IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis: Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), conducted the IIFT 2018 exam on December 2, 2018 across the 20 test centres in India. To help aspirants gauge their performance in the IIFT test, Jagranjosh.com bring to you the detailed IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis along with student reactions and expert inputs. The IIFT Analysis for 2018 exam will help students understand the overall difficulty level of the paper, the number of questions asked in the exam and also estimate their IIFT 2018 score or IIFT 2018 percentile accordingly.
IIFT conducted the IIFT 2018 MBA entrance exam for admission to MBA (IB) programme at its Delhi and Kolkata Campuses. The IIFT 2018 unlike CAT and other popular MBA entrance tests, is held in single session from 10:00 AM till 12:00 PM in pen and paper mode i.e. offline. Nearly 55,000 students have appeared for the IIFT 2018 exam and are expecting the analysis to predict their score. So, let’s find out how was IIFT 2018 exam.
IIFT 2018 – Overall Analysis
IIFT 2018 turned out to be the toughest MBA entrance exam of the season so far, especially for those MBA aspirants who were primarily focused on CAT 2018. As expected by experts at Jagranjosh.com, the IIFT 2018 proved to be tougher and lengthier as compared to last year’s exam. Although the overall difficulty level of the paper saw only marginal spike, the nature and the format of the questions made them lengthy with close options that made the questions difficult to answer.
The key to cracking IIFT 2018 was in realigning the time-management strategy for the exam. Candidates who managed to decode the paper in first 10 minutes would have cracked it. The RC, Quant and LR sections were more difficult and lengthier than usual and those test-takers who managed to identify them first and allot the time accordingly will do quite well in the exam.
IIFT 2018 - Section-wise Break-up
IIFT 2018 saw a good mix of questions from all the questions. The paper followed the IIFT 2018 exam pattern and was similar to the last year. The paper carried 114 question in total with the section-wise break-up as given below:
| Section | No of Questions | Marks Per Questions | Total Marks |
| Data Interpretation | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| Logical Reasoning | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| General Knowledge | 18 | 0.5 | 9 |
| Reading Comprehension | 16 | 1 | 16 |
| Verbal Ability | 20 | 0.75 | 15 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| Total | 114 | 100 |
Sectional Cut-off
| Section | Good Attempts | Achievable Score | Sectional Cutoff | Time Required |
| Data Interpretation | 4 | 3 | 0.75 | 10 mins |
| Logical Reasoning | 10 | 8 | 4-4.5 | 35 mins |
| General Knowledge | 8 | 2.5-3 | 0.83-1 | 10 mins |
| Reading Comprehension | 9 - 10 | 07 - 08 | 2.5-2.75 | 25 mins |
| Verbal Ability | 11 - 12 | 7.5-8 | 3.25-3.5 | 12 mins |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 10 - 11 | 7.5-8 | 3-3.25 | 30 mins |
| Total | 50 - 52 | 38-39 | 31-33 | 120 mins |
IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis by Career Launcher
IIFT 2018 – Section-wise Analysis
What sets IIFT 2018 apart from the other MBA entrance examinations if the sectional composition of the test. Unlike CAT and others which are highly aptitude oriented, IIFT tends to focus on Verbal Ability, English Usage and General Awareness equally as well. To get a better idea about the IIFT 2018 expected cutoffs, you can go through the sectional analysis given below:
General Awareness Section
The General Awareness Section or the GK section was quite similar to the one that you might have seen in the previous year papers. The section consisted of 18 questions with 0.5 marks for each question, taking overall marks to 9. The key themes that dominated the GA section include:
| Topic | No of Questions | Doable Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Current Affairs | 2 | 2 | Easy |
| Business and Economy | 10 | 03 - 04 | Moderate to Difficult |
| Miscellaneous | 1 | 1 | Easy |
| Geography | 2 | - | Difficult |
| Science | 1 | - | Difficult |
| Sports | 1 | 1 | Easy |
| Books | 1 | 1 | Easy |
| TOTAL | 18 | 08 - 09 | Moderate |
Looking at the above GA section of IIFT 2018, test-takers would have found it to be easier than last year with 6 – 7 questions being dubbed as easily doable. If you have attempted 8 to 9 questions overall with around 50% accuracy, you should be able to make it through to the sectional cutoffs.
GA Sectional Cut-offs
| Section | Cut-off 2017 | Cut-off 2018 |
| General Knowledge | 0.82 | 0.83-1 |
English Usage Section
The English Usage Section was quite predictable this year with no surprises. The key themes of EU section included:
| Topic | No of Questions | Doable Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Jumble words | 3 | 1 | Difficult |
| Analogy | 2 | 0-1 | Weirdly difficult |
| Fill in the blanks (2 blanks) | 3 | 02-Mar | Easy |
| Match the column | 2 | 01-Feb | Moderate |
| Spot the error | 2 | 2 | Easy |
| Word Roots | 4 | 1 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Sentence Improvement | 2 | 2 | Easy |
| Para Jumble (4 sentence) | 2 | 2 | Easy |
| Total | 20 | 11-Dec | Moderate-Difficult |
Unlike last year, the ‘Phrase-Clause’ questions were given a miss in this year’s paper. On the contrary, the Word-Jumble questions and vague Etymological Origin questions were part of the IIFT 2018 paper. The Analogy and Word Matching questions were difficult and tricky. While the Grammar Based questions, fill-in-the-blanks and para-jumbles were easy.
Overall, the VA section looked tough but candidates who had practiced well for the exam and maintained good accuracy during the paperwill sail through it.
