Appearing for CAT 2017? Don’t wear jewellery, leave shoes outside exam hall

Mumbai experts said the rules are meant to ensure that there is no malpractice during the examination.

Students appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2017 on Sunday will not be allowed to wear shoes or any metal objects, including jewellery, inside the exam centre, according to instructions released by the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow (IIM-L), the convening institute for CAT 2017.

Candidates were informed about these rules through admit cards that they received over this week. (HT File)

Candidates were informed about these rules through admit cards that they received over this week. “The admit card clearly states that we should not wear any metal jewellery for the exam and that all candidates will be asked to remove their footwear before entering the hall,” said Akshit Thakkar, one of the candidates. Metal detectors will be used to scan candidates before they enter the examination halls to ensure that they have complied with the directions.

While no official reason has been given for this rule, experts said this was done to avoid any kind of malpractice during the examination. This is not the first time such stringent rules have been enforced for CAT candidates. Last year, IIM-Bangalore — the CAT convening authority — directed students to not wear closed shoes, or even socks to the exam centres. Slippers, sandals and other open footwear were permitted.

Around 2.31 lakh candidates across the country will appear for the exam on Sunday, which will be conducted across 140 test cities. As many as 78,009 women candidates will take the examination, compared to 76,000 women who had appeared for CAT 2016. The number of male candidates this year is 1,53,027. The number of transgender candidates has also increased from 22 last year, to 31 this year. Around 910 physically challenged applicants will appear for this year’s exam, as against last year’s 921.