Preparing for the MAT (Management Aptitude Test) is a crucial step for aspiring business school candidates, and understanding the syllabus is key to success. The MAT exam evaluates a wide range of skills, from quantitative aptitude to language comprehension, data analysis, and general awareness. In this blog, we take a detailed look at the MAT exam syllabus, breaking down each section to help you focus your preparation and approach the exam with confidence. Whether you are a first-time test taker or looking to improve your score, this guide will provide you with valuable insights to streamline your study plan.
MAT Syllabus: In MAT Exam 2025 candidates can opt for Computer Based Test (CBT), Paper Based Test (PBT), or Both.
In the MAT entrance exam the total number of questions are 150 with a time duration of 2 hours. You will get 1 mark for correct answer and negative 0.25 marks for incorrect answer.
There are five sections: language comprehension, intelligence and critical reasoning, mathematical skill, economics and business environment. Each section has 30 questions and you need to answer 150 questions in 120 minutes.
| Section Name | Number of Questions |
| Language Comprehension | 30 |
| Intelligence and Critical Reasoning | 30 |
| Data Analysis and Sufficiency | 30 |
| Mathematical Skills | 30 |
| Economics and Business environment | 30 |
| Total | 150 |
Also Read: Top MBA College Accepting MAT Score
Section wise MAT syllabus
MAT Syllabus Section-1: Language comprehension
MAT syllabus for the Language Comprehension section is divided into 2 parts. The 1st part covers topics on Reading Comprehension passages and the 2nd part covers topics on Grammar & other parts of Verbal Ability.
Part-1: MAT Syllabus for Reading Comprehension (RC)
RC Syllabus covers current affairs making influence on Social Life, International Affairs, Govt policies and Schemes, i.e., Triple Talaq, Clean India Mission, Migration of people from one country to other, Growing intolerance across the Globe, Agricultural policies, poverty eradication programmes.
Business & Economic RC Passages namely Global economic changes, economic development at the cost of environment, Impact of Demonetization in India, Wasteful expenditure by Governments.
RC passages from various English Literature books, from articles authored by great philosophers and thinkers, from various speeches of great personalities like passages from Charles Dickens, Aristotle, Martin Luther King, Mohan Das, Karam Chand Gandhi, Churchill, etc.
Passages on Science & Culture, including the journey to Modern world; Fading culture with the advancement of technology and so on.
Part-2: MAT syllabus for verbal ability
This part contains jumbled paragraphs (3-4 questions) and error correction of verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of speech in the sentences.
Arranging the sequence of sentences in the paragraph, i.e. correct usage of conditional clause, time clause, reported speech, passive writing. Antonyms/Synonyms, Fill in the blanks, One-word substitution, Idioms/Phrases etc.
Section-2: Intelligence and critical reasoning
The syllabus for Intelligence and Critical Reasoning has been refurbished. As a separate section in the MAT exam and syllabus specifies that the questions in the Reasoning section can be individual or in the set of 3-4 questions.
This section contains the following topics: Fact Inference Judgment, passage conclusion, analogy, statement argument, clocks, calendars, binary logic, seating arrangement, blood relations (family tree), logical sequence, assumption premise, conclusion, linear and matrix arrangement, team formation, direction sense and decision Making, input-output series, syllogism, cubes, rows, set theory, network diagrams, quantitative reasoning, puzzles, etc.
Section-3 MAT Syllabus: Mathematical skills
Syllabus for Mathematical skills refers to the Quantitative topics on which questions are based. The MAT syllabus for Mathematics section is vast. The MAT syllabus for Quant covers everything in Mathematics that you may or may not expect. MAT exam syllabus 2025 on Quant is based on questions on different topics on Arithmetic, Algebra, Modern Math, Geometry, Mensuration, Trigonometry, etc.
This section contains the following topics: LCM and HCF, percentages, profit and loss, interest (simple and compound), speed, time, distance, time-work, averages, ratio-proportion, number system, mixtures and allegation, unitary method, commercial maths, permutation and combinations, sequence-series, heights-distance, algebra, geometry/mensuration, triangles, circles, coordinate geometry, venn diagrams, quadratic equations, complex numbers, logarithm, progressions, binomial theorem, surds-indices, inequalities, set theory, mixtures-alligations, co-ordinate geometry, trigonometry, linear programming etc.
Section-4: Data analysis and sufficiency
Syllabus for Data Analysis and Sufficiency covers topics on Data Interpretation. The MAT syllabus for Data Analysis and sufficiency section is very wide. This section had maximum questions on data interpretation and time remained the main obstacle to solve these questions with speed and accuracy.
This section contains the following topics:
Data tables, data charts, bar diagrams & charts including simple, stacked, composite bar charts
pie charts, graphs Line X-Y graphs, data analysis and data comparison, caselet based data, etc.
Section-5: Economics and business environment
MAT syllabus on Indian and global environment refers to the general knowledge. It expects one to know everything that falls in the category of business & economy, who's who, Current affairs, Static GK, etc.
This section has following topics: current GK- based on current reading of newspapers and periodicals, business & economics GK- i.e. Fiscal and monetary policy, CRR, Repo Rate,
devaluation and up valuation of rupee, business, national, and International events, who's who, constitution of India, currency-capitals of the countries, states of India, international Organizations, monetary-fiscal tools, emblem, Identification of personalities, companies among others, etc.
Suggested time limit by AIMA to answer the 30 questions in this section is 15 minutes.
No re-thinking or recalling is needed for what you do not know or are confused about. In case you do not know the answer, skip it.
Ideal time to attempt one question should be ideally around 20-30 seconds. This section is not counted for percentile calculation in the MAT exam.
In conclusion, the best way to get good practice on MAT question topics covered in MAT syllabus, is to go through the previous exam papers and attempt MAT Mock tests. MAT exam syllabus is based on the stated guidelines and current structure of the MBA entrance exam.
MAT Exam Syllabus has no boundaries. The syllabus is based on recent developments in MAT exams.
Any preparation is incomplete without acknowledging the syllabus first. It would be difficult to proceed with MAT preparation unless you know the MAT exam syllabus. The MAT exam syllabus is much broader than one can expect. It does not leave any study topic untouched.
If you go through the MAT exam syllabus, it will help you to decide: