Admission test
GMAT
Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT Focus Edition)
The business school admission test — now the shorter, restructured Focus Edition, with data insights replacing the old essay.
What GMAT is
The GMAT is the admission test designed specifically for graduate management programmes — MBA and specialist master's degrees in business. It has been restructured as the GMAT Focus Edition, which is shorter than the previous format, drops the analytical writing essay and sentence correction, and introduces a Data Insights section as a full scored component. It also allows you to bookmark and revisit a limited number of questions within each section, which no previous version permitted.
Who accepts it
Business schools worldwide, including across all six of our destinations. Most business schools now accept either the GMAT or the GRE, so the choice is yours — the GMAT is more specifically tuned to business school admission, and some schools still express a mild preference for it.
Who should take it
- Applicants to MBA programmes.
- Applicants to specialist master's programmes in management, finance or business analytics.
- Candidates targeting scholarship consideration at business schools, where scores frequently inform awards.
- Applicants whose quantitative background is strong and who want to demonstrate it in a business context.
Test format
The GMAT Focus Edition is taken on a computer at a test centre or online. It is question-adaptive: each question's difficulty responds to your previous answers. Uniquely among these tests, you may bookmark questions and return to edit a limited number of answers within each section before time expires — a meaningful change in how the test should be approached. You may also choose the order in which you take the three sections.
Quantitative Reasoning
One sectionProblem solving
Algebra and arithmetic reasoning. Note that geometry and data sufficiency have moved out of this section in the Focus Edition — data sufficiency now sits within Data Insights.
Verbal Reasoning
One sectionReading comprehension and critical reasoning
Understanding written argument and evaluating reasoning. Sentence correction has been removed in the Focus Edition, which is a substantial change from older preparation material.
Data Insights
One sectionData sufficiency, multi-source reasoning, table analysis, graphics interpretation and two-part analysis
Interpreting and combining data presented in multiple formats. This is now a fully scored section contributing to the total, reflecting how central data literacy has become to management.
Total test time
GMACReviewed 26 August 2026
How scoring works
205 to 805 total, in 10-point increments
The Focus Edition uses a different scale from the old GMAT, so a Focus score cannot be compared directly with a pre-Focus score — scores ending in a 5 identify a Focus Edition result. All three sections contribute equally to the total, which raises the importance of Data Insights considerably relative to the old format, where its predecessor sections did not count toward the main score.
Score validity
GMACReviewed 26 August 2026
Registering and getting results
We do not publish test fees. Providers set them per country and per centre, and a fee that has gone stale is worse than none — check the official site when you book.
- Create an account on mba.com, the official GMAT site.
- Select the GMAT Focus Edition and choose a test centre in Nepal or the online option.
- Book ahead of business school round deadlines, which are fixed and unforgiving.
- Decide your section order in advance — you choose it on test day.
- Bring the same passport used at registration.
When results arrive
GMACReviewed 26 August 2026
How to prepare
What actually moves a score, based on where students from Nepal most often lose marks.
- Use only Focus Edition material. Sentence correction and the essay are gone, and geometry has largely gone from the quantitative section — older books will waste months of your time.
- Treat Data Insights as a full third of the test, because it is. Candidates preparing from old habits systematically under-prepare it.
- Practise the bookmark and edit feature deliberately. Knowing how many questions you can revisit, and budgeting time to do so, is a genuine strategic advantage.
- Decide your section order and rehearse it. Starting with your strongest section can settle nerves; starting with your weakest preserves energy for it.
- Critical reasoning rewards careful argument analysis rather than speed. Slow down on the question stem.
- Take full-length adaptive mocks in the Focus format to build both stamina and pacing.
GMAT preparation with MATES
What a preparation course covers.
- Diagnostic Focus Edition test with section-level scoring.
- Quantitative reasoning technique for the Focus problem-solving format.
- Verbal reasoning work on reading comprehension and critical reasoning.
- Dedicated Data Insights training across all five question types.
- Strategy for section ordering and the bookmark and edit feature.
- Full-length adaptive mock tests with score analysis.
Class times, fees and instructors
Course schedules, fees, batch sizes and instructor details are confirmed directly by our Kathmandu office and branches rather than published here, so you always get current information rather than a page that has gone out of date. Call 01-5333565 or book a counselling session and we will confirm what is running.
GMAT — common questions
GMAT or GRE for business school?
Most business schools accept both and state no preference, so choose the one that suits you. The GMAT is purpose-built for management admission and its Data Insights section reflects business school work directly; the GRE is more general and is the better choice if you are also applying to non-business programmes. Take a diagnostic in each.
What changed in the Focus Edition?
A great deal. The analytical writing essay and sentence correction are gone, geometry has largely left the quantitative section, Data Insights is now a fully scored third section, the test is shorter, the scoring scale is different, and you can bookmark and edit a limited number of answers. Preparation material for the old GMAT is genuinely misleading now.
Can I compare a Focus score with an old GMAT score?
Not directly — the scales are different. Focus Edition total scores run from 205 to 805 and end in a 5, which is how schools identify them. Official concordance information exists if you need to compare, but do not assume a familiar number means what it used to.
How should I use the edit feature?
Deliberately and with a time budget. You can bookmark questions and return to change a limited number of answers within each section. That means flagging a genuinely uncertain question and moving on is now a sound strategy — but only if you have reserved the time to come back.
Related
Test format and scoring information on this page last reviewed . Rules, fees and thresholds change — always confirm against the official source before you apply.
Find out where you actually stand
A diagnostic test takes one session and tells you your current level in each skill. It is the difference between a preparation plan and a guess.