English / Verbal Reasoning
30-40%of exam
Analytical Reasoning
30-40%of exam
Quantitative Reasoning
25-40%of exam
Categories + ETC Rules
Not publishedof exam
Quick Facts
- Owner
- HEC Pakistan
- Administrator
- Education Testing Council
- Level
- Postgraduate aptitude
- Use
- MS/MPhil + PhD
- Categories
- Five current streams
- Questions
- 100 MCQs
- Time
- 120 minutes
- Average pace
- 72 seconds per question
- Qualifying
- 50 out of 100
- Validity
- Two years
- Category basis
- 16-year stream + university requirement
- Schedule
- Quarterly through calendar year
- Portal
- etc.hec.gov.pk
Three Core Domains
Words, rules, numbers
Words: verbalRules: analyticalNumbers: quantitative
Reading Picker
- Blank sentence→Predict missing idea
- Word pair→State relationship
- Nearest meaning→Synonym
- Opposite meaning→Antonym
- Passage fact→Scan stated evidence
- Main purpose→Summarize whole passage
- Inference→Choose necessarily supported
- Unknown vocabulary→Use context + roots
Sample-Based Verbal Skills
- Sentence completion
- Fit meaning + grammar
- Sentence correction
- Apply standard written English
- Analogy
- Match word relationship
- Synonym
- Choose nearest meaning
- Antonym
- Choose opposite meaning
- Passage detail
- Locate stated evidence
- Main idea
- Summarize central claim
- Inference
- Choose supported conclusion
- Context meaning
- Use surrounding clues
- Author tone
- Identify attitude
- Reference word
- Trace antecedent
Verbal Tactics
- Contrast clue
- Expect opposing idea
- Cause clue
- Match cause and effect
- Blank prediction
- Predict before options
- Double blank
- Test both words
- Analogy stem
- State relation first
- Passage answer
- Demand textual support
- Inference limit
- Avoid outside assumptions
- Extreme options
- Require strong evidence
- Unknown word
- Use tone + roots
Puzzle Process
Rules → Diagram → Deductions → Options
Place fixed rulesTest only when useful
Could vs Must
Could
- One valid case
- Construct example
- Possibility target
Must
- Every valid case
- Seek counterexample
- Necessity target
One case vs all
Puzzle Solver
- Read setup→List entities + slots
- Fixed placement→Enter first
- Conditional rule→Write implication
- Ordering puzzle→Draw line
- Grouping puzzle→Draw bins
- Could be true→Build one valid case
- Must be true→Seek counterexample
- Options supplied→Test selectively
Analytical Toolkit
- Entities
- People or items
- Slots
- Positions or times
- Constraints
- Allowed relationships
- Fixed rule
- Place immediately
- Sequence
- Draw ordered slots
- Grouping
- Draw labeled bins
- Selection
- Track chosen set
- Adjacency
- Link neighbors
- Distribution
- Track counts
- Either/or
- Mark alternatives
- Maximum/minimum
- Build extreme cases
Necessary vs Sufficient
Necessary
- Required condition
- Result needs it
- Not enough alone
Sufficient
- Guarantees result
- Enough alone
- May not be required
Needed vs enough
Logic Rules
- If P → Q
- P guarantees Q
- Contrapositive
- Not Q → not P
- Converse
- Q → P not guaranteed
- Only if Q
- Q is necessary
- P unless Q
- Not Q → P
- Could be true
- Find one valid case
- Must be true
- Try finding counterexample
- Cannot be true
- Show every case fails
- EXCEPT
- Reverse requested target
- Valid arrangement
- Satisfies every rule
Distance Triangle
Distance = Rate × Time
Rate = distance/timeTime = distance/rate
Permutation vs Combination
Permutation
- Order matters
- Arrangements
- nPr
Combination
- Order irrelevant
- Selections
- nCr
Arrange vs choose
Quant Method Picker
- Part of whole→Percent formula
- Divide by ratio→Ratio share
- Combined average→Weighted mean
