The dMAT Timeline: Can You Still Make Summer 2027?

The dMAT runs on one fixed 2026 cycle, and there is no confirmed second sitting. So the question that actually matters is not what the test covers. It is whether its dates still leave you room to reach a Summer 2027 intake. For most affected applicants they do, but only if you plan backward and file your APS in parallel.

If the test applies to you, treat the calendar as the hard part. The content is a fixed test you can prepare for, about three hours of testing with a 30 minute break between the two parts. The timing is where applications quietly slip a whole semester, because every step below feeds the one after it, and the first checkpoint is closer than most people think.

The one cycle you have

Here is the full 2026 sequence on the left, with the parallel APS work that lets it fit. Time runs downward, from registration to the intake it feeds.

The four dates that bind you

Every date below is fixed by g.a.s.t. and APS India, not by your university. Work them in order:

• 29 June 2026: registration opened on the g.a.s.t. portal. Seats at metro test centers fill first, so earlier is safer.
• 15 September 2026: registration closes. This is the checkpoint that governs everything. Miss it and you cannot sit the test.
• 26 September 2026: the single test day. Core module plus General Academic Module, about three hours of testing with a break between them, in English, at one of ten Indian centers.
• 12 October 2026: your certificate becomes available to download and attach to your APS documentation.

File your APS in parallel, do not wait

The sequence looks tight because people assume it runs in a straight line: test, then certificate, then start APS. It does not have to. APS India lets you open your APS and ship your other documents from 29 June, before your dMAT certificate exists. Verification of those documents begins while you prepare and test. When the certificate lands in October, you add it, and only then does APS issue the final certificate.

That overlap is what compresses a tight timeline into a workable one. One caveat matters: every other academic document has to be complete in your first APS submission. Only the dMAT certificate is allowed to follow later. You cannot slip in a missing transcript alongside it afterward.

Plan backward from your intake

Universities set their own Summer 2027 deadlines, and they land before the test cycle you might expect. Build your plan from the deadline upward:

• University deadline: Summer 2027 intakes mostly close between December 2026 and January 2027. Confirm the exact date per programme.
• Before that, the APS certificate must be issued, which only happens after your dMAT result is filed.
• Before that, the dMAT certificate (12 October) and, before it, the test (26 September) and registration (by 15 September).
• Before any of it, an anabin check. If your institution is not recognized, the dMAT cannot repair that, so confirm recognition before you pay the €150.