IGNOU MATS Guess Paper December 2026: Themes From 56 MTT and MEG Papers, Two Paper Formats

MTT-010 on 2 December Opens Seven MATS Mornings in Eight Days

The first December 2026 MATS paper is MTT-010 Theories of Translation on Wednesday 2 December 2026 at 10 AM, per IGNOU’s date sheet of 30 October 2026. MTT-011 to MTT-016 follow on every examination day up to Wednesday 9 December, Sunday 6 December being the only break, so a first-year learner meets seven papers in eight days before a nine-day gap.

Year I: Ten Morning Papers Between 2 and 21 December

Every first-year paper is set from 10 AM. The run starts in code order, MTT-010 to MTT-016, from 2 to 9 December. After that the calendar opens up: MTT-017 Lexicography, Technical Terminology and Translation comes on Friday 18 December, MTT-018 on Saturday 19 December and MTT-019 on Monday 21 December.

The nine clear days between MTT-016 and MTT-017 are worth guarding. MTT-017 is one of the two MATS papers with a compulsory 15-mark terminology question, and that question rewards drill more than reading.

Year II: MTT-020 in the Morning, Then Three Afternoons

MTT-020 Translation Process is the only second-year paper in the morning, on Tuesday 22 December. MTT-021 Translation Training follows the next day at 2 PM, and the two MEG papers close the programme on consecutive afternoons, MEG-14 on Monday 28 December and MEG-15 on Tuesday 29 December. Both MEG papers last three hours, an hour longer than any MTT paper.

A First-Year Paper Still Owed in Year II

The tight stretch belongs to a second-year learner carrying MTT-017, MTT-018 or MTT-019 from Year I. With all three pending, the papers fall on 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 December: five papers on five consecutive examination days, the last one in the afternoon. No two MATS papers share a date, so there is no clash to report to the Regional Centre, only a run to revise for in advance.

The free planner further down shows these runs for any ticked codes. The full timetable is summarised on the December 2026 date sheet page, the morning and afternoon sessions are explained under IGNOU exam timings, and the hall ticket guide covers the admit card. Centre allocation sits on the exam centre page; fee rules are on the examination fee page, and payment steps on the online exam fee guide.

The Term-End Paper Settles Most of a MATS Grade, Though IGNOU Prints No Percentage

None of the 56 MATS term-end papers from December 2024 to June 2026 prints a weightage line, and neither does IGNOU’s 2026 MTT 010-019 assignment booklet. That booklet calls the assignments “internal assessment” and says minimum prescribed marks in them are mandatory, but it gives no percentage split, so the MATS Programme Guide is the IGNOU document to check for the exact share.

What the papers do show is how little room there is. A two-hour MTT paper asks for five answers in about 110 minutes of writing once ten minutes go to reading, roughly 22 minutes per 10-mark answer. Learners who want to see how assignment and term-end marks combine into a percentage can use the IGNOU percentage calculator, and the passing marks for each component are stated in the Programme Guide.

MATS Guess Paper, IGNOU Past Paper or Solved Paper: Three Different Tools

For MATS, a guess paper means a publisher’s revision set built around one course code, MTT-013 Areas of Translation for instance: the questions IGNOU keeps returning to, each with a model answer, drawn from earlier IGNOU papers and the syllabus. Listings that say “important questions”, “expected questions” or “model paper” describe this same kind of set. A previous year question paper, by contrast, is a real IGNOU paper from a past term-end examination, which anyone can download free from IGNOU’s session lists. Add a publisher’s answers to one of those real papers and it becomes a solved question paper.

For MATS the three overlap more than usual, because the MTT papers repeat their themes so often. A learner who works through the four latest IGNOU papers for MTT-015 has already met all ten of its recurring topics; a guess paper adds answers of the right length and the drill the terminology questions need. Ready-made solutions to past papers are explained on the IGNOU solved question papers page, and every programme’s sets are gathered on the IGNOU guess paper hub.

MTT-010 to MEG-15: Eighty Credits, Two Clocks, Four Paper Layouts

The MATS programme has fourteen examined course codes in section 3.52 of the July 2026 Common Prospectus: ten Year I courses, MTT-010 to MTT-019, and four Year II courses, MTT-020, MTT-021, MEG-14 and MEG-15, beside the 16-credit project. The School of Translation Studies and Training runs it in Hindi and English, for graduates with a working knowledge of both languages.

The credits add up. Year I is ten courses of 4 credits, 40. Year II is MTT-020 and MTT-021 at 4 credits each, MEG-14 and MEG-15 at 8 each, and the project at 16, again 40. The total of 80 matches the prospectus. The project carries no term-end paper and stays out of the tables below.

