The first day of the CAT online exam for admission to prestigious IIMs went off "smoothly" yesterday with over 4500 students sitting for the test.

"The exam passed off smoothly in all the centres," said Convener CAT-2010 and IIM, Lucknow, professor Himanshu Rai.

Some of the students were turned back as they reported late to the centres, he said. "The candidates have been asked to report two hours in advance but I am upset that some were late," he said while appealing the candidates to report at the centres on time.

Prometric, conducting the online format of the test, said 4548 candidates registered for the CAT today.

"We are pleased that the administration met our global standards and that candidates were able to take the test under appropriate testing conditions," said Soumitra Roy, Managing Director, Prometric India.

He asked the candidates to refer to the CAT website for check-in time for their test and ensure they bring their admit card, photo identification and voucher.

The CAT test, which was held under the online format for the first time last year, was marred by technical glitches forcing rescheduling of the exams.

The test this time is being conducted online in about 78 centres across 33 cities in a staggered format till November 24.

A total of 204,267 candidates have registered for CAT 2010. Forty different sets of question papers have been prepared. The results of CAT-2010 will be declared on January 12.

The CAT 2010 is being jointly organised by IIM-Lucknow and IIM Kolkata.