CAT 2020: How Many Questions to Expect This Year?
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
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CAT 2020 exam duration has been reduced by one hour. Will the number of questions also be reduced? How many questions will be there in CAT 2020?
The CAT exam has undergone a major change this year. CAT 2020 will be conducted in three slots and the exam duration will be 120 minutes. However, the examination authorities have not shared any information on reduction of total number of questions to balance out the reduction of time limit.
Earlier, CAT exam was of 180 minutes and there were 100 questions to answer. The sectional time limit was 60 minutes per section. For each question, the candidates got 1.8 minutes. This year, the sectional time-limit has been reduced to 40 minutes. Now, if the number of questions in CAT 2020 remains the same as last year (100), the candidates will get about less than 1.2 minutes per question. Let’s take a look at the table below to understand this time calculation.
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| CAT sections |
Time limit |
Number of question |
Time per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| VARC |
40 |
34 |
1.17 seconds |
| DILR |
40 |
32 |
1.25 seconds |
| QA |
40 |
34 |
1.17 seconds |
This change in the CAT exam pattern has left the aspirants perplexed because the exam is just about two months away and it is going to be a huge challenge modify CAT exam preparation strategy. Normally, by September the candidates begin practicing CAT mock tests to learn how to utilize 180 minutes. So what lies ahead?
- CAT 2020: Will the total number of questions come down?
- CAT 2020: What we know so far?
- Changes in CAT exam pattern. What should be preparation strategy?
- Changes in CAT exam pattern: Possible scenarios
- Changes in CAT exam pattern over the years
CAT 2020: Will the total number of questions come down?
IIM Indore, the CAT convening body, may not share any information related to revision in the total number of the questions until mid-October when they will release the official CAT Mock Test and Tutorial. It is most likely expected that the number of questions will be reduced given the fact that CAT is a speed-based test and the difficulty level of the exam is usually high. While RC passages of CAT exam are inference based, the QA and DI questions are often calculation intensive. If the number of questions is not reduced, the CAT 2020 question paper may have easy and straight-forward questions.
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CAT 2020: What we know so far?
- Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the CAT exam will be conducted in three slots this year.
| CAT 2020 Slots |
Shift Timing |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 - Morning |
8:30 AM to 10:30 AM |
| Slot 2 - Afternoon |
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM |
| Slot 3 - Evening |
4:30 PM to 6:30 PM |
- The process to calculate Scaled CAT Score of all three slots has been shared by CAT authorities for students to know how their performance will be evaluated. Also Read: How Scaled CAT Score will be calculated for three slots
- The duration of exam is 120 minutes and the sectional time-limit is 40 minutes for each section.
- There is no change in the marking scheme and question type. The CAT question paper will have both MCQ and non-MCQ type questions. Each question will carry 3 marks and each wrong attempt will lead to deduction of 1 mark. There is no negative marking for non-MCQs and unattempted questions.
Also Read: CAT 2020 exam pattern changed
Changes in CAT exam pattern. What should be preparation strategy?
Nothing changes for aspirants from the preparation point of view as the CAT syllabus remains the same. They still need to study Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude.
The aspirants will however, have to tweak their mock test practice strategy. The MBA coaching institutes will soon come up with 2-hour long CAT mocks tests, but until then, the candidates will have to self-time themselves.
MBA experts believe there will be about 33 per cent reduction in the total number of questions in CAT 2020 and that the difficulty level will remain same as in previous years. The total number of questions for the 120-minute test may be reduced to 65-66. However, the candidates must aim to practice solving about 75 questions in 120-minutes.
Changes in CAT exam pattern: Possible scenarios
If the total number of questions is reduced to 75, the each section will have 25 questions to be solved in 40 minutes. This means the difficulty level of the question paper could remain the same as previous years as in this scenario, time per question will be 1.6 minutes.
If the total number of questions is reduced to 60, the candidates will have to solve 20 questions per section. For each question they will get 2 minutes. In this scenario, the difficulty level of the questions is likely to go up.
If there is no change in the total number of questions, which is unlikely, the exam strategy should be to solve questions with maximum accuracy rather than trying to solve maximum number of questions in less time.
Also Read: Changes in Top MBA Entrance Exams Due to COVID-19
Changes in CAT exam pattern over the years
The CAT exam pattern has been revised after a gap of six years. Since 2014, the pattern of CAT has been the same with three sections, 100 questions and 180 minutes. Check the table below to know the changes in CAT exam pattern over the years.
| CAT Year |
Number of questions |
Time duration |
Sections |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 |
100 |
120 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
| 2019 |
100 |
180 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
| 2018 |
100 |
180 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
| 2017 |
100 |
180 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
| 2016 |
100 |
180 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
| 2015 |
100 |
180 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
| 2014 |
100 |
170 minutes |
QA & DI, LR & VARC |
| 2013 |
60 |
140 minutes |
QA & DI, LR & VARC |
| 2012 |
60 |
140 minutes |
QA & DI, LR & VARC |
| 2011 |
60 |
140 minutes |
QA & DI, LR & VARC |
| 2010 |
60 |
150 minutes |
QA, DILR, VARC |
CAT 2020 registration process ended on September 23. CAT 2020 admit cards will be issued from October 28 onwards and the exam is scheduled for November 29. CAT 2020 result will be announced in the second week of January 2021.
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