Year I: Ten MTT Courses of 4 Credits Each

Year II: Two MTT Courses and Two MEG Courses

Four Layouts Across Fourteen Codes

IGNOU sets MATS on two clocks. All 48 MTT papers from December 2024 to June 2026 are 2 hours and 50 marks, printed in English and then Hindi in the same file; ten of the twelve MTT codes ask for any five questions with Q9, two short notes, compulsory. MEG-14 and MEG-15 are borrowed from the MA English programme and keep its 3-hour, 100-mark paper, printed in English only under the MA English (MEG) heading.

MTT-013 and MTT-017: The 15-Mark Question Nobody Can Skip

MTT-013 Areas of Translation and MTT-017 Lexicography, Technical Terminology and Translation end every paper with a compulsory 15-mark Q8, in all eight papers from December 2024 to June 2026. Learners answer only three of the six essays, so this one exercise is worth half as much again as any essay and decides more of the grade than anything else on the paper.

Individual items come back too. “Passed for payment” was asked in June 2025 and December 2025, “endorsement” in the same two papers, “High Commissioner” in December 2025 and June 2026, and “Auxiliary Nurse” in December 2024 and June 2026, all in MTT-013. In MTT-017, “censure motion” appeared in June 2025 and again in December 2025. One slip affects the drill: the June 2026 MTT-017 paper asks for alphabetical order “in English” but prints ten Hindi words, so the Hindi alphabetical order is the sensible reading.

December 2025: Seven MTT Papers Moved to 500 Words

Until June 2025, every MTT paper that printed a word limit asked for about 450 words per long answer. From December 2025, seven MTT codes print about 500 words instead: MTT-010, MTT-011, MTT-014, MTT-015, MTT-018, MTT-019 and MTT-021. The other five, MTT-012, MTT-013, MTT-016, MTT-017 and MTT-020, still print 450 in June 2026.

Fifty extra words in 22 minutes is a real difference for someone who writes slowly in Hindi. A set should follow the limit in the newest paper for that code, which is why the same course can look different in an older guide.

Titles and Slips Printed on IGNOU’s MATS Papers

None of these changes what a question asks, but each can make a candidate pause in the hall.

The site has no separate page for each MTT code. Programme-wide details of the MEG courses sit on the MA English programme profile, and the MEG course list with project codes across IGNOU is on the project course codes table.

Translation Process to Copyright: MATS Themes IGNOU Keeps Setting

MTT-015 Translation and Literature repeats itself more than any other MATS paper: ten topics, from translating poetry and drama to Latin American literature and the idea of world literature, appeared in all four IGNOU papers from December 2024 to June 2026. MTT-020 Translation Process has eight topics in all four papers, and MTT-011, MTT-016, MTT-018 and MTT-019 have seven each.

Each count on this page comes from IGNOU’s own MATS term-end papers for December 2024, June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026, four per code and 56 in all, compared in full by ignouproject.com on 5 November 2026. A cell gives the question number; “note” marks a theme set as a short note. Matching a question to a theme is a human judgement, not a word search, and themes seen in a single paper are left out. The theme tables cover all fourteen codes, MTT-010 to MTT-021, MEG-14 and MEG-15.

Same Theme, Same Question Number

In two codes IGNOU even keeps the position. MTT-018 opened all four papers with culture in translation as Q1, inter-cultural communication as Q2 or Q3, and communication behaviour as Q3 or Q2. MTT-020 is stricter still: Q1 was the translation process, Q2 types of translation and Q8 machine translation in all four papers, and Q3 was limitations of translation in three of them.

MTT-010 Theories of Translation

Five MTT-010 themes are in every paper: the nature and types of translation, ancient Indian theories, translation and the spread of Buddhism, modern Indian theory, and a Western tradition. The Western question moves, from Steiner in December 2024 to polysystem theory in June 2026, so the block on Western thinkers needs to be read whole.

The four MTT-010 papers behind these counts: MTT-010 December 2024, MTT-010 June 2025, MTT-010 December 2025 and MTT-010 June 2026.

MTT-011 Translation: History and Tradition

MTT-011 works like a fixed tour of traditions. Buddhist, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Canadian, American and ancient Western translation all turn up in every paper, often as a note when they are not an essay, and Kumarjiva has been a Q9 note option in two of the four papers.

Each MTT-011 cell can be traced in MTT-011 December 2024, MTT-011 June 2025, MTT-011 December 2025 and MTT-011 June 2026.

