July 29, 2026
Overview: Looking for the IPMAT Indore 2025 question paper PDF? IIM Indore typically doesn’t release the paper publicly, so the PDF and questions below are compiled from verified student recall across centres. Use this page to (1) download the PDF, (2) see section-wise difficulty and topic weightage, and (3) benchmark your expected score vs sectional cutoffs.
The IPMAT Indore 2025 question paper was set for the exam held on 12 May 2025 and contained 90 questions worth 360 marks across three sectionally timed sections
The paper was rated moderate to difficult, harder than both 2024 and 2026, with QA (MCQ) as the toughest section. IIM Indore does not publish the paper publicly; the versions available online, including SuperGrads', are memory-based reconstructions built from student recall.
| IPMAT Indore 2026 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2025 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2024 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2023 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2022 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2021 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2020 Question paper | |
| IPMAT Indore 2019 Question paper |
.
The IPMAT Indore 2025 question paper is the set of 90 questions used in the IPM Aptitude Test conducted by IIM Indore on 12 May 2025 for admission to its five-year Integrated Programme in Management (the IPM 2025–30 batch).
It was a computer-based paper divided into three sections, each with its own 40-minute timer that could not be paused or revisited:
Quantitative Ability (Short Answer) — 15 questions where you type the numeric answer into a box. No options, and no negative marking.
Quantitative Ability (MCQ) — 30 multiple-choice questions.
Verbal Ability — 45 questions, mostly MCQ.
The 2025 paper followed the structure IIM Indore has kept stable since 2022 — 90 questions, 360 marks, three sectionally timed sections.
|
Section |
Question type |
Questions |
Marks |
Time |
Negative marking |
|
Quantitative Ability (Short Answer) |
Type-in numeric answer |
15 |
60 |
40 min |
No |
|
Quantitative Ability (MCQ) |
Multiple choice |
30 |
120 |
40 min |
Yes, −1 |
|
Verbal Ability |
Multiple choice |
45 |
180 |
40 min |
Yes, −1 |
|
Total |
— |
90 |
360 |
120 min |
— |
Marking scheme: +4 for every correct answer. −1 for every incorrect answer in the two MCQ sections. Zero penalty for a wrong answer in Quantitative Ability (Short Answer).
Three features of this structure decided outcomes in 2025 more than raw ability did.
Forty minutes for a section, then the screen moves on. You cannot borrow five minutes from Verbal to finish a quant question.
Students who had only ever practised full-length 120-minute papers without sectional locks were the ones who ran out of time in QA-MCQ.
Fifteen questions, no penalty, and a General-category cutoff of 24 — which is six correct answers. If you have 90 seconds left in that section and a half-worked question, type your best number.
There is no downside. In 2025, the SA section was rated easy to moderate, the friendliest of the three, and it was still where students left marks on the table by leaving blanks.
Below is the memory-based question set compiled by SuperGrads' on-ground team from student recall across test centres on 12 May 2025.
Please read this before the tables
Recall-based reconstruction is inherently partial. Our teams recovered roughly 13 of the 15 QA-SA questions and roughly 19 of the 30 QA-MCQ questions with enough confidence to publish.
The Verbal Ability breakdown is complete at the topic level because the section structure is easy for students to recall accurately, even when individual question wording is not. Treat these tables as a reliable guide to what was tested and how heavily — not as a complete question paper.
