OPENMAT 2024 - Syllabus, Eligibility, Application form, 2024 Notification

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OPENMAT (School of Management studies by IGNOU)

The school of management studies (SOMS), which established its operations from the year of 1987, with a diploma in management course has now grown to offer 11 courses in management and 14 courses in commerce. The IGNOU management program is one of the best programs in the world, and all its courses follow the multi-media design and technology aided delivery system.

Structure of the test

The OPENMAT is an objective type exam extending for duration of 3 hours, containing 200 questions. The exam contains the following sections:

  1. General Awareness – 30 Questions
  2. English Language – 50 questions
  3. Quantitative Aptitude – 50 Questions
  4. Reasoning – 70 questions

Eligibility Criteria

  1. The candidate needs to be a graduate in any of the discipline with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks for general category, and 45% for reserved categories, with a minimum of 3 years of managerial, supervisory, or professional experience.
  2. The candidate may have a professional degree with a minimum of 50% aggregate in Engineering/ Medicine/ Chartered Accountancy/ Cost and Work Accountancy/ Company Secretaryship/ Law.
  3. The candidate with a master’s degree may also apply for the course, and the candidates have no age bar to apply for admissions.

How to Apply

The admission to IGNOU SOMS is done through OPENMAT that is held twice a year. To apply for the test the candidate has to obtain the application form and fill it. The following modes are available to the student:

  1. The student Handbook and prospectus, along with the application form may be obtained from The Director (SSC) IGNOU, and from all the regional centers of IGNOU by sending a sum of Rs 1050 through a Demand Draft/ IPO in favor of IGNOU payable at New Delhi or the concerned city of the regional center.
  2. The candidate may download the application form from the official website of the college, and a fee of Rs 1050 has to be sent through DD/ IPO in favor of IGNOU payable at New Delhi/Speed Post to Registrar (SED), IGNOU Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068. The prospectus to these candidates will be sent on receipt of the amount as mentioned above.

The filled in form must be received at SED IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi – 110068, by registered post or speed post, on or before the specified date. (15th January 2015)

Admission Procedure

The candidates who qualify in the OPENMAT exam must send the registration form (FORM – 2) available in the Students Handbook and Prospectus, along with the hall ticket of the exam. The form must be sent to the respective regional center, with the specified fee, after the receipt of Result card, but not later than 31st May 2015 for the admission cycle beginning from July 2015. The OPENMAT secures the students’ admission to the courses in MBA, DIM, PGDIM, and PG Diplomas in HR, FM, OM, MM and FMP. Admission will be offered to all the students who score above the cut-offs and conform to the other eligibility criteria.

Syllabus for the test

The OPENMAT is primarily divided into 4 sections with a total of 200 questions to answer in 180 minutes. The exam has no negative marking scheme, and encourages educated guessing. The exams have contained the following topics frequently, and these topics define the syllabus (albeit not exhaustively) to be studied for the exam:

  1. General Awareness: Current Affairs in India, Constitution, Government, Laws, Famous people, Economics History, Geography, Politics, World Countries, Organizations, World Economy, Science, Industry, Trade, etc.
  2. English Language: The English language section contains questions from grammar, and also from the reading comprehension part, which test the students’ ability to make conclusions. The grammar part tests the students’ mastery in the language, with questions on vocabulary, synonyms, antonyms, sentence correction, fill in the blanks, etc.
  3. Quantitative aptitude: This section tests the students’ numerical and mathematical skills. The topics to be learned for this section include Ratio and Proportions, LCM and HCF, Mean, mode, median, Combinations, permutations, Arithmetic Progression, Geometric Progression, Geometry, Number systems, trigonometry, etc.
  4. Reasoning: This section contains a largest chunk of questions, and the topics to be covered here are: Assertions – reasons, Assumption – Premise – Conclusion, Cause and Effect, Coding and Decoding, Critical reasoning, Family tree, Symbol based problems, Visual reasoning.

Important dates for the exam

The OPENMAT exam is conducted twice every year, and the latest exam is scheduled for 1st February 2015. The candidate appearing for the exam must be well- versed with the following dates:

  1. Last dates to submit the application:                                                    OPENMAT XXXVI: 15th July 2014                                                                                                                                                             OPENMAT XXXVII 15th December 2015
  2. Date of the Exam:                                                                              OPENMAT XXXVI: 17th August 2014                                                                                                                                 OPENMAT XXXVII: 15th February 2015
  3. Last date to submit Form 2:                                                                OPENMAT XXXVI: 31st November 2014/31 May 2015                                                                                                                                    OPENMAT XXXVII: 31st May 2015/ 30 November 2015
  4. The eligibility to seek admission:                                                         OPENMAT XXXVI: 1st Semester January 2015, 2nd Semester July 2015.                                                                                                         OPENMAT XXXVII: 2nd Semester July 2015, 1st Semester January 2016.

List of Exam Centers

The IGNOU OPENMAT is a national exam, and is held throughout India, in various test centers. The test centers for the exam are located in the following locations (Each location has a regional center):

Ahmedabad, Aizwal, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Cochin, Dehradun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jammu, Karnal, Khanna, Kohima, Kolkata, Koraput, Lucknow, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla, Srinagar, Shillong.

Contact Details

The candidate may contact the university through the following phone numbers for enquiries regarding the entrance exam and admission:

Phone No: 01129535438,011-29536743,011-29536103/6743    

Intercom No: 2224,220,2210/2212

Results

The OPENMAT Result is usually sent to the students within 6-7 weeks of the exam by post. Nevertheless on non-receipt of the result card, the student may download it from the IGNOU Website.

Validity of the score

Candidates who have passed the OPENMAT will be eligible to take admission to the college in any of the following two semesters. For example, a student taking the OPENMAT XXXVII in the month of February 2015, will be eligible to apply for admission in the second semester starting in July 2015, and also the first semester Beginning in January 2016.

Reservation and Seat Distribution

The university provides reservation to SC/ST/OBC category students in accordance to the Government of India rules. The college also offers particular relaxation in the cut-offs for the exam to these reserved category students.

Participating Institutions

The OPENMAT, provides for admission only at IGNOU, and makes the student eligible for admission into the following courses at IGNOU:

  1. MBA (Master in Business Administration)
  2. DIM (Diploma in Management)
  3. PGDIM (PG Diploma in Management)
  4. PGDHRM (PG Diploma in Human Resource Management)
  5. PGDFM (PG Diploma in Financial Management)
  6. PGDOM (PG Diploma in Operations Management)
  7. PGDMM (PG Diploma in Marketing Management)
  8. PGDFMP (Post-Graduate Diploma in Financial Markets Practice)

Counseling and Admission Process

The admission to the afore mentioned courses is done on the basis of the students score in the OPENMAT exam, that is conducted twice all through India in various cities. The candidate on qualifying has to send the form-2 of the application form, to the university, and his admission to the course at IGNOU will be confirmed. Candidates are however asked to keep a photocopy of the application form, as all students with marks above the cut-off will be offered admission, subject to qualifying all other eligibility criteria.

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