NMAT 2026: Attempts, Accepting Colleges, and the Scores That Matter

What NMAT is, and the 2026 windows

NMAT by GMAC is a computer-based MBA entrance exam run by the same organisation that administers the GMAT. It is the primary gate into NMIMS for the MBA, and a growing list of other credible schools accept it alongside CAT and XAT. What makes it different from CAT is structural: instead of one high-stakes Sunday, NMAT gives you a long test window and up to three attempts — though each school decides which attempt it counts: NMIMS accepts only the first, while several others take your best.

Here is where the 2026 cycle stands. GMAC had not published the final 2026 calendar when we verified this page, so every date below is labelled expected and comes from the pattern GMAC follows each year, as tracked in our deadlines tracker.

Milestone	When	Status
Registration opens	Early August 2026 (expected)	Expected
Test window	November to December 2026 (expected)	Expected
Attempts allowed	Up to 3 in the cycle; NMIMS counts the FIRST attempt only, some schools count the best	NMAT page (mba.com) + NMIMS admission handout
Official source	mba.com/exams/nmat	Check before registering

Treat the official NMAT page on mba.com as the only source of final dates. We update this page and the tracker when GMAC publishes the calendar.

Attempts, and who counts which one: the detail that changes your prep

CAT gives you one sitting a year. NMAT gives you up to 3 attempts inside its November-December window (expected) — but the school you target decides which attempt matters, and the difference is strategic:

• NMIMS accepts only the score of your FIRST NMAT attempt. Its official admission handout states verbatim: “NMIMS only accepts the score of the first NMAT examination attempted by the candidate.” If NMIMS is your goal, do not book a practice sitting — prepare to peak on attempt one.
• KJ Somaiya considers the best of two NMAT attempts for its MBA shortlisting, per its published admission criteria — retakes genuinely help there.
• Fixed-cutoff schools (O.P. Jindal and Jain at 160+) can be reached on any attempt that clears the bar.

The honest caveat: an attempt is a chance at the exam, not a discount on merit. Selection after NMAT still runs through each university’s own process, and at NMIMS that means a case discussion and personal interview.

Verified accepting colleges and their published bars

These are the schools where we verified NMAT acceptance on the university’s own pages, along with the specific bar each one publishes. Where a college publishes a fixed score rather than a percentile, we say so, because fixed scores are the single most useful fact for a realistic aspirant.

College	What NMAT gets you	Published bar (source)
NMIMS (Mumbai and other campuses)	The primary MBA gate; NMAT is followed by case discussion and PI; 30% of MBA seats are reserved for women applicants	Shortlisting by NMAT merit; no fixed public cutoff (nmat.nmims.edu)
K J Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai	MBA shortlisting alongside CAT 2025, XAT 2026, GMAT and CMAT 2026	Best of two NMAT attempts considered; eligibility 50% in a three-year degree (kjsim.somaiya.edu)
O.P. Jindal Global University (JGBS)	Direct acceptance for the full-time MBA	NMAT 160 plus (jgu.edu.in admissions page)
Jain University (CMS Business School), Bangalore	Exemption from the JET written test	NMAT 160 plus (jainuniversity.ac.in JET MBA page)
UPES, Dehradun	Straight to the interview stage, skipping UPESMET	NMAT 120 plus (upes.ac.in exemption criteria)
Great Lakes, Chennai	Accepted for the one-year PGPM (2024 scores onward); the two-year PGDM list does not include NMAT	About 2 plus years of work experience required for PGPM (greatlakes.edu.in)
GITAM School of Business (Hyderabad, Bengaluru)	Accepted alongside GBAT, CAT, MAT, CMAT, SNAP and state ICET	60% bachelor’s degree eligibility; Hyderabad MBA fee Rs 4.97L year 1 plus Rs 5.22L year 2 (official fee structure, 2026)
MIT-WPU, Pune	Accepted alongside CAT, XAT, CMAT, MAH-CET, MAT and the university’s own 50-mark test, then GD and PI	60% graduation eligibility (admissions.mitwpu.edu.in)

One name deliberately missing: aggregator listings say Bennett University’s MBA accepts NMAT, but bennett.edu.in was unreachable when we tried to verify, so Bennett stays off our verified table until we can confirm it on the official site.

Read the bars honestly. JGU and Jain publish 160 plus, which is a fixed score, not a top percentile. UPES publishes 120 plus. None of these is trivial, but none demands the 99th-percentile performance that IIM shortlists do. That is the sense in which NMAT is the accessible route to a serious MBA: the doors it opens are real, and the numbers on them are reachable.

NMAT is not NPAT: do not confuse the two

Families mix these up every season because both belong to NMIMS. NPAT is the undergraduate exam, the gate for BBA and other UG programs, with one main attempt plus two retakes and SAT or ACT scores also accepted (npat.nmims.edu). NMAT is the postgraduate exam for the MBA. A Class 12 student preparing for NMIMS needs NPAT; a graduate needs NMAT. If an agent uses the two names interchangeably, that alone tells you how carefully they work.

What NMAT cannot do, at any price

NMAT is the only paid thing in an NMIMS MBA admission, and the payment is the exam fee, to GMAC. There is no seat for sale behind it. NMIMS publishes a caution notice stating there is no management quota at NMIMS for any program and that such offers should be treated as fraudulent (nmims.edu/result). Business Standard documented a racket in which agents quoted Rs 15 lakh for a fake NMIMS quota seat. As a deemed university, NMIMS must admit on merit through its published process under the UGC Deemed Universities Regulations, 2023, and capitation in any form is illegal.

So a good NMAT score is necessary but not sufficient: the case discussion and personal interview decide the final list, and no consultant can move you up it. Our NMIMS management quota explainer documents the whole picture.

Where NMAT fits your 2026 exam calendar

NMAT sits conveniently late in the year, which makes it a strong second exam rather than a lonely first one. The season, as tracked on our deadlines page, looks like this: the CAT 2026 notification is expected 26 July, with registration through August-September and the exam expected 29 November 2026 (iimcat.ac.in). XAT 2027 registration opens around 10 July 2026, with the exam on 3 January 2027 (xatonline.in). NMAT registration is expected from early August, with the window running November to December 2026 (expected).

Practically, that means a graduate starting preparation now can register for NMAT in August, sit CAT in late November if the IIM route matters to them, and still have NMAT attempts and XAT in hand afterward. If CAT is not your path at all, NMAT plus one low-barrier exam such as CMAT covers NMIMS, KJ Somaiya, JGU, Jain, UPES, GITAM and MIT-WPU between them. Our direct MBA admission guide maps every route beyond the exams.

Tell us your graduation marks, work experience and target schools, and we will tell you honestly whether NMAT is the right exam for your list, free of charge, and if it is not, we will say exactly that.