CAT vs GMAT: Pick the Exam From Your Target Schools

The Indian School of Business (ISB) takes a CAT score for its Post Graduate Programme in Management for Young Leaders (PGP-YL), but its 12-month Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) asks for a GMAT or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score instead.

One school, two programmes, two test lists. A strong score on the wrong list opens nothing, so the programme you are aiming at sets the test, and comparing the exams alone cannot settle the choice.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT, lists the executive programmes of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) among the Indian programmes that accept GMAT, while IIM Ahmedabad's two-year MBA asks domestic applicants for CAT.

We publish this page and run Online Coaching 4u, a directory where students compare coaching institutes. Exam rules below are as read in November 2026, so confirm them on the linked official pages before paying for anything.

• Choose the exam from your target programme: each school sets its test list programme by programme, and the comparison above shows three examples.
• If ISB is on your list, book a test-centre slot, because online scores are not accepted.
• Count attempts before you count preparation: one good GMAT score can serve several application cycles, while CAT needs a fresh attempt each time.
• Online Coaching 4u lets students compare CAT and MBA coaching institutes before enquiring, free of charge.

Your target schools decide the exam. IIM Ahmedabad's two-year MBA takes CAT from domestic applicants (IIM Ahmedabad admissions), ISB's one-year PGP takes GMAT or GRE (ISB PGP), and ISB's PGP-YL takes GMAT, GRE or CAT (ISB PGP-YL FAQs). Find the row in the comparison above that matches your plan.

Other Indian business schools vary by school and programme, so check the school's own admissions page. Business schools abroad ask GMAT or GRE, depending on the school; see our GMAT vs GRE guide.

The other IIMs and Indian schools differ from one another, so do not extend the IIM Ahmedabad row to them. GMAC, which owns the GMAT, lists over 190 Indian institutions that accept GMAT. Which programme and which applicant category that covers is for each school's admissions page to say.

Work experience decides it indirectly, because schools tie each programme to an experience band and each band to a test. ISB's PGP asks for 24+ months of work experience. Its PGP-YL accepts up to 24 months. Match your months of experience to a programme first, then read that programme's test row.

Our reading of the table: a final-year student or someone with under two years of experience has a CAT-based route (IIM Ahmedabad) and a CAT-or-GMAT route (ISB PGP-YL). Someone with two or more years of experience aiming at ISB's PGP needs a GMAT or GRE score, because CAT is not on the PGP list.

One rule catches people out. GMAC lists "test centre or online at home" as a GMAT option, but ISB's PGP-YL FAQs say ISB does not accept GMAT, GRE or CAT scores acquired through online or home-based tests, and its PGP page asks for test-centre scores. If ISB is on your list, book a test-centre slot.

The formats differ in length, sections, attempts and penalties. CAT has 68 questions in 120 minutes with fixed section order, while GMAT has 64 questions in 135 minutes and lets you choose section order. The CAT figures follow the official CAT website, and the GMAT figures follow GMAC's comparison.

Both exams test quantitative, verbal and data skills, but the names and question counts differ (DILR has 22 questions, Data Insights 20). Our inference is that a course should teach each exam's sections separately rather than treat them as one.

CAT needs a fresh paid attempt for every application cycle, because you get one attempt a year and the score lasts one year. A GMAT score lasts five years and the test allows up to five attempts a year (eight in a lifetime), so one good score can serve several cycles. Count attempts before you count preparation.

Our model for the exam-fee side is simple: exam spend = paid attempts × the fee shown at checkout on the official registration page. Two examples:

• A candidate who plans to apply in two successive years pays for two CAT attempts, one per year.
• A candidate with a GMAT score that meets the schools' needs may pay once, because the score is valid for five years.

A retake changes the sum in either direction. Because GMAT allows several attempts a year, a poor first sitting costs one more fee. CAT's one attempt means a poor sitting costs a year. We would weigh that gap more heavily than the fee difference.

Only partly, and only if your table shows a school that needs both. The exams share headings (quantitative, verbal, data) but differ in question counts, timing and penalties, so a CAT plan is not automatically a GMAT plan. We recommend building the plan around the one exam your target row demands, and adding the second only when a school on your list requires it.

If a provider sells a combined course, run these checks before paying:

1. Separate syllabi. Pass: the quote lists CAT and GMAT modules separately. Fail: one list headed "MBA entrance".
2. GMAT structure. Pass: the material describes Quantitative (21), Verbal (23) and Data Insights (20) questions, 135 minutes, matching the GMAC table. Fail: it describes different sections or timings.
3. Access end date. Pass: a written date that covers your exam sitting. Fail: no date.
4. Dropping one exam. Pass: the quote says what you pay or get back if you stop one exam. Fail: silence. Our guide to getting coaching refund terms in writing shows what to ask.
5. Named faculty and batch. Pass: names and batch timings in the quote. Fail: "expert faculty" only.

Compare them on the same written terms before any payment: fees, batches, faculty, facilities, duration and refund terms, confirmed directly with each institute. Online Coaching 4u is a free directory built for that step, where students compare institutes before they enquire.

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