Admission Policy

  • Admission Policy Details

    IBA takes pride that it has never compromised quality in its standards of student intake, classroom instruction and discipline, assessment and testing during the fifty nine years of its existence. The challenge has been to continue the emphasis on quality while promoting a culture of inquiry, inquisitiveness and innovative thinking. In our drive to reach ever higher, we consider it imperative to periodically review the admissions policy and align it with international best practices. The policy for admission in various programs / courses of study at the Institute of Business Administration may be stated as follows:

  • Salient Points

    Admission will be offered to all those who qualify following a strict merit-based admission criteria irrespective of their race, religion, gender, ethnicity or socio-economic background. There are no reserved / quota seats for any category at IBA. No effort will be made to fill all available seats or lower the criteria if an insufficient number of candidates apply or an individual candidate fails to satisfy the above criteria.

    The cut-off for individual programs in the Aptitude Test will be decided by the Admissions Committee using rigorous methods based on statistical analysis.

    There will be one Aptitude Test for admission to both campuses of IBA. Candidates may choose their specializations after a minimum of 2 years of study at IBA for undergraduate and 1 year for graduate programs.

    There is no distinction in the fee structure between the Main and City Campuses.

  • Conditions

    The admission is based on candidate's ability to meet the following conditions:

    Apply online and register for the Aptitude Test.

    Pay the required fee for processing of his / her admission application, related activity and obtain admit card.

    Qualify the Aptitude Test OR provide proof for exemption from the aptitude test by providing SAT / ACT / GMAT / GRE score transcript, whichever is applicable.

    Participate in a group discussion (where applicable) and appear for an interview and clear both.

    Meet the minimum academic eligibility requirement for the concerned program and provide mark sheet / transcript of the same.

    Provide equivalence certificate in case of holders of degrees issued by non-Pakistani universities / boards.

  • Aptitude Test, Group Discussion & Interviews

    The aim of the Aptitude Test is to evaluate candidates for their quantitative and analytical capabilities, logical reasoning, communication skills, reading comprehension, lexical resource, grammatical range, and aptitude for the program.

    The aim of the group discussion is to evaluate candidates on their background, academic and other achievements, leadership potential, extra curricular interests, verbal communication, mannerism, integrity, appearance and enthusiasm.

    The interviews are designed to bring out the qualities needed not only to succeed in the chosen program of study but also the potential of the students to contribute positively to the society when they graduate.

  • SAT Exemption Policy for BBA, BSAF, BSBA, BSCS, BSMT, BSECO, BSSS & BSEM Programs:

    Important Note:

    Direct admission or qualification for an interview based on SAT scores is not guaranteed. There is no minimum SAT score required for aptitude test exemption, and only the top SAT scorers in the SAT merit list will be granted direct admission or called for an interview.

    While you may choose to skip the IBA's aptitude test if you're confident in your SAT performance, we strongly encourage all candidates to take the IBA test to improve their chances of admission. If you skip the IBA aptitude test and apply solely based on your SAT scores and do not qualify for direct admission or an interview as per merit list, you will be placed on the list of unsuccessful candidates. The SAT merit list will be compiled and announced along with the IBA aptitude test result.

    Therefore, if you believe your SAT score is not among the top, we recommend appearing for the aptitude test as well.

    Such students are also encouraged to apply for the first round of admissions.

    BBA & BSBA program – ACT

    - A Composite Score of 29 (out of 36)
    - An English / Writing Score of 25 (out of 36)

    BSSS program – ACT

    - A Composite Score of 28 (out of 36)
    - An English / Writing Score of 25 (out of 36)

    BSAF, BSECO, BSCS and BSEM program – ACT

    - A Composite Score of 28 (out of 36)
    - Score of English / Writing is not required for the purposes of admission, however may preferably be submitted for placement in English courses subsequent to admission

  • Program wise requirements for Admission

    More specific information about the requirements for admission to the individual programs is appended as under:

  • Undergraduate Programs

    Applicants to the BBA & BSBA Program must have completed their:

    Higher Secondary School Certificate with a minimum of 65% marks;

    A' Levels with a minimum of 2 'B's and 1 'C' in three principal subjects such that there should be no grade less than a 'C' across the three principal subjects. No credit is applicable for any subsidiary, general, or advanced supplementary paper;

    OR

    American / Canadian High School Diploma with a minimum of 80% or an International Baccalaureate with at least 25 points out of 45. All other degree holders must provide an equivalency certificate from IBCC.