Read More: Previous year Questions for Verbal Ability for IPMAT 2027 exam
|
Topic |
Questions recalled |
|
Logical Reasoning / DI set (grouping-based) |
3 |
|
Logarithms |
2 |
|
Ages |
1 |
|
Time and Work |
1 |
|
Geometry (circle and square) |
1 |
|
Remainder theorem (algebraic) |
1 |
|
Arithmetic and Geometric Progression |
1 |
|
Modulus |
1 |
|
Determinants and Matrices |
1 |
|
Number of integral solutions |
1 |
Representative questions students reported from this section:
| Topic | Download Link |
|---|---|
| Basic Algebra & Polynomials | |
| Combination | |
| Percentage | |
| Profit, Loss & Discount | |
| Ratio, Proportion, Variation & Partnership | |
| Average, Mixture & Alligation | |
| Simple & Compound Interest | |
| Time, Work, Pipes & Cisterns, Chain Rule | |
| Surds, Indices & Logarithms | |
| Set Theory | |
| Functions & Graphs | |
| Linear & Quadratic Equations | |
| Geometry & Mensuration | |
| Inequalities & Modulus | |
| Coordinate Geometry & Trigonometry | |
| Permutation & Combination | |
| Probability | |
| Progression (AP, GP, HP) | |
| Work & Time | |
| Matrices | |
| Miscellaneous Topics | |
| Basic Algebra – Linear Equations | |
| Fundamental Principle of Counting | |
| Geometry – Circles | |
| Logarithm | |
| Mean, Mode & Median | |
| Mensuration (2D & 3D) | |
| Number System & Factors | |
| Number Theory | |
| Time, Speed & Distance (Boats, Streams, Linear Motion) |
|
Topic |
Questions recalled |
|
LR / DI set (e-commerce platform sales data) |
5 |
|
Coordinate Geometry |
2 |
|
Permutation and Combination |
2 |
|
Matrices and Determinants |
1 |
|
Arithmetic and Geometric Progression |
1 |
|
Geometric Progression |
1 |
|
Probability (GP-based) |
1 |
|
Remainders |
1 |
|
Number System |
1 |
|
Time, Speed and Distance |
1 |
|
Polygon (octagon) |
1 |
|
Logarithms with proportion |
1 |
|
Simple and Compound Interest |
1 |
Representative questions from this section:
|
Topic |
Questions |
|
Reading Comprehension (3 passages × 6 questions) |
18 |
|
Vocabulary — phrasal verbs (3), idioms (3), double and triple fillers (6) |
12 |
|
Grammar — error spotting, subject-verb agreement, parallelism, conditionals |
5 |
|
Para-jumbles (four- and five-sentence sets) |
5 |
|
Para-completion (middle and final blanks missing) |
5 |
|
Total |
45 |
The three RC passages in 2025 were:
|
Passage |
Theme |
Student verdict |
|
1 |
Podcast startups — a classification-and-dialogue piece |
Doable |
|
2 |
Meta, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk |
Doable |
|
3 |
An abstract philosophical passage |
Difficult |
| Topic | Download Link |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | |
| Idioms and Phrases | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Error Spotting | |
| Sentence Improvement | |
| Grammar-Based Fill in the Blanks | |
| Narration and Voice | |
| Reading Comprehension | |
| Para Completion | |
| Para Jumbles | |
| Listening Transcript | |
| Antonyms | |
| One Word Substitution | |
| Direct & Indirect Speech | |
| Synonyms | |
| Punctuations | |
| Tenses | |
| Spelling Test | |
| Cloze Test | |
| Sentence Arrangement / Para Jumbler |
Verdict: moderate to difficult — harder than 2024, and clearly harder than 2026.
|
Section |
2025 difficulty |
Why |
|
Quantitative Ability (SA) |
Easy to moderate |
Most approachable section. Some students found a few questions ambiguously framed. |
|
Quantitative Ability (MCQ) |
Moderate to difficult |
The hardest section. Long calculations, multi-concept questions, real conceptual depth. |
|
Verbal Ability |
Moderate to difficult |
Three RC passages instead of the expected two. Vocabulary-heavy and inference-driven. |
|
Overall |
Moderate to difficult |
Tougher than IPMAT Indore 2024. |
It was not conceptually exotic. Nothing appeared from outside the IPMAT Indore syllabus. Students who lost marks did so on length, on multi-concept chaining, and on the clock — not on unfamiliar topics.
QA-MCQ was long, not obscure. The e-commerce DI set alone consumed a large share of the 40 minutes for anyone who attacked it head-on.
The individual questions were fair; the section as a whole was not finishable at a comfortable pace. Selection mattered more than solving ability.
The third RC passage was the day's genuine surprise. IPMAT Indore had run two passages for years. In 2025, a third appeared — and it was abstract and philosophical, the hardest of the set.
Students who budgeted 40 minutes for two passages plus 33 non-RC questions found themselves 18 RC questions deep with the clock gone.
Questions chained concepts. A single question might combine logarithms with proportion, or probability with geometric progressions. Topic-wise preparation that had never been tested in combination did not hold up.
The pattern we see repeatedly in student feedback is that 2025 rewarded breadth over depth.
A student strong in arithmetic and weak in coordinate geometry, matrices and modern maths could not cover the shortfall with speed, because the paper distributed its difficulty across topics rather than concentrating it.