- Travel problem→Distance = rate × time
- Workers combine→Add work rates
- Selecting ordered positions→Permutation
- Order irrelevant→Combination
- At least one→Complement probability
- Shape measurement→Sketch + formula
Arithmetic Formulas
- Percent
- Part ÷ whole × 100
- Percent change
- Δ ÷ original × 100
- Average
- Sum ÷ count
- Ratio share
- Total × part ÷ sum
- Distance
- Rate × time
- Rate
- d ÷ t
- Combined work
- Sum worker rates
- Simple interest
- I = P × r × t
- Probability
- Favorable among equally likely outcomes
- Complement
- 1 − event probability
- Weighted mean
- Σwx ÷ Σw
Mean vs Median
Mean
- Sum ÷ count
- Uses every value
- Outlier-sensitive
Median
- Middle after sorting
- Position-based
- Outlier-resistant
Arithmetic center vs middle
Algebra + Geometry
- Linear equation
- Undo operations around variable
- Quadratic
- Factor or use formula
- Exponent product
- aᵐaⁿ = aᵐ⁺ⁿ
- Negative inequality
- Reverse inequality sign
- Triangle angles
- Sum = 180°
- Pythagorean
- a² + b² = c²
- Rectangle area
- A = l × w
- Triangle area
- base × height ÷ 2
- Circle circumference
- C = 2πr
- Circle area
- A = πr²
- Rectangular volume
- length × width × height
- Cylinder volume
- V = πr²h
Percent Change vs Points
Percent change
- Divide by original
- Relative movement
- Multiply by 100
Percentage points
- Subtract percentages
- Absolute gap
- No division
Relative vs absolute
Data + Counting
- Permutation
- Ordered selections
- nPr
- n! ÷ (n−r)!
- Combination
- Unordered selections
- nCr
- n! ÷ [r!(n−r)!]
- Median
- Middle or middle-pair average
- Mode
- Most-common value
- Range
- Max − min
- Table total
- Check units + labels
- Graph trend
- Compare direction + magnitude
- Percentage points
- Subtract percentage values
HAT-I and II Weights
V-A-Q: I 30-30-40; II 30-40-30
I: quant highestII: analytical highest
HAT vs USAT
HAT
- Postgraduate admissions
- Five categories
- 100 MCQs, 120 minutes
USAT
- Undergraduate admissions
- Six categories
- 75 MCQs + two essays
Postgraduate vs undergraduate
Category Picker
- University specifies category→Follow university requirement
- No category specified→Match academic stream
- Engineering, computing, mathematics, statistics→HAT-I(Q40 highest)
- Management or business→HAT-II(A40 highest)
- Arts, humanities, social sciences, psychology, law→HAT-III(V40, A35)
- Agriculture, veterinary, biological, medical→HAT-IV(V40)
- Education, media, mass communication→HAT-IV(V40)
- Religious studies or madrasa→HAT-General(V40)
- Physics or physical sciences→Check university requirement(Official tables overlap)
- Category confirmed→Submit carefully(Cannot change)
Category Map
- HAT-I
- Engineering, computing, mathematics, statistics, physics
- HAT-II
- Management sciences + business education
- HAT-III
- Humanities, social sciences, psychology, law
- HAT-IV sciences
- Agriculture, veterinary, biological, medical
- HAT-IV additional
- Physical sciences, education, media + communication
- HAT-General
- Religious studies + madrasa graduates
- Selection basis
- University requirement + academic stream
- Physics overlap
- Appears under HAT-I and IV
HAT-III, IV, General Weights
III 40-35-25; IV and General 40-30-30
III: analytical 35IV: balanced A/QGeneral: balanced A/Q
HAT-I vs HAT-IV
HAT-I
- Engineering + computing
- Mathematics + statistics
- Physics is listed
HAT-IV
- Agriculture + medical
- Education + media
- Physical sciences listed
Check overlapping physics mapping
Category Weights
- HAT-I
- V30 · A30 · Q40100 MCQs
- HAT-II
- V30 · A40 · Q30100 MCQs
- HAT-III
- V40 · A35 · Q25100 MCQs
- HAT-IV
- V40 · A30 · Q30100 MCQs
