Among 242,000 GMAT test-takers, nearly 13% are Indian and for the major participation of Indian candidates, a GMAT score trend is visible for the Indian candidates. We have checked the official demography-wise reports of GMAC and got some interesting findings. To check the findings, continue reading:
GMAT Score Statistics
Let’s begin with the GMAT mean score comparison: Global and Indian
The increase is not just in the number of participants, the mean score of the Indian candidates is higher than the average GMAT score worldwide. GMAT Scores by Country have a major variation but here we will discuss the GMAT score trends for India.
To understand the scoring trend in a clearer way, the score obtained by the Indian candidates is categorized differently – the following table holds the categorization based on score ranges.
| GMAT Total Score Obtained by Indian candidates | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 600 | 50% | 48% | 48% | 46% | 46% |
| 600 - 690 | 36% | 37% | 37% | 38% | 38% |
| 700+ | 14% | 14% | 15% | 16% | 15% |
According to GMAT geographic trend report, the following factors can be identified:
- From 2014-2018, in India, lesser candidates are scoring below 600 (globally 54% and India 46%)
- The percentage of candidates scoring 600-690 have a steady increase – in terms of GMAT percentiles, it is 58-85%
- The number of candidates obtaining the above 700 GMAT score is almost the same
That’s about the percentages – moving on to the statistics of this GMAT score chart,
- In 2014, 15,865 Indian candidates scored below 600 and in 2018, the number is 16,714. It indicates a 1.3% growth.
- The number of candidates scoring 600-690 was 13,026 and in 2014, it was 10,671 – this highlights a 5.1% growth.
- Again, the number of candidates scoring above 700 was 5,075 in 2018 and it was almost 950 more than that – it is 5.3% growth.
These factors indicate that the GMAT preparation of the Indian candidates improved day by day.
Educational Background of the Indian Candidates
In India, candidates from different backgrounds take GMAT, and a majority of GMAT examinees in India are from an engineering background.
According to the following chart, a good percentage of test-takers are from engineering, science, social science, humanities, and other backgrounds.
GMAT Score Trend According to the Elected Majors
The above pie-chart shows that the majority of the GMAT scores are sent for MBA programs (2 years and less than 2 years), PG diploma courses, and MIM. Though the majority of the GMAT aspirants are from an engineering background, their most preferred is MBA.
So, MBA seems to be one of the most preferred programs of the candidates for studying abroad or in India. For MBA and MIM courses, the GMAT score of the Indian candidates is mostly sent to the top universities of United States, India, Canada, France, United Kingdom, and Singapore.
The percentage of the candidates applied for studying in Canada doubled from 2014 (6%) to 2018 (12%) and for the US, a decay of 8% observed in this duration for MBA 2 years courses.
Moving on to the number of test-takers from India, we have got some remarkable factors. Read the next sections to know that:
How Many Candidates Take GMAT from India
As per the score reports of the last few years, the number of Indian test-takers has increased by 13% in 2021 from 2020 while the global population GMAT aspirants remained pretty stable. Check the graph below:
From 26,129 to 27,445 shows a 13% growth in the number of test-takers in India. In 2017, the number of test-takers reached its peak i.e. 32,514. From that time, the number of GMAT test-takers decreased a little bit.
This is not just the case of India – globally, the number of test-takers witnessed a decline where the number of participants from eastern parts increased rapidly. Here, the eastern parts indicate the Southeast Asian countries.
From the Southeast Asian countries, the number of test-taker was 36% in 2018, which is higher than the percentage of GMAT takers from the US (30%).
Another interesting trend is visible in the Indian candidates which are also nearly opposite to the global trend. Check this in the next section.
Age-wise Status of Indian GMAT Candidates
| Age group (in years) | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <25 | 41% | 39% | 38% | 37% | 37% | Decreasing |
| 25-30 | 46% | 47% | 48% | 49% | 50% | Increasing |
| Above 30 | 14% | 14% | 14% | 14% | 13% | Stable |
In the global base, the major percentage of GMAT test-takers is under 25. But in India, the trend is exactly the opposite – the number of candidates from the age group of 25-30 is rising and below 25 is decreasing.
Along with this, the number of female candidates has a steady increase (32%) in India, even though the male-female ration is 17:8.
As the major number of Indian GMAT candidates are from the age of 25-30, it is not difficult to understand that they will be experienced candidates, looking for better placements. Find out the growth in the number of experienced GMAT applicants from India below.
GMAT Candidates and Work Experience
The following graph shows the comparison of the GMAT candidates from India and a global perspective in terms of their work experience:
From 2014 to 2018, the percentage of experienced candidates increased by 4% in India, but globally the rise is 6% - here the experience indicates 1-year of experience only.
Another report says 43% of India test-takers hold 3+ years of experience, now tits not difficult to understand why the number of Indian candidates from the 25-30 age-group is so high.
To sum up, GMAT score trends show that in India, the number of test-takers (both male and female), the mean score, and the number of experienced and aged candidates are increasing – this increment point is sometimes higher than the global increase. The majority of the test-takers are from an engineering background and they mostly opt for MBA and PG Diploma courses in India and abroad.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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