This is the strategic lesson of the 2025 paper: at IIM Indore, being excellent at your favourite three chapters is worth less than being competent at all twelve.
Working from the memory-based reconstruction, here is where the marks sat.
|
Area |
Approx. questions |
Approx. marks |
Note |
|
LR / DI sets |
8 (3 in SA, 5 in MCQ) |
~32 |
The single biggest quant block. Appeared in both quant sections. |
|
Progressions (AP / GP) |
3–4 |
~14 |
Including a GP-based probability question |
|
Logarithms |
3 |
~12 |
Two in SA, one combined with proportion in MCQ |
|
Geometry + Coordinate Geometry |
4 |
~16 |
Circle-and-square, an octagon, two coordinate questions |
|
Number System and Remainders |
3–4 |
~14 |
Perfect-square factors, cyclicity, integral solutions |
|
Permutation, Combination, Probability |
3 |
~12 |
|
|
Matrices and Determinants |
2 |
~8 |
One per section |
|
Arithmetic (TSD, Time and Work, SI-CI, Ages) |
4 |
~16 |
Present but not dominant — an important shift |
|
Modulus and Algebra |
2 |
~8 |
|
Area |
Questions |
Marks |
Share of VA |
|
Reading Comprehension |
18 |
72 |
40% |
|
Vocabulary (idioms, phrasal verbs, fillers) |
12 |
48 |
27% |
|
Para-jumbles |
5 |
20 |
11% |
|
Para-completion |
5 |
20 |
11% |
|
Grammar |
5 |
20 |
11% |
| Elementary Algebra Booklet | |
| Book on Concepts for Geometry | |
| Number System Concepts Booklet | |
| Inequalities Concepts Booklet | |
| Booklet on Syllogisms | |
| Booklet on Vocabulary Building Techniques | |
| Data Arrangement & Puzzles Booklet | |
| Booklet on Idioms & Phrases |
|
Parameter |
Details |
|---|---|
|
Total Questions |
15 |
|
Time Allotted |
40 Minutes |
|
Negative Marking |
No |
|
Difficulty Level |
Easy to Moderate |
|
Scoring Potential |
High; this was the most scoring section of the exam. |
|
Major Topics Asked |
Ages, Time & Work, Geometry (Circle & Square), Logarithms, Determinants & Functions, Logic Set, Linear Diophantine Equation |
|
Most Notable Question |
A two-variable Diophantine equation based on 7m + 11n = 200, which rewarded conceptual understanding over trial and error. |
|
Time-Consuming Questions |
Three-question Logic Set on expedition group formation. |
|
Ideal Attempt Strategy |
Make two passes—solve straightforward questions first, then return to lengthy or set-based problems. Since there is no negative marking, attempt every remaining question in the final minute. |
Difficulty: moderate to difficult. The hardest section of the paper.
|
Parameter |
Details |
|---|---|
|
Total Questions |
30 |
|
Time Allotted |
40 Minutes |
|
Negative Marking |
Yes (-1 for every incorrect answer) |
|
Difficulty Level |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Scoring Potential |
Moderate; accuracy was more important than the number of attempts. |
|
Major Topics Asked |
Data Interpretation, Coordinate Geometry, Number Theory, Modulus, Probability, Geometry, Algebra |
|
Most Notable Question |
Five-question E-commerce Data Interpretation (DI) set requiring category-wise sales analysis. |
|
Time-Consuming Questions |
Data Interpretation set involving extensive calculations. |
|
Other Important Questions |
Angle Between Lines, Remainders, Octagon Geometry, Modulus Equation, Geometric Progression-based Probability |
|
Ideal Attempt Strategy |
Decide early whether to attempt the DI set. Complete all non-DI questions first and revisit difficult questions later. Avoid unnecessary guesses due to negative marking. |
Difficulty: moderate to difficult. The section that decided the paper.
