Just when CAT 2010 was being written off as a ‘no-glitches’ exam, reports have begun to trickle in about wrong questions and no right options. According to candidates who have given the exam this season, a few questions have been tough to crack but the real reason for their tough character is possibly because they never had the the right answer options.

Speaking to Pagalguy, Sanjay Kumar Gandhi who took his CAT exam on November 8 at Sri Balaji Society in Pune said that his paper sported at least four wrong questions. Two questions in Quant and two in DI were wrong. Some did not have the right options, he said.

Bharat Hazare who also took the test on November 8 said that his paper also had some questions which he thought were wrong and options available were also not right.

Other exam takers have also complained. Speaking for the October 31 paper, a candidate student remarked that at least four questions in his paper were wrong in the exam held post-lunch. Two choices were repeated and two were wrong and I wasted time doing them,”

On November 3 too, a candidate remarked that his paper had mistakes in the answer options. On November 5 as well, there were reports by some candidates that the questions were ambiguous.

When asked, CAT Convenor Prof Himanshu Rai said that he has taken note of all the complaints on the website about the wrong questions and initiated an inquiry for the same. Prof Rai said there were two scenarios possible in the given situation. One could be that there is no problem and students who have not been able to answer the question felt it was wrong. If more than one feels the question is wrong and it is mutually discussed in a group, then everybody feels that the question is wrong.”

Another scenario is that the questions could be wrong. “If that is the case we will give everybody in that slot an extra point for that question and that will be done psychometrically. But that will happen only if the questions are proved wrong. I have made a note of every complaint and have asked for a proper inquiry into them. However, it is very unlikely that the questions turn out wrong, Prof Rai warned.

The convenor added that before the exams began, he promised everybody a problem-free and a reliable CAT 2010 and he will keep his promise and do whatever he can to ensure that the remaining papers are as glitch-free as possible.

Sanjay did speak on the Prometric helpline on November 8 and was told he would get a response within 48 hours.

On November 9, he got a mail from Prometric saying: ” Your feedback is very important to us. Our goal is to provide exceptional quality service. We welcome and appreciate your comments and your taking out time to notify us of the issue. We have made a note of your concern and forwarded it to the concerned department… ” The mail has been sent by CAT Candidate Care Support of Prometric.

Sanjay says that the mail should have at least given him some reference complaint number so that he could track his complaint. “The response mail is very general,” he said.

However, all is not list for Sanjay and other students who think they have been victims of wrong questions. If their complaints stand justified in the CAT Convenor’s inquiry, some hope may be coming their way.