why is it that this year percentiles are so low even at good scores, that used to fetch 97 percentile now fetches only 91?

Hello Aayushi,

Greetings!

CMAT percentile is calculated on the basis of rank of the student in comparison with the number of students who had appeared in CMAT. This indicates the percentage of candidates who have scored equal to or below your level. The CMAT percentile of a candidate can be calculated as per the formula prescribed by NTA:

100 * No. of candidates with marks equal or less than you/total no. of candidates appeared

The percentile is a relative term and is calculated on the basis of your overall performance in comparison with other candidates. If there are more people securing higher marks, then people obtaining anything below them will have lower percentile.

For example , according to this year’s analysis of the CMAT results, the highest score being obtained was 372 out of 400. This candidate has 100 percentile while the person who received marks in the range of 300 to 371 have 98 to 99.99 percentile. During the last year, the highest score was 341 and people scoring around 290 to 340 received 97-99 percentile. This year, with the bar being set at 372, which is higher than the last year, the percentile has been calculated relatively, showing a steep decline in comparison with the last year’s result.

An analysis of percentiles along with the scores for the CMAT results of 2018 and 2019 , will further help in understanding the relative change in percentiles . 100 percentile for 341 score (2018) whereas 100 percentile for 372 score (2019).

Similarly, c andidates scoring 310 received 99 percentile in 2018 while this year, the score of 350 (approx) attained 99 percentile. Due to an increase in the upper limit, the candidates securing 280 to 290 scores (approx) received 94 percentile this year whereas last year, candidates securing the same scores attained 97 percentile.

In accordance with the above mentioned reason, the percentile calculation is dependent on other factors such as total number of candidates appearing and number of aspirants qualifying the exam.

Hi Aayushi

The percentiles this year are low, despite the good scores as it depends on various factors ike-

1. Difficulty level of the exam (which was easy this year)

2. Number of test takers

3. Number of seats available

4. Number of candidates' passing the entrance exam