exam used to have 5 sets on Data Interpretation. However, this year, there were only four sets on Data Interpretation. Two of the four sets were data heavy and involved significant calculations. Because of the nature of the presentation of the data, it required some effort to make sense of the data before the set could be attempted. The other two DI sets were relatively straightforward. The key to attempting this section was not to spend too much time on really calculation intensive sets and attempt the straightforward questions before more time-consuming DI sets. The Problem Solving questions were dominated by Modern Maths and Arithmetic. There was no question on Algebra. Following was a representative break-up of the Problem-solving questions (as per student feedback):

*: A few students reported that one question on Ratio-Proportions was confusing.
A genuine attempt of about 35 questions with about 85% accuracy will be considered good. However, in order to attempt 35 questions, selection of DI sets was very crucial.

Logical Reasoning

NMAT-2018 underwent a slight change in the structure of Logical Reasoning section. There were 25 questions on Non-Verbal Reasoning (as compared to 28 over the previous years) and 15 questions on Verbal Reasoning (as compared to 12 over the previous years). The section also had one set on Binary Reasoning that was not tested in NMAT in the recent period. The Non-Verbal Reasoning questions consisted of set based questions as well as standalone questions. One question in Non-Verbal Reasoning also tested the concept of a Venn Diagram in Mathematics. There were 15 Verbal Reasoning questions this year. Following is a representative break-up of Logical Reasoning section (as per student feedback): A genuine attempt of about 28 questions with about 85% accuracy will be considered good. However for attempting 28 questions, it was important to select the right sets

Language Skills

There were no changes in the Language Skills section from last year. The RCs were both of around 600-700 words. According to one student one of the passage was easy and the other wasn’t. The RCs should have been dealt with only after the other questions had been answered. The non-RC questions, which tested vocabulary and grammar concepts, were predictable and fairly easy. The remaining question types were on:Mark the error in a sentence; Fill in the blanks (double, cloze, subject-verb agreement & prepositions-based); Jumbled paragraphs; Word Analogies; and as usual in NMAT, Antonyms and synonyms The vocabulary based questions ranged from easy to medium. Following is a representative break-up of the Language Skills section:

While attempting the RC questions, students are advised to drag the slider of the vertical scroll bar to the bottom of the scroll box, attempt the question and then click ‘Next’ to navigate to the next question. In case of the slider not touching the bottom of the scroll box, the test-taker is prompted with a pop-up notification stating ‘Read the entire passage before attempting the question’ resulting in a waste of a precious few seconds.
A genuine attempt of about 26 questions with about 85% accuracy will be considered good.

Miscellaneous

Since there is no negative marking in the NMAT exam, it made sense to mark answers even for the questions you could not get.
No major technical glitches were reported from the test centres and the administration of the exam was smooth.
Students are given an option to choose the order in which they want to take the three sections of the exam. Students are advised to immediately click ‘OK’ once a section’s timing is over and load the next section on the screen as the timer does not stop till the time ‘OK’ button is clicked.
When you go for your exam, ensure that you carry the following with you:

1. Primary ID
2. Secondary ID
3. Admit card
4. Confirmation email
5. Photocopy of primary ID: The test centre staff will retain the photocopy of your primary ID for their own record.

The test centre staff will return the copy of your admit card to you after signing and stamping it. Make sure that you retain the same because you will have to carry the same copy for later attempts of NMAT, should you wish to attempt more number of times.