|
Parameter |
Details |
|---|---|
|
Total Questions |
45 |
|
Time Allotted |
40 Minutes |
|
Negative Marking |
Yes (-1 for every incorrect answer) |
|
Difficulty Level |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Scoring Potential |
Moderate; vocabulary knowledge played a decisive role. |
|
Reading Comprehension |
3 passages comprising 18 questions. Two passages were manageable, while one abstract passage was comparatively difficult. |
|
Vocabulary Topics |
Idioms & Phrases, Phrasal Verbs, Double & Triple Fill in the Blanks, Synonyms & Word Usage |
|
Grammar Topics |
Subject-Verb Agreement, Parallelism, Conditionals, Sentence Completion |
|
Most Challenging Area |
Vocabulary-based Fill in the Blanks and the abstract Reading Comprehension passage. |
|
Ideal Attempt Strategy |
Spend 22–24 minutes on Reading Comprehension and 16–18 minutes on vocabulary and grammar. Skip difficult passages initially and return to them later if time permits. Prioritize accuracy over guesswork due to negative marking. |
This is where the 2025 paper becomes genuinely valuable, because we are not guessing. IIM Indore has disclosed the actual sectional cutoffs and qualification numbers for the IPM 2025–30 batch.
|
Category |
QA (SA) /60 |
QA (MCQ) /120 |
Verbal Ability /180 |
Candidates who cleared all three |
|
General |
24 |
28 |
112 |
301 |
|
EWS |
16 |
18 |
87 |
75 |
|
NC-OBC |
12 |
15 |
78 |
245 |
|
SC |
12 |
10 |
65 |
113 |
|
ST |
8 |
6 |
48 |
51 |
|
PwD |
8 |
5 |
47 |
33 |
|
Total: 818 |
These are minimum qualifying marks, and they are simultaneous. You must clear all three.
A General candidate scoring 55 in QA-SA, 90 in QA-MCQ and 110 in VA — a strong 255 out of 360 — is eliminated for missing the VA cutoff by two marks. The full year-on-year picture is on the IPMAT Indore cut off page.
|
Measure |
2025 figure |
|
Candidates with a positive score in all three sections |
16,357 |
|
Candidates clearing all three sectional cutoffs |
818 |
|
Conversion rate |
~5% |
|
General-category candidates with a positive score |
12,132 |
|
General-category candidates clearing all cutoffs |
301 |
|
General conversion rate |
~2.5% |
And clearing the cutoff is only the gate. Among the 301 qualifying General candidates, the Aptitude Test Score ranged from 41.56 to 89.24 — a spread wide enough that a candidate scraping the cutoff sat nowhere near a shortlist.
Because we know the exact cutoff marks and the exact marking scheme, we can work out what clearing each section actually required. This is arithmetic, not prediction.
|
Section |
General cutoff |
What that means in attempts |
|
QA-SA (+4, no negative) |
24 |
6 correct out of 15. Blanks cost you nothing, so there is no reason to leave any. |
|
QA-MCQ (+4 / −1) |
28 |
7 correct with zero wrong. Or 8 correct with 4 wrong. Or 9 correct with 8 wrong. |
|
VA (+4 / −1) |
112 |
28 correct with zero wrong. Or 30 correct with 8 wrong. Or 32 correct with 16 wrong. |
|
Total |
164 / 360 |
Roughly 46% just to reach the interview shortlisting pool. |
Read the QA-MCQ row carefully. Seven clean correct answers out of 30 cleared the section.
That is a remarkably low bar in raw terms — and it tells you exactly how brutal that section felt to the average candidate.
Meanwhile VA demanded 28 clean correct answers out of 45. The two sections had wildly different real difficulty, and a student who prepared for them as equals prepared wrong.
IIM Indore does not weight the three sections equally when computing your Aptitude Test Score:
|
Section |
Weight in ATS |
|
Quantitative Ability (MCQ) |
25% |
|
Quantitative Ability (SA) |
25% |
|
Verbal Ability |
50% |
How Does the IPMAT Indore 2025 Question Paper Compare with Previous Years?
|
Year |
QA (SA) |
QA (MCQ) |
VA |
Total |
General candidates clearing all cutoffs |
|
2023 |
12 |
39 |
125 |
176 |
276 |
|
2024 |
24 |
35 |
113 |
172 |
312 |
|
2025 |
24 |
28 |
112 |
164 |
301 |
|
2026 |
28 |
27 |
111 |
166 |
838* |
|
Feature |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Exam date |
23 May 2024 |
12 May 2025 |
4 May 2026 |
|
Pattern |
90 Q / 360 marks |
90 Q / 360 marks |
90 Q / 360 marks |
|
Overall difficulty |
Moderate |
Moderate to difficult |
Moderate (easiest recent paper) |
|
Hardest section |
QA-MCQ |
QA-MCQ |
QA-MCQ |
|
Easiest section |
Verbal Ability |
QA-SA |
QA-SA |
|
RC passages |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
DI / logical sets |
1 set |
2 sets (in both quant sections) |
2 sets (in both quant sections) |
|
Notable shift |
— |
Third RC passage introduced |
Coordinate geometry jumped to ~5 questions |
What this comparison tells a 2027 aspirant:
The full historical record, year by year, is on the IPMAT Indore exam analysis page.
