NMAT 23 November 2016 Exam Analysis

NMAT 2017 in the 9:30 a.m. slot on 23rd Nov ’16 was similar to what was expected. The paper was of moderate difficultly level.
An attempt of 80 questions or above in 120 minutes will be considered as a good attempt. The remaining questions should have been calculated attempts (educated guesses) since there was no negative marking scheme involved. NMAT, being an exam of speed, yet again highlights the importance of a good reading speed. Anyone with a weak reading speed would have faced a tough challenge due to the restrictive sectional time constraints. An appropriate exam strategy would be helpful for students in this regard.
The pattern of the paper was as follows:

S. no	Section	No. of Questions	Time (in Minutes)	Difficulty Level	Possible Attempts
1	Language Skills	32	22	Moderate	25+
2	Quantitative Skills	48		Easy-Moderate
	Quant	26	60	Easy- Moderate	28+
	Data Sufficiency	6		Easy – Moderate
	Data Interpretation	16		Moderate - Difficult
3	Logical Reasoning	40	38	Moderate - Difficult	22+
	Total	120	120	Moderate	80+

Language Skills

The section on the whole was of moderate difficulty. There were 4 questions of  four-sentence parajumbles and were of a moderate-difficult level. Then there were two RC passages (four questions each). The subject of the passage, its nature, and the type of questions asked were easy. But for a student to optimize his/her attempt, he/she should target the other question types first and then solve the passages in the last ten minutes. There was one passage on “Anxiety of mathematics” . The passages were easy to read, and there were two fact-based and two inference-based questions per passage.
In this section, verbal was of a moderate difficulty level. There were a few difficult analogy and vocabulary questions. Overall, an attempt of 25+ questions was good. The other questions must be marked with after making an educated guess.

Topic	No. of Questions
Reading Comprehension Passages	8 (2 passages of 4 questions each)
Para Jumble	4
Error Spotting	4
FIBs (vocab)	2
Synonyms	2
Antonym	2
Cloze Test	4 (1 set of 4 questions)
Grammar (preposition)	2
Analogy	4
Total	32

Quantitative Skills

The Quantitative Aptitude section was an easy-moderate. The section had a good number of questions from DS. The DS questions were from diverse topics such as Numbers, Geometry and Algebra. It is advised that the students should attempt QA and DS first in this section. The DI questions were of a moderate-difficult level and required some time for the aspirant to comprehend them.
The best strategy in this section would have been to maximize the score from Quant and DS and then look for some easy questions in DI. A well prepared student could have easily attempted 30+ questions in this section.

Topic	No. of Questions
Profit & Loss	2
Percentages	2
Average	2
Time, Speed & Distance	2
Work & Time	2
Number System	5
Progression	1
Quadratic and higher degree Equations	2
Co-ordinate	1
Geometry	2
Mensuration (Perimeter and area)	3
PnC	2
DS	6
DI	16
Total	48

Logical Reasoning

The Logical Reasoning section was of a moderate-difficult level. There were around 10 questions from verbal logic and reasoning and their difficulty level was easy-moderate. There were three Critical Reasoning questions which were of a moderate difficulty level. There were couple of syllogism questions in the exam. There were two LR sets of 4 questions each. There was a set based on input and output having 4 questions. The S/W argument questions were above average in difficulty. Most of the questions were tricky and time consuming. Students need to maintain their composure and solve as many questions as they can. An attempt of 22-25 questions would have been a really good effort for this slot.

Topic	No. of Questions
Coding	3
Blood Relation	2
Critical Reasoning	3
Strong and Weak Argument	2
Statement Conclusion and syllogism	3
Course of Action	1
Statement Assumption	2
LR	8
Input/output	4 (1 set of 4 questions)
Diagram Based (Find the missing number/Letten)	2
Series	2
Venn diagram	1
Singlets	7
Total	40