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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Aug 5, 2025 14:52 IST

CAT 2022 question papers of all three slots were moderately difficult. Download CAT 2022 question paper PDF for knowing the sectional weightage and difficulty level.

CAT 2022 question paper

CAT 2022 question papers of all three slots was moderate to high difficulty level. The pattern of the CAT paper was same as previous years with a few changes in topic-wise weightage. The CAT 2022 question paper had three sections – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA). Total number of questions in CAT paper 2022 were 66. VARC section had 24 question, DILR had 20 questions and Quantitative Ability had 22 questions. While VARC had only MCQ, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude section had a few non-MCQs.

Those preparing for CAT 2025 exam must practice CAT 2022 question paper to understand the types of questions asked previously. Candidates must ensure that they solve previous year CAT question papers in the last month of exam preparation. CAT 2022 question papers of slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3 with the CAT answer key can be downloaded on this page, further below.

Table of content
  • CAT 2022 Question Paper: Sectional Composition
  • CAT 2022 Question Paper: Marking Scheme
  • CAT 2022 Question Paper: VARC
  • CAT 2022 Question Paper: DILR
  • CAT 2022 Question Paper: Quantitative Ability

CAT 2022 Question Paper: Sectional Composition

The CAT question paper 2022 of every slot was same in terms of pattern and structure, however, the difficulty level varied slightly. Given below is the section wise break-up of CAT question paper 2022:

CAT 2022 Paper

Number of Questions

Allotted Time-Limit

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

24

40 minutes

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI)

20

40 minutes

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

22

40 minutes

Total

66

120 minutes

CAT 2022 Question Paper Download PDF:

CAT 2022 Question Paper Slot 1

CAT 2022 Question Paper Slot 3

CAT 2022 Question Paper: Marking Scheme

Each question of the CAT question paper 2022 carried three marks for correct entry and minus one mark for incorrect entry. Unanswered questions and incorrect attempts in non-MCQ carried zero marks.

CAT 2022 Sections

Number of Questions

Total Marks

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

24

72

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI)

20

60

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

22

66

Total

76

198

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CAT 2022 Question Paper: VARC

The VARC section of CAT question paper 2022 had more Reading Comprehension questions than Verbal Ability, which made it a tough section to crack. Given below is the break-up of VARC section of CAT question paper 2022:

VARC Question Type

Number of Questions

Difficulty Level

Reading Comprehension (4 passages)

16

Easy to Moderate

Para Jumble Questions

3

Easy to Moderate

Odd Sentence Out/Para Completion

2

Moderate

Para Summary

3

Moderate

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RC Passages of CAT Question Paper 2022

Check the table below for topics of the Reading Comprehension passages of CAT question paper 2022, slo1, 2 and 3. All the passages are inference based.

CAT 2022 Slot 1

CAT 2022 Slot 2

CAT 2022 Slot 3

  • RC 1 Topic: Ghosts and their mysteries how we can’t find their history
  • RC 2 Topic: Chinese Copy of articles 
  • RC 3 Topic: Two levels of emotional thinking 
  • RC 4: STOICS
  • RC 1 Topic: Music
  • RC 2 Topic- Engineering technology
  • RC 3 Topic: Octopus
  • -RC 4: Philosophy
  • RC 1 - Social reorganization increasing crime rate
  • RC 2 Software if more easy humans are not capable to get solutions)
  • RC 3 Indian history
  • RC 4 American migration / urbanization increasing

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CAT 2022 Question Paper: DILR

The DILR section of CAT question paper 2022 had sets of 4 and set of 5 questions across the exam slots. Check below the break-up of DILR section of CAT question paper 2022:

DILR Topics

Number of Questions

Difficulty Level

Data Interpretation Set 1

4-5

Moderate-Difficult

Logical Reasoning Set 1

4-5

Moderate

Data Interpretation Set 2

5-6

Moderate-Difficult

Logical Reasoning Set 2

5-6

Moderate

DILR topics of CAT 2022 Question Paper

Check the below table for areas and topics of DILR sets of CAT question paper 2022:

