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The official dMAT preparation materials — and how to use them well.

By NinjaMinds · Updated 3 September 2026 · 7 min read

Before you buy anything, download everything. g.a.s.t., the organisation that runs the digital Master Test, publishes a set of free preparation materials on the official dMAT preparation page, and they are the single most important thing you will read before the exam. They are not a full practice bank — they are not meant to be — but they define what the exam is. Every question you practise from any other source should be judged against them.

What is on the official page

At the time of writing, the official materials fall into three groups:

• Sample tasks for each section. Worked examples of the three Core subtests — Figure Sequences, Mathematical Equations and Latin Squares — and of the General Academic Module (GAM), showing the task format, the instructions, and how a correct answer is reached.
• The General Academic Module preparatory booklet. A PDF that walks through the GAM task types in more depth than the sample screens can. This is the part most candidates skip, and it is the part that repays the most careful reading.
• Test-interface videos. Short recordings of the actual on-screen interface, section by section, including a Figure Sequences video that shows how the figure tasks are presented and answered on the computer.

Everything here is free and comes from the people who write the exam. Save the PDF locally, bookmark the videos, and go back to them more than once.

Why the samples matter more than any coaching material

Third-party questions — ours included — are approximations. Good ones are close approximations built with the official samples in mind; poor ones are recycled aptitude-test items with the dMAT name attached. The official samples are the only items you can be sure are the real thing. They tell you:

• exactly how each task type is worded, so nothing on exam day is read for the first time;
• what a typical Latin square looks like, what the operators in a Mathematical Equations item look like, and how a Figure Sequence is laid out on screen;
• what the General Academic Module actually asks — reasoning over short academic material, not general knowledge.

If a practice question from anywhere looks nothing like the official samples, treat it as a puzzle, not as preparation.

How to use each piece

1. The sample tasks: twice, two different ways

Work every sample task untimed the first time. The purpose is not speed; it is to make sure you can find the right answer with unlimited thinking, and to notice the reasoning that got you there. Then, a day or two later, do them again with a clock and without looking at the earlier attempt. The gap between your untimed and timed accuracy is the gap your practice has to close.

2. The GAM booklet: read it like a syllabus

The General Academic Module is the section candidates understand least, mostly because no Indian entrance exam looks quite like it. g.a.s.t.'s official GAM preparatory materials (PDF) explain the task types, show worked examples and describe what is being assessed. Read the whole booklet once without a pen, then a second time working each example before reading its explanation. Note the task types by name; when you later practise, sort your errors by type, not by "GAM in general".

3. The videos: watch before your first timed session

The dMAT is fully digital, sat on a computer at a test centre. How you enter an answer, how you move between items, where the timer sits, what the screen does when a section ends — these are all things you should have seen before they happen with a clock running. The official Figure Sequences video is the one to watch first: figure tasks are the least paper-like of the three Core subtests, and seeing the real interface removes a lot of guesswork about what you will be looking at. Watch the others once each, and again in the final week.

A sequence that works

Here is how we would arrange the free materials around timed practice, whether that practice comes from a paid bank or from questions you build for yourself:

1. Day 1 — read and watch. Read the whole preparation page, download the GAM booklet, watch every interface video. No questions yet.
2. Days 2–3 — untimed samples. Every official sample task, slowly, with your reasoning written down.
3. Week 1 — one section at a time. Short timed sets on a single task type, always measured against the 25-minute Core subtest clocks. Re-read the relevant official sample after each set.
4. Weeks 2–4 — mixed sets, then full mocks. The whole test runs to roughly 165 minutes; you need to have felt that length at least three or four times before the real day.
5. Final week — back to the source. Redo the official samples timed, re-watch the videos, and re-read the GAM booklet's task descriptions. The last thing in your head before the exam should be the official version of it.

For a fuller weekly plan, see our six-week dMAT preparation plan.

What the free materials do not give you — and what does

Here is the honest framing. The official samples are few — enough to define each task type, not enough to build speed. There is no negative marking on the dMAT, so the whole game is answering as many items correctly as possible inside fixed time, and that is a matter of repetition under a clock. A paid bank exists to add two things: volume, so that the twentieth Latin square is automatic in a way the second cannot be, and timing, so that the 25-minute rhythm is familiar. It should not exist to promise "real" questions — no legitimate provider has them, and any that claims to is selling you something else.

Our own bank follows that logic: 2,858 original questions designed with the official sample tasks in mind, not copied from the real exam, arranged into 15 timed mock papers with worked notes, for ₹799 once for 12 months. If you can generate that volume yourself, you do not need us. If you cannot, the official page still comes first — and stays first.

Three mistakes to avoid

• Skipping the videos. Reading about an interface is not the same as seeing it. Candidates who first meet the on-screen Figure Sequences format on test day lose minutes to orientation.
• Practising only on paper. Practise on a screen, sitting up, with a visible timer. Habits like pointing at a Latin square with a pencil do not transfer — no notes or calculators are allowed at the desk.
• Treating the GAM as optional. It is a full module of the test, and the booklet is the only place it is explained by its authors.

Check the source regularly. Materials are updated. Before the exam, revisit the official preparation materials and interface videos once more, and confirm dates and registration details on the official dMAT website. The first Indian cycle was announced with registration closing 15 September 2026 and a test day of 26 September 2026 — as announced; confirm it on the official dMAT India page before planning around it.

Official sources

• g.a.s.t. — Preparation for the exam — the free sample tasks for every section, the General Academic Module preparatory booklet (PDF) and the test-interface videos.
• g.a.s.t. — dMAT home — what the test is, how it is structured and where it is used.
• g.a.s.t. — dMAT in India — the Indian cycles, registration and dates.
• APS India — dMAT — who must sit the test as part of APS certification.

Related reading

• A 6-Week dMAT Preparation Plan That Actually Works
• Free dMAT mock test
• dMAT Scoring Explained: What Counts as a Good Score?
• dMAT Rules, Terms and Exemptions: What the Official Terms Actually Say
• About the dMAT exam

This guide is provided by NinjaMinds as general information for prospective students. It is independent — not affiliated with APS, g.a.s.t., uni-assist or any university — and rules change: always confirm current requirements on the official pages (d-mat.de, aps-india.de).