IPMAT Syllabus, Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme

How IPM admission works, stage by stage

The test is the first filter. IIM Indore shortlists candidates on the aptitude test score for a personal interview, and the final list combines the test, the interview and other parts the admission brochure lists. Several other IIMs that run five year programmes use the IIM Indore score for their own shortlists. IIM Ranchi, for example, has published criteria that use the Indore test score along with its own interview and an academic profile score.

IIM Rohtak is different. It conducts its own test, often called IPM AT, and also gives weight to class 10 and 12 marks and to its interview. So before you plan, decide which institutes you are applying to, because the Rohtak paper adds a reasoning section that the Indore paper does not have.

IPMAT Indore exam pattern and marking scheme

The IPMAT marking scheme gives 4 marks for each correct answer. A wrong option in either MCQ section costs 1 mark, while a short answer question, where you type a number instead of picking from options, carries no penalty. Sections open one after another in a fixed order and you cannot go back once a section closes. Shortlists have generally looked at sectional scores as well as the total, so a strong quant score may not cover a weak verbal score; the brochure states the exact rule.

Question counts have shifted in earlier years, and some reports have quoted different figures, so check the latest brochure before your final mocks.

IIM Rohtak IPM AT pattern

The Rohtak test has 120 multiple choice questions: 40 in Quantitative Ability, 40 in Logical Reasoning and 40 in Verbal Ability, in 120 minutes. You get 4 marks per right answer and lose 1 per wrong pick. Recent reports describe no separate sectional clock, but confirm this in the brochure for your year. With one question per minute, Rohtak rewards speed on easier questions far more than the Indore paper does.

IPMAT syllabus for quantitative ability

Quant sits at roughly class 10 to class 12 level, with a mix of arithmetic and the higher maths you meet in class 11 and 12.

Arithmetic

• Percentages and profit or loss; simple interest and compound interest
• Ratio, proportion, mixtures and averages
• Work rate problems, speed and distance, trains and boats

Algebra and higher maths

• Linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, modulus
• Functions and graphs, logarithms, indices
• Sequences: AP, GP and series
• Matrices and determinants
• Permutations, combinations and probability, set theory and Venn diagrams

Geometry and numbers

• Triangles, circles, polygons, mensuration
• Coordinate geometry and basic trigonometry
• Number system: divisibility, remainders, factors

Data interpretation

• Data tables, bar graphs and line graphs that need quick percentage work

Recent Indore short answer sections have also slipped in a small logical reasoning set, so a little practice on grouping and arrangement puzzles is worth it even for Indore.

Syllabus of IPMAT verbal ability

• Reading comprehension: three passages in recent Indore papers, around 18 questions in one cycle, which makes RC the largest single block of the verbal section.
• Grammar: sentence correction, error spotting, grammar based fill in the blanks.
• Vocabulary: fill in the blanks, idioms and phrasal verbs, word usage.
• Paragraph skills: para jumbles and para completion, both carrying negative marking at Indore.

For Rohtak, add a logical reasoning section: number and letter series, letter coding, family relation puzzles, direction sense, seating arrangement, syllogisms and puzzles, much like the reasoning in other aptitude tests.

What recent papers leaned on

Analyses of recent Indore papers point to a few patterns. The quant MCQ section was spread across many topics with no single chapter dominating, but geometry and coordinate geometry together took a noticeable share, and a data interpretation set has appeared each time. Higher maths such as logarithms, matrices and functions was a smaller share of questions yet often the hardest part. In verbal, reading comprehension carried close to 40 percent of the questions in one cycle.

Treat these as signals, not fixed weights. The papers change their mix from year to year.

Preparing for IPMAT during your board year

Most aspirants prepare in the same months as their board exams, so the plan has to share time with physics, accounts or whatever your stream demands.

1. Months 1 to 3: arithmetic and algebra basics, plus one RC passage a day. Use NCERT class 9 and 10 maths for the gaps.
2. Months 4 and 5: higher maths from NCERT class 11 and 12 (sequences, logs, matrices, probability) and grammar rules with sentence correction practice.
3. Board exam weeks: keep only a short daily verbal session going.
4. Final six weeks: full timed mocks in the exact section order, with a review after each.

Books and practice material

NCERT maths for classes 9 to 12 covers almost every quant topic the paper uses. For verbal, a standard grammar book, a daily editorial or long form article for reading and a vocabulary notebook are enough. Past papers released by the institutes, where available, and timed mocks are more useful than a pile of extra guides. If you are also eyeing other management or university routes, compare this paper with the JIPMAT syllabus and the CUET syllabus, and see how the later CAT syllabus builds on the same quant and verbal base.