Known to be one of the toughest aptitude tests in India, the examination will do away with the paper-pencil test, as is the case in the Graduate Management Admission Tests (GMAT).

When contacted, Subrata Mitra, admissions chairperson, IIM Calcutta, said, "We are not revealing any details about how we are going to go about the online test. However, the fact that the test will go online next year is definite. We will not comment more on the issue as of now."

Other changes will also follow as the test becomes technologically updated. Prasan Kamat, assistant general manager, IMS Learning resource centre -- which conducts CAT tutorials, said, "Whether students would be allowed to attempt the test multiple times, as in GMAT, is not yet clear. It is apparent that the test would be conducted within a window period of a few months. This would benefit aspirants, who would get the opportunity to take the test over various points of time within a period, ie. if multiple attempts are allowed."

On the other hand, Kamat said students would need to psychologically adapt to giving the test online. "Besides this, the exam should more or less remain the same." He added, "The test going online would also mean that the exam would be conducted in a stipulated period of time and not all applicants would take the exam on one particular day, as was the case till now. Since the online test would have several sets of papers, it would be a challenge for the authorities to set equally difficult sets of questions."

Shriram Joshi,director,Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), said, "The concept of an online paper is not new. With the gen-next being technologically savvy, attempting CAT online would not be difficult. However, the issue lies in the logistics of conducting the exam. With so many people taking the test online, standardisation of the question papers would be a formidable task for the IIMs."

CAT aspirant Sagar Joshi is game for the change. "I believe the move has come in slightly late. With technology advancing, this change was obvious and, I think, it is going to be a great step. Instances of misprints and other printing errors can now be avoided and, hopefully, we would not have to wait too long for the results."