Written Ability Test practice for one-year MBA programmes
The Written Ability Test is the short written round taken on interview day at ISB, IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow. It is scored, it is fast, and most candidates prepare for it with a generic list of essay topics that does not match what their school actually sets.
This tool runs the test in each school's real format, including ISB's two prompts inside a single 20-minute window where the second appears only after you submit the first, and scores what you write against that school's own criteria. 144 topics across the three programmes, drawn from our published research guides.
Practice needs no account. Sign in when you want a response scored.
ISB PGP
Indian School of Business
20 minutes · 2 prompts · 200–250 words per response
73 topics · start timed practice →
IIM Bangalore EPGP
IIM Bangalore
30 minutes · one prompt · Around 250 words, up to 300
35 topics · start timed practice →
IIM Lucknow IPMX
IIM Lucknow
25 minutes · one prompt · 300–400 words
36 topics · start timed practice →
What the WAT actually tests
Panels are not checking whether you knew the topic. They are checking whether you can take an ambiguous prompt and organise a coherent, defensible position under time pressure, and whether you were willing to commit to one. Fence-sitting is the most common reason a response scores badly.
The three schools test that in different ways. ISB sets second-person situational dilemmas, where the score follows what you decided and what you admitted it would cost. IIM Bangalore EPGP and IIM Lucknow IPMX set propositions to argue, where the score follows structure, balance and evidence. Practising the wrong prompt type is the single most common preparation mistake, so each track here uses its own topics and its own scoring.