Cheating Found in CAT Exam Results

The organisers of the Indian MBA admissions test, the CAT exam, announced earlier this week that they have found that some results from the test have been tampered with and altered.

The Common Admissions Test (CAT) is widely used across India and in some surrounding countries for MBA admissions, and is run by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) who also use it for their MBA admissions exam.

In an announcement, the convenor of the 2012 CAT, acting on behalf of all Indian Institutes of Management, said that:

"Acting on the basis of a complaint, a comparison of [published] CAT 2012 scores… with master database of the scores… shows that scores of eighty examinees have been tampered/altered, resulting in inflation of scores for these examinees. The rest of the examinees’ scores… were found to be intact and matching with the master database."

CAT Exam Cheats

Though the published results were altered, the CAT exam's convenor is keen to point out that the master database of results has not been tampered with. As the IIMs use the master database, their admissions will not have been affected by the scandal.

However, as IIM official partner schools, and other schools that use the CAT exam unofficially for their admissions processes use the published scores to determine admittance on their programs, it's likely that many applicants will have already been admitted to programs unfairly, taking the places of genuine applicants.

Indian newspaper The Hindu reports that, alongside the 13 IIMs, almost 170 management institutes consider CAT scores for their admissions.

Further, the newspaper questions whether previous years results may have also been affected. If so, the scandal could result in graduate's degrees being rescinded, if they are found to have cheated during the CAT exam.