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CAT Exam Pattern & Marking Scheme - A Detailed Breakdown & Analysis

Exam

Ridhima Jindal

Updated on 01st October, 2024 , 4 min read

The CAT Exam is conducted every year at the end of November, and is a prestigious examination conducted for admission to the MBA programs offered by the 20 IIMs, and other top b-schools like XIME, XIMB, etc. To get into a dream college like the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) it is important to understand the CAT Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme, so that the students know what they need to do to prepare for the CAT Exam.

The CAT exam is an extremely prestigious and powerful exam, and also one of the toughest MBA exams. The CAT exam has 66 questions in total to be answered within 120 minutes or 2 hours. The total marks of the CAT exam are 198, and there are 3 sections in the exam. These Three sections included in CAT question papers are Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. 

In the CAT exam, the maximum number of questions comes from the VARC section with 37% weightage. The weightage of questions asked in QA, and DILR are 33% and 30% respectively. The overall difficulty of previous years’ exam was reported to be between moderate and difficult.

In this article we will understand the CAT exam pattern and marking scheme in detail including the CAT Total Marks, CAT sectional marking scheme, CAT important topics and their weightage, and a comparative analysis of the CAT Past Years’ papers for a better understanding.

CAT Exam Pattern - At A Glance

In this section we have provided the candidates with the key highlights of the CAT Exam Pattern like the CAT marks, exam duration, time limit, and other significant details.

Particulars

CAT Pattern 2024 and Syllabus

CAT exam time duration

2 Hours (120 Minutes)

Name of the Section

  • Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
  • Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
  • Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

Section-wise CAT exam duration

  • 40 Minutes for Each Section (VARC, DILR, QA).
  • 53 Minutes 20 Seconds for PwD candidates for each section.

CAT slot timings

  • CAT slot 1 timing: 8:30 am - 10:30 am (Morning Session)
  • CAT slot 2 timing: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm (Afternoon Session)
  • CAT slot 3 timing: 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm (Evening Session)

How many questions in CAT exam

66 Questions

CAT total marks

198 marks

Mode of the CAT 2024 exam

Computer-Based Mode (CBT)

CAT Marking Scheme

  • For every right answer, +3 will be awarded
  • For every wrong answer in MCQs, -1 will be deducted
  • No negative marks for Non-MCQs

CAT Marking Scheme

In the CAT exam each section has a different number of question. Through this table we will aim to understand the question and mark division for each section.

Sections

Number of Questions

Total Marks

Marking Scheme

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

24 Questions

72 Marks

  • +3 marks for correct answering
  • -1 for incorrect answering

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

22 Questions

66 Marks

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

20 Questions

60 Marks

Total

66 Questions

120 Minutes

Video Courtesy - "iQuanta"

CAT Section-Wise Weightage - Question Distribution & Marking Scheme

The CAT exam has two type of questions - MCQ and TITA. The detailed analysis of the questions and their distribution is provided below for reference along with their weightage.

Sections

Number of MCQs

Number of TITAs

Weightage of Questions

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

20

4

37%

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

15

7

33%

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

14

6

30%

CAT Exam Vs Other Management Exams

In this section, we aim to provide a comparative analysis of the CAT exam with the other important management exams like XAT, MAT, SNAP, etc. This will help the candidates draw a guided analysis of the CAT exam pattern in comparison to other exams, which will in turn help them in understanding the difficulty level of the exams.

Exams

Total Questions 

Marks Allotted

Negative Marking

Time Allotted

Sectional Time Allotted

CAT

66

198

Yes (33.33%)

2 Hours

Yes

SNAP

60

60

Yes (25%)

1 Hour

No

CMAT

100

400

Yes (25%)

2 Hours

No

XAT

102

101

Yes (25%)

3.5 Hours

Yes

NMAT

108

360

No

2 Hours

Yes

IBSAT

140

140

No

2 Hours

No

MAT

200

200

Yes (25%)

2.5 Hours

No

CAT Exam Pattern - Changes Over the Years

CAT Exam has observed significant changes in the CAT Exam pattern over the past years. The CAT exam Pattern has remained the same for the past 3 years. From 2014 to 2019, there were 100 questions, which was reduced to 76 in 2020, and further reduced to 66 in 2021. Take a look at the CAT Exam Pattern over the years tabulated below.

Years

Number of Questions

VARC Questions

QA Questions

DILR Questions

2023

66

24

22

20

2022

66

24

22

20

2021

66

24

22

20

2020

76

34

26

24

2019

100

34

34

32

2018

100

34

34

32

2017

100

34

34

32

2016

100

34

34

32

2015

100

34

34

32

2014

100

34

34

32

CAT Exam Difficulty Level

The general difficulty level of the CAT exam is considered to be between moderate and difficult. However, this difficulty level may or may not vary for each section. Check this difficulty level below. Read More.