MTT-012 Translation and Linguistics

Q1 has asked about the characteristics of language, or its system and behaviour, in all four papers. Saussure and signs, stylistics and semantics also return every time, and “Stylistics and Translation” was set as the same essay in December 2025 and June 2026.

IGNOU’s MTT-012 files: MTT-012 December 2024, MTT-012 June 2025, MTT-012 December 2025 and MTT-012 June 2026.

MTT-013 Areas of Translation

Administrative language opens every MTT-013 paper as Q1, and the terminology exercise closes it. In between, parliamentary, educational and commercial translation came up in all four sessions, with legal, scientific, humanities and tourism texts in three.

The MTT-013 papers, terminology exercise included: MTT-013 December 2024, MTT-013 June 2025, MTT-013 December 2025 and MTT-013 June 2026.

MTT-014 Translation and Indian Languages

Language families, from Indo-Aryan and Dravidian to Munda, Khasi and Tibeto-Burman, appear in every MTT-014 paper, as do the principle of resistance, multilingualism, classical literature and nationalism. “Translation as Discovery” was set as an essay in December 2024 and again in June 2026.

To check the MTT-014 counts, open MTT-014 December 2024, MTT-014 June 2025, MTT-014 December 2025 and MTT-014 June 2026.

MTT-015 Translation and Literature

Every MTT-015 theme in this table is 4 of 4, ten in all. Poetry, drama, fiction and non-fiction, Indian classics abroad, Latin America, Indian and world literature, comparative literature, Hindi and other Indian languages, and post-colonial translation together account for most of every recent paper.

The ten 4 of 4 rows rest on MTT-015 December 2024, MTT-015 June 2025, MTT-015 December 2025 and MTT-015 June 2026.

MTT-016 Translation and Mass Communication

Broadcasting is Q1 in every MTT-016 paper and again a Q9 note option each time. Print media, new media, advertising, subtitling and dubbing, cinema and theatre adaptation, and community media complete a set of seven themes that never missed a session.

MTT-016 as IGNOU printed it: MTT-016 December 2024, MTT-016 June 2025, MTT-016 December 2025 and MTT-016 June 2026.

MTT-017 Lexicography, Technical Terminology and Translation

Q1 has been lexicography every time and Q2 types of dictionaries every time. Three pairs of essays were repeated almost or exactly word for word: standardisation of terminology, the meaning and sources of “word”, and the computer in dictionary making.

The MTT-017 papers with the repeated essays: MTT-017 December 2024, MTT-017 June 2025, MTT-017 December 2025 and MTT-017 June 2026.

MTT-018 Translation and Inter Cultural Studies

Seven MTT-018 themes are in every paper, and the June 2025 and December 2025 papers offered the same two Q9 notes, cultural identity and non-verbal communication, in reverse order.

IGNOU’s MTT-018 files, slot by slot: MTT-018 December 2024, MTT-018 June 2025, MTT-018 December 2025 and MTT-018 June 2026.

MTT-019 Politics of Translation

Bhakti appropriation, Russian literature and the national movement, Christian missionaries, reform movements, diaspora and Indian writing in English sit in every MTT-019 paper. So does a short note on a modernist poet’s view of translation: Yeats in December 2024 and June 2026, Pound in June 2025 and December 2025.

The MTT-019 papers, Yeats and Pound notes included: MTT-019 December 2024, MTT-019 June 2025, MTT-019 December 2025 and MTT-019 June 2026.

MTT-020 Translation Process

Eight of the nine MTT-020 themes are 4 of 4, and most of them sit in the same question slot each time. “Difference between Translation-Review and Translation-Evaluation” was the Q9(a) note in June 2025 and again in June 2026.

MTT-020’s fixed slots can be seen in MTT-020 December 2024, MTT-020 June 2025, MTT-020 December 2025 and MTT-020 June 2026.

MTT-021 Translation Training

Copyright grew from two items in December 2024 to five in June 2026: Q1, Q3 and Q5 plus notes (a) and (b). Translation training in India, idioms and proverbs, contrastive analysis and the translator’s own knowledge were in every paper as well.

The MTT-021 papers, from two copyright items to five: MTT-021 December 2024, MTT-021 June 2025, MTT-021 December 2025 and MTT-021 June 2026.

MEG-14 Contemporary Indian Literature in English Translation

Every MEG-14 question is tied to a prescribed text. Tughlaq was in all four papers, Samskara, Karukku, The Empty Chest and Manimahesh in three, and the passage question has reused lines more than once.