There are three specific reasons, and none of them is "practice makes perfect."
It is the hardest recent benchmark you have.
2026 was rated moderate and easier; 2025 was moderate to difficult.
If you calibrate against 2026 you will build a comfortable, misleading picture of your readiness.
Calibrate against 2025 and your margin for a bad day is real. Mock tests, however well designed, are estimates of the exam; this was the exam.
It shows you the exam's real distinguishing skill, which is not mathematics
The 2025 paper separated candidates on time allocation and question selection, not on concept knowledge. Nothing appeared outside the syllabus.
Students lost marks by spending eleven minutes on a DI set with nine minutes left in the section, or by discovering a third RC passage after budgeting for two.
That skill cannot be learnt from a syllabus or a formula sheet. It can only be learnt by getting it wrong on a real paper under a real clock — which is exactly what this paper is for.
It is the only way to score yourself against a verified benchmark
You can mark your attempt against the official 2025 cutoffs — 24, 28 and 112 for General — and know precisely where you stand relative to the 818 candidates who cleared them. No mock test can offer you that.
|
Mistake |
Why it hurts |
|
Reading the paper instead of attempting it |
You get a false sense of familiarity and zero diagnostic data. The paper is spent and you learn nothing. |
|
Attempting without sectional timers |
The 40-minute lock is the paper's main difficulty. Removing it removes the lesson. |
|
Attempting it too early |
With 30% of the syllabus covered, a low score tells you only what you already know. Cover the syllabus first, then benchmark. |
|
Marking only your total score |
The cutoff is sectional. A 200/360 that misses the VA cutoff is a rejection. Always score section by section. |
|
Skipping the error log |
The attempt is worth almost nothing without the diagnosis. This is where the marks come from. |
|
Attempting it twice |
The second attempt measures your memory, not your ability. |
More broadly, see mistakes to avoid while preparing for IPMAT.
The 2025 paper is a diagnostic tool. Its value depends entirely on when you use it and what you do afterwards.
|
Your stage |
Use 2025? |
Do this instead / next |
|
Syllabus below 50% complete |
No |
Attempt IPMAT sample papers for exposure. Save 2025. |
|
Syllabus complete, few full mocks done |
Yes — now |
This is your first hard benchmark. Attempt it, diagnose it, act on it. |
|
Deep in mock-test phase |
Yes |
Slot it as a hard mock and compare your score against the official 2025 cutoffs. |
|
Final four weeks |
Only if not attempted before |
Otherwise, revise your error log from the earlier attempt instead. |
The IPMAT Indore 2025 question paper, from the exam held on 12 May 2025, was a moderate-to-difficult paper of 90 questions and 360 marks across three 40-minute sections.
Quantitative Ability (MCQ) was the hardest section — long and calculation-heavy. Quantitative Ability (SA) was the most approachable and carried no negative marking.
Verbal Ability sprang the paper's real surprise with a third reading comprehension passage.
Officially, General-category candidates needed 24, 28 and 112 in the three sections to clear the sectional gate — a total of 164 out of 360. Only 818 of 16,357 candidates who scored positively in all three sections managed it.
For an IPMAT 2027 aspirant, this paper's value is that it is harder than 2026 and comes with a verified benchmark attached.
Attempt it once, under real sectional timers. Score it section by section. Diagnose your errors into concept, application, calculation and timing buckets. Then work the largest bucket.
And keep the single most important number on this page in view: Verbal Ability is 50% of your Aptitude Test Score. Prepare accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions were in the IPMAT Indore 2025 paper, and what were the marks?

Was IPMAT Indore 2025 harder than 2026?

What was the official IPMAT Indore 2025 cutoff?

How many correct answers were needed to clear the 2025 cutoffs?

Which topics carried the highest weightage in IPMAT Indore 2025?

Why was the Verbal Ability cutoff so much higher than the quant cutoffs?

Should I attempt the 2025 paper or the 2026 paper first?

SHARE