Sections

Number of Good Attempts

Difficulty Level

VARC

Slot 1: 10-12

Slot 2: 13-15

Slot 3: 12-14

Moderate to Difficult

QA

Slot 1: 15-18

Slot 2: 14-17

Slot 3: 13-16

Moderate to Difficult

DILR

Slot 1: 9-11

Slot 2: 9-12

Slot 3: 10-12

Moderate

Overall

35-49

Moderate

CAT Exam Syllabus

Before understanding the topic-wise weightage, candidates need to understand the CAT syllabus. Refer to the below table to check the CAT Syllabus.

Sections

Topics Included

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

  • Reading Comprehension Passages
  • Para Completion
  • Para Summary
  • Odd Sentence
  • Fact Inference Judgment
  • Para jumbles

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

  • Algebra
  • Arithmetic
  • Geometry
  • Mensuration
  • Number System
  • Modern Mathematics

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

  • Combination of Graphs
  • Line Graph
  • Bar Graph
  • Pie Chart
  • Caselet, and Tables
  • Seating Arrangement
  • Puzzles
  • Binary Logic
  • Blood Relations
  • Syllogism

CAT Important Topics & Weightage

To understand the CAT Exam Pattern, it is not only important to know the number and kind of questions asked, but it is equally crucial to understand the important topics asked in the CAT exam, and also their weightage. This section provides a detailed analysis of the topics that are crucial for the upcoming CAT exam, and the topic wise weightage for each section. Click Here to check the CAT Preparation Tips.

Section

Important Topics

Weightage in Percentage

Quantitative Aptitude

Geometry, Arithmetic, Algebra, Mensuration, Number System

34%

Data Interpretation

Tables, Pie Charts, Graphs, Venn Diagram

16%

Logical Reasoning

Seating Arrangement, Blood Relation, Syllogism And Caselets

16%

Reading Comprehension

Questions based on passages, order of sentences, para meaning.

24%

Verbal Ability

Para summary, Para jumbles, Inferences and Sentence Completion

10%

CAT VARC Topic Wise Weightage

CAT VARC Syllabus Topics

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Reading Comprehension

16

16

16

Para Jumbles

2

2

2

Para Summary

2

2

2

Odd Sentence

2

2

2

Para Completion

2

2

2

CAT DILR Important Topics & Weightage

CAT 2023 DILR Sets

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Total Questions

Set 1

College Elections

Arrangement → Scores → two days average

Girls / Boys (Caselet) Tests

5

Set 2

Visa Applications

(Time & Sequence set)

Missing Values Based Table→ Company Starting/ Closing Years

Caselet→ Window/ Split AC

5

Set 3

12 Houses 

Rectangular diagram (3*2)

Rides & Timings

Route Based Diagram

5

Set 4

Restaurant→ Rating 

(Mean, Median, Mode)

Grid Based→two 3*3 tables (Mean, Median, Mode)

Online Sites

(Mean, Median, Mode, Max/Min)

5

 CAT QA Important Topics & Weightage

CAT QA Syllabus Topics

Slot 1

Slot 2

Slot 3

Number System

1

3

4

Algebra

8

7

7

Arithmetic

9

9

8

Modern Maths

1

0

0

Geometry & Mensuration

3

3

3

CAT Section-Wise Difficulty Level

For a deep understanding of the CAT exam, candidates need to check the difficulty level of each section separately tabulated below.

CAT QA Section Difficulty Level

QA Sections

No. of Questions

Level of Difficulty

Arithmetic

10

Moderate

Algebra

5

Moderate

Geometry

3

Moderate

Modern Maths

4

Moderate

Total

22

Moderate Level

CAT DILR Section Difficulty Level

DILR Sections

No. of Questions

Level of Difficulty

Data Interpretation

4

Easy

Data Interpretation

4

Moderate

Logical Reasoning

6

Moderate to difficult

Logical Reasoning

6

Easy to Moderate

Total

20

Moderate to Difficult level

CAT VARC Section Difficulty Level

VARC Topics

No. of Questions in CAT Exam

Difficulty Level

Reading Comprehension

16

Moderate to Difficult

VA-Parajumbles

3

Moderate to Difficult

VA-Odd Sentence

2

Easy to Moderate

VA-Summary

3

Easy to Moderate

Total

24

Moderate to Difficult level

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