- HAT-General
- V40 · A30 · Q30100 MCQs
- All categories
- 120 minutes
HAT-IV vs HAT-General
HAT-IV
- Science/education/media fields
- V40 · A30 · Q30
- Different academic stream
HAT-General
- Religious studies
- Madrasa graduates
- V40 · A30 · Q30
Same weights, different streams
Registration + Test Day
- Official portal
- etc.hec.gov.pk
- Payment
- 1Link/1Bill Consumer Number
- Application
- Must show Submitted
- Category
- Cannot change after selection
- Test city
- Cannot change after registration
- Center fallback
- ETC may reassign below 250
- Roll-number slip
- Bring printed copy
- Standard ID
- Original CNIC or passport
- Under-18 ID
- Original B-Form required
- Under-18 photo ID
- Original Matric/Intermediate result card
- Expired ID
- NADRA slip + expired original
- Lost CNIC
- Police report + NADRA receipt
- Lost-CNIC photo ID
- Original pictured school certificate
- ID copies
- Never accepted
- CNIC mismatch
- Test entry prohibited
- Writing tool
- Black or blue ball pen
- Other writing tools
- Pencil, fountain pen, marker prohibited
- Clipboard
- Transparent only
- Answer sheet
- OMR bubbles
- Electronics
- Phones + smartwatches prohibited
- Other devices
- Calculators, earbuds, vapes prohibited
- Device consequence
- Confiscation + unfair-means case
- Late arrival
- After reporting time: refused
Qualifying vs Selection Score
Qualifying
- 50 out of 100
- HEC qualifying threshold
- Not guaranteed admission
Selection
- Program-specific
- May exceed 50
- Merit still applies
Eligibility vs competitiveness
Results + Policy
- Qualifying score
- 50 out of 100
- Selection cutoff
- Program-specific
- Score validity
- Two years from result
- Test schedule
- Quarterly through calendar year
- Improvement attempt
- Reappear next test
- Attempt cap
- Not universally published
- Fee
- Use current notice
- Fee status
- Nonrefundable + nontransferable
- Acceptance
- University or scholarship decides
- Result access
- ETC portal + email
Common Traps
Wrong-country HAT
Pakistan HEC aptitude test ≠ Not a United States exam
Old HAT-UG label
Current undergraduate test: USAT ≠ HAT is postgraduate
Category lock
Selection is final ≠ Review before submission
Category mapping
Check university requirement ≠ Then match academic stream
Same weights
HAT-IV and General match ≠ Disciplines still differ
Qualifying score
50 is HEC qualifying ≠ Admission may require higher
Validity confusion
HAT: two years ≠ USAT: one year
Calculator assumption
Mental arithmetic expected ≠ Calculator prohibited
Saved vs submitted
Saved may be incomplete ≠ Submitted is required
Fee certainty
Use current test notice ≠ No permanent fee assumed
Admission acceptance
HAT supplies a score ≠ Institution sets acceptance policy
Sample-paper sequence
Illustrative sequence only ≠ Weights remain official blueprint
Last Minute
- 1.HAT: 100 MCQs, 120 minutes
- 2.Qualifying score: 50/100
- 3.Result validity: two years
- 4.Check university requirement first
- 5.Match category to academic stream
- 6.Category cannot change after selection
- 7.Test city locks after registration
- 8.ETC may reassign undersubscribed center
- 9.Print roll-number slip
- 10.Bring original CNIC or passport
- 11.Under-18: original B-Form + pictured card
- 12.Photocopies and digital IDs rejected
- 13.Bring black/blue ball pens
- 14.Bring transparent clipboard
- 15.Phones, smartwatches, calculators prohibited
- 16.Earbuds and vapes prohibited
- 17.Late past reporting time: refused
- 18.Fee follows current notice
- 19.USAT is a separate test
- 20.Sample-paper sequence is not guaranteed
- 21.Check receiving institution requirements