    Applicants to the BS Programs (CS, Economics & Mathematics and Mathematics) must have completed their:

    Higher Secondary School Certificate (Pre-Engineering) with a minimum of 60% marks

    OR

    Higher Secondary School Certificate (General Group with Mathematics) with a minimum of 60% marks

    A' Levels with a minimum of 1 'B' and 2 'C's in three principal subjects (including Mathematics) such that there should be no grade less than a 'C' across the three principal subjects. No credit is applicable for any subsidiary, general, or advanced supplementary paper

    OR

    American / Canadian High School Diploma with a minimum of 80% or an International Baccalaureate with at least 24 points out of 45. All other degree holders must provide an equivalency certificate from IBCC.

    Applicants to the BS Programs (Accounting & Finance, Economics and Social Sciences & Liberal Arts) must have completed their:

    Higher Secondary School Certificate with a minimum of 60% marks

    OR

    A' Levels with a minimum of 1 'B' and 2 'C's in three principal subjects such that there should be no grade less than a 'C' across the three principal subjects. No credit is applicable for any subsidiary, general, or advanced supplementary paper

    OR

    American / Canadian High School Diploma with a minimum of 80% or an International Baccalaureate with at least 24 points out of 45. All other degree holders must provide an equivalency certificate from IBCC.

  • Graduate Programs

    Applicants to the MS Programs must have:

    A minimum of 16 years of education (culminating in a master's degree or equivalent) out of which 4 years should have been spent in an HEC recognized university/degree awarding institute with 2.5 CGPA or 60% in the last degree (whichever is applicable). Candidates with work experience will be preferred.

    A minimum of 60% aggregate marks in the last degree where applicable; provided numerical scores of each subject are mentioned in the mark sheet.

    OR

    Minimum 600 scores in GMAT / 160 in Quantitative & 150 in the Verbal section of GRE required for test exemption.

  • MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA)

    For details regarding MBA and EMBA, please see respective program website:

    MBA: https://mba.iba.edu.pk/
    EMBA: https://emba.iba.edu.pk/

  • Applicants to the PhD Program must have:

    MS / M.Phil. / Equivalent in relevant subject from HEC recognized local / foreign university.

    A minimum 60% aggregate marks in the last degree; provided numerical scores of each subject are mentioned in the mark sheet.

    OR

    A minimum of 3.0 CGPA on a scale of 4.00 in the last degree where applicable*; provided letter grades of each subject are mentioned in the mark sheet.

    PhD candidates will also have to ful fill more specific requirements laid out by the respective departments.

    *All other degree holders must provide an equivalency certificate from HEC (www.hec.gov.pk).

  • Post Graduate Diploma (PGD)

    Supply Chain Management, Human Resource Management and Project Management

    Applicants to the Post Graduate Diploma programs must have:

    - 14 Years Education with 6 years' post-qualification work experience

    - 16 Years Education with 3 years' post- qualification work experience

    Healthcare Management

    - Doctors with MBBS/BDS with 2 years' experience in hospital

    - Nurse graduates with minimum 5 years' experience in hospital

    - Other healthcare professionals with 16 years education and at least 2 years work experience in hospital

  • Credit Transfer Policy

    A transfer candidate is defined as follows:

    - A candidate who has attended any of the top 100 universities derived from the international ranking compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute of Higher Education or by The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) or Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). Course credits are also acceptable from Lahore University of Management Sciences, and Karachi School for Business & Leadership and the universities with which IBA will signing (or has signed) MOU's

    - The candidate must have been enrolled in degree programs at these universities.

    - The candidate's CGPA must be 3.0 or above on a scale of 4.0 or equivalent.

    - The candidate should have passed all the stages of admission process and has been offered admission at IBA.

    - Eligible candidates may apply for transfer to any of the IBA degree programs with the following stipulations:

    - IBA reserves the right to accept or reject all or any such candidates.

    - Subject Interviews may also be conducted prior to admission if so desired by IBA.

    - A transfer committee appointed by IBA shall determine the courses to be accepted for transfer of credits of such candidates.

    - Transfer of credits will be applicable to those courses with 'B' or above grades.

    - A minimum of 50% of total degree credits must be completed at IBA.

    - Courses transferred shall be indicated in the final transcript as being 'transfer credits'.

    The grades of transfer credits will be included in the calculation of the CGPA and such students will be entitled to compete for positions / medals. The dropped out students of any program who get admission again by clearing the IBA Admission Test and other requirements will get the credit of the courses in which they had obtained .B. grades provided they rejoin the program within 16 months from the date they had dropped out. For transferring credits from one IBA program to another, if the course code is exactly the same the course will automatically be accepted in the new program.

  • Disclaimer:

    Any candidate who provides false or incorrect information about work experience, grades, financial status of the family, (or any other required material), or submits any fake supporting documents will be permanently debarred from applying to IBA