MEG-14 as set for the MA English programme: MEG-14 December 2024, MEG-14 June 2025, MEG-14 December 2025 and MEG-14 June 2026.

MEG-15 Comparative Literature

Retellings, especially of the Mahabharata, are the one MEG-15 essay theme in every paper. Approaches to culture, magic realism, modernism and Sally Morgan’s My Place each appeared in three.

The MEG-15 papers with the reused passages: MEG-15 December 2024, MEG-15 June 2025, MEG-15 December 2025 and MEG-15 June 2026.

Passages That Came Back in MEG-14 and MEG-15

The reference-to-context question carries 20 marks in both MEG papers, and IGNOU reuses its passages. “I do not ring the temple bell” was a MEG-15 passage in December 2024, December 2025 and June 2026. In MEG-14, “Love broke into loud lamentations” was set in December 2024 and June 2025, the black bumble-bee poem in three papers, and “Mistakes and fine follies howl” in December 2025 and June 2026. Recognising the poem behind a line is half of a 5-mark answer.

Building a Revision Set for One MTT or MEG Code

A set for, say, MTT-020 is put together in five steps:

1. The four latest IGNOU papers for the code are laid side by side, December 2024 to June 2026.
2. Each question is assigned to a theme by hand, and the themes are ranked by how many of the four papers carried them.
3. Answers are written for the themes seen in three or four papers first, at the length the newest paper prints: 450 or 500 words for MTT essays, 250 for notes, longer for MEG.
4. Compulsory parts get their own practice: Q9 notes for most MTT codes, the Q8 drill for MTT-013 and MTT-017, and the passage question for MEG-14 and MEG-15.
5. The set is checked against the July 2026 course list and the December 2026 sheet, so it matches the paper the learner actually sits.

Timing a Two-Hour MTT Paper, Minute by Minute

Take the June 2026 MTT-013 paper. Ten minutes go to reading and choosing three essays from six. Each essay then has about 22 minutes, 66 in all. The 15-mark Q8 deserves about 33 minutes: roughly 13 for the six administrative terms, 13 for the six designations and 7 for the three noting phrases. The 5-mark note in Q7 takes the last 11. A learner who spends 30 minutes on the first essay has no time left for the equivalents, which are the surest marks on the paper.

Revising for Seven Mornings From 2 December

The run from MTT-010 to MTT-016 leaves no evening between papers long enough to start a course from scratch. A workable order is to finish MTT-013’s terminology and the MTT-015 and MTT-016 theme lists before 2 December, because those three have the most fixed content, then use each evening for a last pass at the next morning’s 4 of 4 themes. MTT-017, MTT-018 and MTT-019 can wait for the nine-day gap that starts on 10 December.

What a MATS Set Can Settle, and What Stays With IGNOU

Two Free MATS Planners: The December Paper Run and the Answer-Length Clock

The planner places ticked codes on IGNOU’s December 2026 sheet and flags consecutive days; the clock gives a code’s layout, the minutes and words each answer can have, and its most frequent themes. Both draw only on the tables on this page.

Neither planner holds anything beyond the tables above: dates from the sheet of 30 October 2026, layouts and word limits from the June 2026 papers, themes from the four-session tables.

Locating MATS Papers and the December Sheet on ignou.ac.in

The MATS papers sit on four separate IGNOU session lists, newest first: June 2026, December 2025, June 2025 and December 2024. Each holds all twelve MTT files and both MEG files.

1. Search a list for the hyphenated code, such as MTT-017. The MEG files are named MEG-14 and MEG-15 up to December 2025 and MEG-014 and MEG-015 in June 2026.
2. Read page 1 of the PDF to confirm the session; the December 2024 files sit in a general downloads folder with no month in its name.
3. Inside each MTT file the English paper comes first, with its Hindi version on the pages after it. Older files can carry an unpadded name, such as the June 2022 paper filed as MTT-10, which prints MTT-010 inside.
4. Take dates from IGNOU’s PDF only. The December 2026 date sheet of 30 October 2026 followed the tentative sheet of 21 September 2026; both print the codes without hyphens, as MTT010 and MEG14.

The June 2026 list also names MEG-014-EVB and MEG-015-EVB files, but both returned an empty document when downloaded on 5 November 2026. The site’s general IGNOU date sheet guide explains the sheet’s layout, and IGNOU’s PDF settles any difference.

