CAT 2009 will be online...well..

Will the CAT 2009 go online or will it not? The debate has been raging for almost a year now, and we are as near to a definite answer as we were then - only the pendulum keeps swinging, from one side to the other.

The latest swing seems to be in favour of the "CAT will go online from next year". Latest media reports suggest that the IIMs, " which had rolled out the process for inviting tenders from various companies for conducting CAT have already shortlisted four companies." (source: Mint, 5th September)

Notice that this by itself doesn't really indicate much about the nature of the testing method itself. What it does indicate is that the IIMs are seriously considering outsourcing CAT. However the nature of the organisations that have been shortlisted does point clearly in the direction of a computer based CAT.

The companies which have been shortlisted are
1. ETS Prometric ( have handled GMAT before)
2. Eduquity Ventures ( conducts the BITSAT)
3. Attest (An Aptech concern, it is into computer aided assessment. But it also manages traditional paper and pencil tests)
4. Pearson VUE (Virtual University Enterprises) - (they are into computer based testing solutions)

A few months back the IIMs had officially denied that a decision had been made to make the CAT a computer based test (CBT), much like the GMAT , from 2009. What they did say was that the IIMs were exploring alternatives to the traditional testing method. This official denial was prompted by media reports and statements by various CAT coaching institutes that the test was indeed going online from next year. Even then it had all started with the news of the IIMs inviting tenders from interested parties for conducting the CAT.

Once again there is no confirmation or denial from any authority at the IIMs though the Mint report does include anonymous comments from an IIM official. Well, you can never be sure about that - whether it is truly an anonymous IIM official or the creative imagination of a journalist!

Watch this space for more.

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post-script:
An online CAT doesn't mean a internet based test. It is actually a misnomer in that sense. What will likely happen is that the CAT will actually become CAT, which expanded means Computer Adaptive Test vis-a-vis GMAT.

Will the CAT go online from 2009?

See what the official IIM website has got to say on this:

"An article appeared in Business Standard dated February 4, 2008 which gives an impression that a decision has been taken that IIMs will introduce online CAT from CAT 2009. This is totally incorrect. In view of increasing number of candidates IIMs are considering various alternatives for modifying the process of conducting CAT, if necessary. Online testing is one of those alternatives. The proposals are at the preliminary stage of discussion."

While talking to newspersons earlier during this year after the news of the CAT going online from next year first surfaced in the media, the IIM-A director appeared to be pretty confident about the possibility of the CAT going online from 2009. What had strengthened the belief in this stand further were reports of the IIMs approaching various organisations for the conduct of an online CAT.

Various established players added to the rumour by publishing unconfirmed reports. This is an excerpt from the website of Career Launcher.

Look at the story in the bottom half of the image above (cached from http://www.careerlauncher.com/mba/news/mbanews.jsp). It says without a hint of doubt, " The common admission test(CAT) will finally go online from 2009. " This is utterly irresponsible journalism. Making things funnier the last line of the story ends saying, "According to sources, the IIMs are contemplating conducting CAT" !!! There ain't a full stop there, so obviously someone forgot to complete the sentence, and no one at Career Launcher has bothered to have a second look at the page, i guess.

So, is the CAT going online from 2009? The answer is "no one knows for sure yet, and if somebody at the IIMs does, he ain't coming out with a forthright answer". My take is - the IIMs are highly interested in going online, but are not sure yet if they will be able to put the required infrastructure in place by the next year end.

Watch this space for more.