What is the GMAT Exam?

If you’re thinking about studying the infamous MBA in your quest to become a top business manager, you will have to conquer the GMAT exam as part of the vigorous application process.

The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) forms part of the application process for MBA courses supplied by business schools in the UK and across the world. It’s a tough three-and-a-half hour long test of your verbal, analytical writing, reasoning and quantitative skills. Thousands of business schools use it as a benchmark to see if you have what it takes academically to cope with the demands of the MBA course. The test is in English, and all answers must be written in English.

The test comprises four parts in all:

Part one: AWA

The AWA (Analytical Writing Assessment) requires you to write a critique on a presented argument, such as within a report from a newspaper.

Part two: integrated reasoning

This section involves evaluation of information presented in various formats.

Part three: quantitative

This tests your abilities to solve problems and apply mathematical skills and analyse data.

Part four: verbal

This section assesses your reading comprehension skills and grammatical abilities.

Total GMAT test scores can range from 200 to 800. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), two thirds of those who take the test score between 400 and 600.

Practise, practise, practise

Phew! It’s an intense three-and-a-half hours. And don’t underestimate how tricky the GMAT can be! The style of questions you will have to answer in the GMAT take some getting used to, and there are very few (if any) clever beans out there who will be able to pass it without any preparation.

The key to passing the GMAT is to get to know the types of questions to expect and how to handle them inside-out. You can see how you will fare in the real test by having a go at the practice GMAT tests which are available online.

You can find loads more information on the GMAT, GMAT practice tests and GMAT test centres at its official website.