Admit Card Before 2 December; Marks, Revaluation and Grade Card Later

The admit card is needed before MTT-010 for a first-year learner, or before MTT-020 for one in the second year with nothing pending. Marks for the December papers appear through the IGNOU result page; for how the last cycle unfolded, see the June 2026 result page, and for master’s degree releases in particular, the IGNOU MA result page.

Assignment marks are entered separately, and the assignment result status page shows how to check them. Anyone unsure about a term-end mark has the IGNOU revaluation process to turn to; once the last MTT or MEG course is cleared, the final grade card guide and the CGPA calculator help make sense of the overall MATS result.

Assignments, the Project and Other MATS Support

A revision set does nothing for the assignments, which IGNOU treats as a separate internal assessment. Typed answers are listed under IGNOU solved assignments; for MEG-14 and MEG-15, the MEG assignment page and the MEG handwritten assignment page cover the English programme’s versions. Fuller course coverage is in the IGNOU help books and the online guide books, and MEG textbooks are listed with the MAEG books guide. MA English learners sitting the same two MEG codes have their own MAEG guess paper page. The 16-credit project, MTTP-022, has no term-end paper and is explained in the MATS project guide, with the diploma’s project in the PGDT project guide.

Hindi or English for MTT Codes, English for MEG-14 and MEG-15

IGNOU examines the twelve MTT courses in Hindi and English: the July 2026 Common Prospectus lists both as the MATS medium, and each of the 48 MTT papers from December 2024 to June 2026 prints the English questions followed by the Hindi version. MEG-14 and MEG-15 are different: all eight of their papers in those sessions are printed in English only, under the MA English heading.

Each set is prepared for the upcoming term-end examination, in every medium IGNOU examines that course in, and the medium for your course code is confirmed on WhatsApp before you pay.

In practice that means an MTT set in Hindi or English, and MEG-14 and MEG-15 sets in English, matching the language of the paper. The session is December 2026; once IGNOU issues the June 2027 date sheet, sets are prepared for that cycle instead.

Online learners should check one more thing. IGNOU set the June 2023 MATSOL paper for MTT-010 in a separate layout: 100 marks, 180 minutes, and three sections of short, medium and long answers. The admit card shows which paper a learner sits, and the set is matched to it on WhatsApp.

How a MATS Order Works: Codes, Format, Language, Payment

The rate is ₹49 per subject code for a solved guess paper as a PDF, or ₹100 per subject code as a printed copy. Printed copies carry a one-time courier charge of ₹100 per order, whatever the number of subject codes; the PDF has no courier charge.

1. Write the codes as IGNOU prints them, MTT-018 or MEG-14.
2. Mark each one PDF or printed.
3. Add Hindi or English against every MTT code.
4. Send the list to WhatsApp +91 93546 37830 and pay the total in the reply.

The PDF is shared on WhatsApp once payment is confirmed. A printed copy is dispatched the next day after payment is confirmed, and the courier details are shared on WhatsApp. No arrival date is promised, because transit time depends on the courier and your location.

There is no minimum order: one subject or ten, same rate per format.

All ten Year I codes cost 10 × ₹49 = ₹490 as PDFs, or 10 × ₹100 + ₹100 courier = ₹1,100 printed. The four Year II codes cost ₹196 as PDFs, or ₹500 printed with the single courier charge. Rates for the publisher’s other services appear on the services and charges page.

Sources Behind This MATS Page and Its Next Revision

IGNOU documents. The July 2026 Common Prospectus (section 3.52 for courses and credits, the programme table for medium and duration); the 56 MATS term-end papers from December 2024 to June 2026, each linked above; the four session question paper lists; two earlier MTT-010 papers, June 2022 and the June 2023 MATSOL paper; the December 2026 date sheets of 21 September and 30 October 2026; IGNOU’s 2026 MTT 010-019 and 2026-27 MEG-14 assignment booklets; and the IGNOU assignments download list where those booklets are posted. The site’s IGNOU prospectus guide summarises that same document.

The publisher’s analysis. The theme counts, the layout, drill, word-limit and repeated-question tables, the slips list and the timing examples are ignouproject.com’s own reading of those papers, compared on 5 November 2026. Theme matching is a judgement.

The publisher’s terms. The price of a MATS set, how it is sent and the languages offered are ignouproject.com’s own terms, separate from anything IGNOU publishes.

Written and reviewed by BK Sahni, Founder, Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. and ignouproject.com, who has guided 5,00,000 students till date. ORCID 0009-0005-8092-459X. Serving IGNOU learners since 2010.

Published 5 November 2026. Last reviewed 5 November 2026. Next review due March 2027, the month IGNOU tends to publish its tentative June 2027 date sheet.

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