CAT 2022 Slot 1

CAT 2022 Slot 2

CAT 2022 Slot 3

  • Token
  • University Team
  • 15 Girls Get Together
  • Metrolines

 

  • Revenue / cost
  • Cosmetic item sales
  • Diagram- 4 destination
  • Salesman & four colonies
  • Bar graph of death calculation
  • Reasoning city - 5 days COVID cases
  • Games tournaments
  • Scheduling
Q:   What is the structure of CAT question paper?
A:

Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68. 

The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.

 

Q:   Which CAT slot has the toughest question paper?
A:
There is no pattern to which CAT question paper can be the toughest. The CAT question paper of every slot has unique questions. The examination body strives to maintain the same difficulty level of the paper across all slots but it may happen that a question can be more difficult from another. It is seen that, to keep the uniqueness of the question paper intact, the examination authority also changes the topic wise weightage a little bit across the exam slots. In most of the previous years, it is seen that the morning slot of the CAT exam is tougher than the rest two. However, candidates must not worry about the difficulty level of the slots as, the scores of all the candidates are normalised on a common scale to root out the possibility of advantage or disadvantage to any student due to difference in difficulty level. To know how the CAT scores are normalised, read this article: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/understanding-cat-normalization-process-blogId-9386.
Q:   From where can I download CAT question papers?
A:

CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the test are able to access the CAT question paper and answer key. The question paper of every slot is released on the same day along with candidate response sheet and official answer to all question. If any candidate needs previous year CAT question papers for preparation purpose, then they can download them from Shiksha website. We have hosted last five years' CAT question papers for aspirants to download and practice. These official CAT question papers are available for download free. You can download the CAT question paper PDFs at this link: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/cat-exam-question-papers Candidates must check and practice the latest CAT question paper to know the latest exam pattern and difficulty level.

CAT 2022 Question Paper: Quantitative Ability

The Quantitative Ability section of CAT 2022 was dominated by Arithmetic in all three slots. Given below is the Quantitative Ability sectional break up in CAT question paper 2022:

Quantitative Aptitude Topics

Number of Questions

Difficulty Level

Arithmetic

8-9

Easy

Algebra

7-8

Easy

Geometry & Mensuration

3-4

Easy-Moderate

Number System

1

Moderate

Modern Math

1-2

Easy-Moderate

Read More:

Q:   How many RC questions does CAT have?
A:

The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.

CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.

Q:   What was the key change in CAT question paper 2024?
A:

The key change in CAT question paper 2024 was increase in number of questions in DLIR section. Till 2023, the DILR section used to have 20 questions. In 2024, it had 22 questions. The time limit for it was the same and no other section had less questions. Which means, in CAT 2024, candidates had to attempt 68 questions instead of 66 to solve in the same time (120 minutes). DILR sectional time limit was 40 minutes as in previous years. There was no other change in CAT 2024, the difficulty level was same as previous years. 

Q:   Is it mandatory to attempt all the questions in CAT?
A:

No, it is not mandatory to attempt all the questions in CAT. Candidates can choose to attempt questions as per their preparation. It is not possible also to attempt all the questions due to time limitation and difficulty level. Reading dense RC passages often take up a lot of time. In DILR and QA too, some questions are time taking and calculation intensive due to which not much time is left in hand to attempt all questions. The aim of every test taker should be to attempt about 2/3rd of the total questions in all the sections of CAT. 

CAT Percentile Predictor

CAT Percentile predictor prepared by Shiksha.com helps students to get their predicted CAT 2025 percentile on the basis of their expected exam score. So, predict your CAT 2025 score by clicking the link below:

CAT Percentile Predictor

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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Vipra is a massive Breaking Bad fan. When not watching crime drama series, she spends time in updating the list of places she wants to visit and people she wants to meet, but she is happiest in the company of dogs. Read Full Bio
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