CAT 2021 exam analysis is out. The question paper was of moderate difficulty and had only 66 questions to be solved in 120 minutes. Read here in-depth CAT 2021 exam analysis by experts for slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3.
CAT 2021 exam is being held today in three slots. The first slot fo exam was conducted from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM. The second slot will be held from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM and the third slot will be conducted frm 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Shiksha will bring to you slot-wise CAT exam analysis by experts along with student reactions from the exam centre. Analysis of the first slot of CAT exam is available now.
Explore colleges based on CAT
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
- Chat with our counselor
- Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
The CAT 2021 question paper of the first slot was easy with only 66 questions to answer in 120 minutes. Read below in-depth CAT 2021 analysis, which includes section-wise distribution of topics, difficulty levels, number of good attempts, sectional cut off and expected scoring pattern.
Also Read:
- CAT 2021 Exam Analysis Highlights
- CAT 2021 Analysis: VARC
- CAT 2021 Analysis: DILR
- CAT 2021 Analysis: Quantitative Aptitude
CAT 2021 Exam Analysis Highlights
Given below is the section-wise difficulty level of the first slot of CAT 2021 exam:
| CAT 2021 Sections |
Questions |
Difficulty Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
24 |
Easy to Moderate |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning & (DILR) |
20 |
Moderate |
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) |
22 |
Moderate to Tough |
| Total/Overall |
66 |
Moderate |
CAT 2021 Analysis: VARC
The VARC section of CAT 2021 was as usual tougher from rest of the sections. Out of 24 questions, 16 were based on Reading Comprehension passages. The passages were inference based and doable. In the Verbal Ability part, the questions were from Parajumbles, Parasummary and Odd Sentence Out.
Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates
1 Apr '26 - 8 Jun '26
28 Jun '26
1 Jun '26 - 4 Jun '26
9 May '26 - 5 Jun '26
30 May '26 - 5 Jun '26
OJEE
9 Jun '26
10 Jun '26
MAH CET
28 Jun '26
Overall, 24-25 score can be considered enough for a 85%ile and 35-38 marks can be considered ideal for a 99%ile.
CAT 2021 Analysis: DILR
The DILR section of CAT 2021 had 20 questions divided into 4 sets (4+4+6+6). The questions were based on sets: Smoothies- DI, Bar Graph, Arrangement - Researchers, Publishing and Arrangement - Friends, Strangers, Acquaintances. The sectional difficulty level ws moderate to high and score of 27-30 marks can be considered ideal for a 99+ percentile in DILR.
CAT 2021 Analysis: Quantitative Aptitude
Like last year, the Quantitative Aptitude section was dominated by Arithmetic. Sectional difficulty level can be termed as easy as it had only 22 straight forward questions to be solved in 40 minutes. A score of 40-42 will be considered ideal for a 99+ percentile in this sectio of CAT 2021.
Also Read:
- CAT score vs percentile and marks vs percentile
- Understanding CAT normalization process
- CAT 2021 - How Scaled CAT Score will be Calculated for Three Slots?
Read below CAT 2021 analysis of slot 1, 2 and 3 by various MBA experts:
| CAT Experts |
CAT 2021 Analysis Page Links |
|---|---|
| CAT 2021 analysis by CATKing |
|
| CAT 2021 analysis by Career Launcher |
Available Now |
| CAT 2021 analysis by IMS India |
Available Now |
| CAT 2021 analysis by T.I.M.E. |
Available Now |
Read More:
Colleges Accepting CAT percentile above 90
Colleges Accepting CAT percentile from 80-90 percentile
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
Jul '26 | XAT 2027 registration dates |
Sep '26 | XAT 2027 mock test |
Aug '26 | SNAP 2026 Registration Process |
Nov '26 | SNAP 2026 admit card session 1... |
Aug '26 | NMAT 2026 Registration Window |
Aug '26 | NMAT 2026 Scheduling Window |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
1 Apr '26 - 8 Jun '26 | MAT May 2026 Registration CBT |
11 Jun '26 | MAT May 2026 CBT Admit Card |
Jul '26 | IBSAT 2026 Registration |
Dec '26 | IBSAT 2026 Exam Date |
Oct '26 | CMAT 2027 registration and app... |
Jan '27 | CMAT 2027 exam |
11 Jun '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 Second Attemp... |
30 May '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 Result (First... |
27 May '26 - 26 Jun '26 | TANCET Scorecard Download Wind... |
4 Jun '26 - 30 Jun '26 | TANCET counselling registratio... |
Mar '25 | IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno... |
Feb '25 | IRMASAT Personal Interviews |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
Yes, students can take admissions to BITS Law School without appearing from CLAT exam. BITS Law School admissions also conducts its own entrance exam called BITS Law Admission Test. Shortlisted candidates need to appear for Personal Interview rounds for admissions.
P
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 2 days ago
VGIM Cutoff 2025 is not available yet. However, according to the VGIM MBA/PGDM cutoff 2024, the overall MAT percentile required for admission to PGDM course is 70 for the students belonging to the General AI category
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar has not mentioned that it accepts CAT score for MBA admissions on their portals. Candidates are instead required to appear for an in-house entrance exam that is conducted by GNDU itself.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, IBSAT exam is comparatively easier than CAT in terms of syllabus difficulty level and competition. CAT question paper requires high anlaytical solving skills to score well in exam, whereas IBSAT exam assesses candidate's speed and accuracy. The difficulty level of IBSAT exam is moderate.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
No, to gain admission to the MBA course at this institute, candidates have to appear for the CAT exam and then for the Group Discussion (GD) and/or Personal Interview (PI) rounds.
Students are only shortlisted for the GD and PI rounds based on their performance in the CAT exam. Students who clear bo
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Srinivas University - Bangalore Campus accepts national or state-level Management entrance exam scores for admission in MBA. Hence, aspirants can apply via CAT scores. They can also appear for SUAT conducted by the university for admission.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
The registrations for the exam generally start from the month of August and continue till September. The admit cards are released by November. Exam is conducted usually by last week of November. Students can download their results by December.
B
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, COEP, Pune does accept CAT score to admit candidates for MBA admissions. During CAP rounds, if candidates have a valid score in CAT, they will be chosen based on those scores only. Thus, such candidates are not required to reappear for MAH-CET.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, to gain admission to the MBA course at this university, candidates have to either attempt the CAT or other accepted exams (MAT, SUAT, etc.) and then appear in the Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds.
Students are shortlisted for the GD and PI rounds based on their performa
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
IIT Madras CAT cutoff 2025 is generally not released to the public and is instead only visible to students with login credentials.
Based on the previous year's estimated CAT cutoff for the General AI category, the overall CAT percentile was 85.11.
Note: The cutoff data provided is not official. It i
N
Contributor-Level 10
Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8
Read Full Bio