Reading Comprehension Section
The Reading Comprehension section for IIFT 2018 was quite lengthy and consumed a lot of time of the test-takers. The section contained five passages of which four had three questions each while one had four questions. Unlike previous years, the RC passages were taken from academic sources and not newspapers and magazines. The RC passages were based on interesting themes as follows:
| Topic | No of Questions | Doable Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Passage 1: Culture | 3 | 2 | Moderate |
| Passage 2: Public Intellectuals | 3 | 2 | Difficult |
| Passage 3: Information flow | 4 | 2 | Difficult |
| Passage 4: Liberal Arts Education | 3 | 01-02 | Difficult |
| Passage 5: GDP | 3 | 2 | Moderate |
| Total | 16 | 09-10 | Difficult |
Overall, the RC section was lengthier as compared to difficult with passages being verbose and confusing. Even the questions in the RC section were not in the same order as the progression of the passages, which meant that test-takers had to repeatedly go back to passage in order to answer the question. Also, there were no direct or fact-based questions in the paper, the ones which were fact-based were moulded cleverly.
Also Read: IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis by Bulls Eye
RC Sectional Cut-offs
| Section | Cut-off 2017 | Cut-off 2018 |
| Reading Comprehension | 2.69 | 2.5-2.75 |
Logical Reasoning Section
Logical Reasoning was another section that consumed a lot of time. The section contained a good mix of questions from different themes i.e.
| Topic | No of Questions | Doable Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Distribution | 4 | 3 | Easy-Moderate |
| Matrix | 4 | 4 | Easy |
| Venn-diagram | 2 | 1 | Moderate |
| Input Output | 2 | 1 | Moderate |
| Missing number | 1 | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Arrangement | 4 | 2 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Selection | 3 | 1 | Moderate |
| Total | 20 | 11-12 | Moderate |
The circular arrangement and Matrix sets (friends and hotels) were easy, the other sets were time consuming. Candidates who have attempted around 10-11 questions with 85% accuracy would have done very well.
LR Sectional Cut-offs
| Section | Cut-off 2017 | Cut-off 2018 |
| Logical Reasoning | 5.69 | 4-4.5 |
Quantitative Aptitude Section
Quant has always been a challenging section as far as IIFT exam is concerned and IIFT 2018 was no exception. The section was tough and time-consuming with Algebra, Arithmetic, Geometry and Modern Math dominating the section. Quant Section was slightly difficult than last year.
| Topic | No of Questions | Doable Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Arithmetic | 5 | 3 | Moderate |
| Algebra | 7 | 4 | Easy-Moderate |
| Geometry and Mensuration | 5 | 2 | Moderate |
| P&C, Probability and set theory | 3 | 2 | Easy-Moderate |
| Total | 20 | 10 | Moderate |
Candidates attempting more than 10-12 questions with about 85% accuracy in 30 mins will make it through the sectional cut-offs.
QA Sectional Cut-offs
| Section | Cut-off 2017 | Cut-off 2018 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 3.3 | 3-3.25 |
Data Interpretation Section
The DI section in IIFT has again been a section that is highly dominated by calculation intensive questions. This year, the Data Interpretation Section in IIFT 2018 was no different.
| Topic | Number of Questions | Doable Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| Mixed Graphs | 12 | 3 | Difficult |
| Tables | 8 | 2 | Difficult |
| Total | 20 | 04-05 | Difficult |
What made DI section even more tough was the close options and choices along with lengthy questions. Candidates with 4 – 5 attempts would manage to do very well in the DI section.
DI Sectional Cut-offs
| Section | Cut-off 2017 | Cut-off 2018 |
| Data Interpretation | 0.25 | 0.75 |
Verdict
An overall score of 31-33 should be enough for General category students to clear the cutoff.
Initial Impressions
Overall the IIFT 2018 Exam was moderate in nature. Let’s check out the initial impressions of Jagranjosh.com Experts about the IIFT 2018 exam:
- Overall IIFT 2018 exam was moderate in nature
- There were no major surprises or deviation form exam pattern
- General Awareness section was of moderate difficulty
- Reading Comprehension Section contained 5 paragraphs
- RC Passages were lengthy and needed more time to solve
- Logical Reasoning Section was easy, had 4 questions on Puzzles
- Data Interpretation Section was calculation intensive and therefore tricky
- Quant section was the toughest section in the exam
Section-wise Question break-up:
The section-wise break-up of the number of questions asked in the exam is given in the table below:
| Section | No of Questions |
| General Awareness | 26 MCQs |
| Verbal Ability | 20 MCQs |
| Reading Comprehension | 17 MCQs |
| Logical Reasoning | 20 MCQs |
| Data Interpretation | 15 MCQs |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 20 MCQs |
| Total | 118 |
Stay tuned, detailed IIFT 2018 Exam Analysis to be live shortly!
IIFT 2017 Exam Analysis
According to the exam analysis of IIFT 2017 exam, the difficulty level of IIFT 2017 exam was tough. Compared to 2016, there were 6 sections against 4 last year. The overall IIFT exam structure was different; the total number of questions decreased to 114 from 123 as seen in 2016. In terms of format, the GK & Verbal Ability section was different; for instance, a few questions were asked with descriptions given first and then asking questions related to the descriptions. IIFT aspirants could expect a range of 35-40 as a good IIFT score to make it into the coveted B-school.
IIFT 2016 Exam Analysis
The IIFT 2016 exam was conducted in paper-pen mode in 20 test-cities across India. As per several test takers, the Data Interpretation was easier than the Logical Reasoning part. They could attempt lesser questions in the LR sub section. The RC section was easier compared to last year, while in the Verbal section; many found vocabulary usage questions tough to answer. Candidates could not go beyond 7 questions in the VA section of VARC. Quant was the easiest section of the complete exam, while the GK section was considered toughest of all.
For now, IIFT aspirants can go through the above analysis and prepare accordingly. The IIFT 2018 exam analysis article will be updated when the exam is conducted.
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