ieGAT or IE Admissions Test: Which One Are You Actually Sitting?
If you're applying to a bachelor programme at IE University and someone has told you to "prepare for the ieGAT", you've been told two things at once. One is true. The other will cost you weeks of practice on the wrong tasks.
The name is right. Most of the practice material isn't.
The short version
- IE's own application form calls the bachelor test the ieGAT. The switch you turn on to book it reads "I will take the IE Global Admissions Test (ieGAT)": IE reproduces that screen in its official test instructions.[1] So when a bachelor applicant says "ieGAT", they usually mean the test this site prepares.
- The "ieGAT practice" sold online is built for IE's master's test. IE describes that one on a separate page for master's admissions,[2] and it is a different battery of tasks. Master's applicants are the bigger market, so that's what vendors write for.
- The name alone cannot tell you which is which. The section list and the timings can. The bachelor battery is below: check any material you're looking at against it.
The bachelor battery
IE publishes this on its Admissions Test page:[3]
| Section | Time | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Numerical reasoning | 12 min | 37 |
| Verbal reasoning | 12 min | 49 |
| Deductive logical thinking | 6 min | not published |
| Learning efficiency (memory) | 5 min | not published |
| Mathematics Assessment | 60 or 15 min, by programme | 20 (60-minute version), 12 (15-minute version) |
Two of those are the tell-tales, because master's material doesn't have them:
Learning efficiency is a memory task - recall objects shown briefly, in the right order. It doesn't appear in descriptions of the master's ieGAT.
The Mathematics Assessment is programme-determined, and it's recent: IE's test page carried no maths assessment at all in 2024. It appeared for Science & Technology programmes by 2025, and a second 15-minute version for BBA, BIE and PPLE this cycle. Any material older than that describes a bachelor test with no maths in it whatsoever - and master's material never had it.
Why the name misleads
Three reasons, and none of them are your fault.
1. IE uses one name for two tests. The bachelor application form says ieGAT. IE's master's admissions page says ieGAT. Nothing in the name tells you which battery of tasks you'll face - only the programme you're applying to does.
2. Vendors write for the bigger market, and some sell it as universal. One practice-test site states that the ieGAT is "the exclusive admission test to IE University (IEU), including the IE Business School in Spain". For a bachelor applicant that is wrong twice over: the material behind it describes the master's battery, and the test isn't "exclusive" either - IE accepts the SAT, ACT and LNAT instead.
3. Applicants pass the advice on in good faith. On r/IEUniversity, an applicant asking how to prepare was told to "just look up ieGAT test jobtestprep and you'll find what you need" (thread, February 2025). Both people were using the name IE gave them. One of them was about to practise the wrong test.
What to check before you buy anything
Whatever you're looking at, ours included, ask three questions:
- Does it have a memory section? The bachelor test does. If the material has no memory component, it's describing the master's battery.
- Does it cover the Mathematics Assessment, in both variants? 60 minutes for Science & Technology, 15 minutes for BBA, BIE and PPLE. Material written before 2025 won't mention maths at all.
- Does it quote the bachelor timings? 37 numerical tasks in 12 minutes and 49 verbal in 12 minutes are IE's published figures for the bachelor test.
If a page calls itself "ieGAT preparation" and fails all three, the name is doing the selling. The tasks inside are for a different test.
Where the two do overlap
The bachelor test is delivered on Aon Assessment's platform: IE's own instructions show the test running at smartplayer.maptq.com.[1] Whether the master's battery runs on the same platform, IE doesn't say, and we won't assert a connection IE doesn't state. What's certain is that the published structures differ, and that's what you should prepare against.
If you're applying to a master's programme
Then the ieGAT material you've found is the right kind, and this site isn't for you. IE's master's admissions pages are the place to start.
If you're applying to a bachelor programme
Call it the ieGAT if you like: IE does. Just prepare for the five areas above, at the timings above. Start with IE's own free material: a "Practical example" video for each of the four sections, a sample test for each Mathematics Assessment (the BBA, BIE and PPLE one appeared in September 2026),[4] plus practice questions inside the test session itself.
And remember the constraint that makes getting this right matter: you sit the IE Admissions Test once, and IE never tells you your score. There's no second attempt in which to discover you practised the wrong exam.
All five areas of the IE University Admissions Test, timed at the real pace, with both Mathematics Assessment variants.
Compare the prep options →Sources: IE University's Admissions Test page (bachelor), verified 17 September 2026; its master's admissions test page, verified 18 August 2026; IE's official "Instructions to take the Admissions Test" PDF, verified 17 September 2026. Competitor claims are quoted from their own live pages. Community observations are attributed and linked, and are individual reports rather than data. IE University Prep is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by IE University.
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The IE University Admissions Test: Complete Guide (2027/28)
Everything IE publishes about its bachelor Admissions Test: the five sections and their timings, how scoring actually works, the one-attempt rule, the SAT/ACT alternatives, and the Mathematics Assessment most guides miss.
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Free IE University Admissions Test study guide (PDF)
All four aptitude sections and both Mathematics Assessments in one 120-page PDF: how a test you sit once and never see the score of works, a five-block diagnostic with solutions, numerical and verbal reasoning at 37 and 49 tasks in 12 minutes worked through, deductive grids, learning efficiency, the maths chapter by chapter, and sheets to print. We email you the download link.
