First administered in 1954, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) examination is relied on by greater than 7,000 graduate programmes worldwide, and 9 out of 10 new MBA enrolments globally are made utilizing a GMAT rating.
But over the previous few years, the variety of take a look at takers has been reducing.
According to knowledge from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns and administers the GMAT, within the testing yr (TY) 2017, as many as 250,761 MBA aspirants internationally took the GMAT, however in TY18 it dropped to 242,714, and additional to 225,621 in TY19, 173,176 in TY20 and 156,453 in TY21.
In the US, which has the utmost variety of folks taking the GMAT traditionally, the variety of folks taking the GMAT has dropped by over 50% from 79,746 in TY17 to only 38,509 in TY21.
In China, the variety of GMAT take a look at takers has decreased from 68,906 in TY17 to 39,739 in TY21.
In India, the nation which has the third largest GMAT examination takers, the variety of aspirants dropped from 32,514 in TY17 to 32,425 in TY18 to 30,590 in TY19 and 26,129 in TY20, earlier than growing marginally to 27,445 in TY21.
Education analysts FE talked to mentioned that the political dispensation within the US previous to 2020 and political occasions such because the Brexit caused a whole lot of uncertainty throughout the globe, and GMAT examination takers rethought their larger schooling plans in these two international locations.
“As many as 1,501 universities in the US accept or require GMAT scores for admission to their programmes, making the US the most preferred destination. The visa policies of the government in power from 2017-20, which placed restrictions on foreigners to work in the US, indirectly impacted those who were planning to study and work in the US,” mentioned an analyst who didn’t want to be named. “At the same time, while only 84 universities in the UK accept or require GMAT scores for admission to their programmes, the Brexit added to global uncertainly.”
But the largest affect was the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to embassies shutting down, visas not being issued, flights stopped, and common chaos throughout. With bodily mobility severely affected, the variety of take a look at takers additionally dropped.
To add to that, till TY19, GMAT didn’t have an internet examination possibility, and through the first lockdown in 2020 all GMAT bodily take a look at centres closed.
“Covid-19 took all of us by surprise. Soon after the first lockdown, we all started to realise Covid-19 is in for the long run. That was when GMAT introduced the online option,” Gaurav Srivastava, regional director, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, GMAC, advised FE.
In TY20, simply 5.4% of MBA aspirants internationally took the net GMAT examination, however this elevated to 37% in TY21. “This proves that the online option is getting increasingly popular amongst exam takers,” Srivastava mentioned.
He additionally believes that this yr onwards the variety of take a look at takers will begin rising. “The Covid-19 pandemic caused some amount of disruption in candidates’ plans to pursue management education in terms of delaying the decision-making due to uncertainties that were thrown up on account of travel restrictions, preference for in-person versus online learning and differing Covid-19 regulations across countries,” he mentioned. “This delay also led to deferment towards GMAT test taking, which slowed down in 2020 but bounced back stronger than ever in 2021, once the situation improved and is presently on a firm growth path in 2022 as the aspiration for management education remains strong.”
GMAT taken by testing yr
(Number of scholars)
Period TY17 TY18 TY19 TY20 (Online %) TY21 (Online %)
World 250,761 242,714 225,621 173,176 (5.4%) 156,453 (37%)
USA 79,746 73,556 63,945 45,648 (9.6%) 38,509 (45.3%)
China 68,906 71,223 70,473 50,686 (1.7%) 39,739 (16.6%)
India 32,514 32,425 30,590 26,129 (2.4%) 27,445 (42.1%)
(In April 2020, proper after international lockdown as a consequence of Covid-19, the GMAT Online examination began, which can proceed whilst offline examination centres have reopened)
Source: Graduate Management Admission Council
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