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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Aug 5, 2025 14:52 IST
Check out CAT 2022 question papers of all three slots for sectional weightage and difficulty level. Download CAT 2022 question paper PDF for analysing your performance. Total number of questions in last year CAT paper was 66. VARC section had 2 question, DILR had 20 questions and Quantitative Ability had 22 questions.

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 contents
  • 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

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
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.

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.

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

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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Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
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. 

Q:   How many vocabulary questions are asked in CAT?
A: 

There are no straight forward vocabulary questions in CAT. Out of the total of 24 questions in VARC section, 12-14 questions are Reading Comprehension based and rest of them comprise parajumbles, para completion and odd sentence. CAT is the only MBA entrance exam, which does not have direct vocabulary and grammar questions. However, one needs to have strong vocabulary and grammar to be able to solve RC, parajumble, para completion and odd sentence questions.

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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

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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

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About the Author
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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content

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

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Answered 2 days ago

The minimum marks or CAT cut off to appear for IIM selection round is different for every institute. Tier 1 colleges select candidates with CAT score above 95 percentile, Tier 2 colleges select candidates with score between 80-90 percentile and Tier 2 colleges select candidates with score lower than

...Read more

P

Pallavi Gupta

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 days ago

There is no CAT PI shortlist for IIMs. Candidates have to simply login with their CAT credentials and fill the PI shortlist form.

S

Sreetama Tyagi

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 days ago

There is no minimum qualifying marks for CAT. Anybody scoring above 0 in the exam is eligible for admission, however the B-Schools select candidates on the basis of cut offs which are 60 and above percentile.

N

Nitesh Vimal

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 days ago

The final CAT cutoff are not released publically. However, candidates can check qualifying cut offs in the admission criteria document released by IIMs and other institute before the exam.

A

Aarushi Hazarika

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 days ago

CAT cut off is prepared by all accepting colleges individually. There is no one authorized body to do so. Even the IIMs determine their admission cut offs separately.

J

Jasleen Dixit

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 days ago

If we're talking about GIBS Business School Bangalore, they don't have some super high CAT cutoff. In simple words, you don't need to be in the 99+ percentile to get considered.

  • They look for a decent CAT score, usually around 70–80 percentile as a safe benchmark
  • Scores are important, but they also ca

...Read more

P

Prasadsai

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 3 days ago

Not CAT necessarily, but still, you need to take a national-level entrance exam required for MBA admissions.

J

Jaya Sharma

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 4 days ago

Most IIMs require a CAT percentile of 90 to 99 for MBA in Business Analytics. Private colleges like Great Lakes and NMIMS accept scores between the 70th and 85th percentile.

S

Syed Aquib Ur Rahman

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 6 days ago

Yes, it is possible to get admissions at some of the top private MBA colleges in India with a low CAT score, between the 80th and 85th percentiles. These are some. 

Top Private MBA Colleges in IndiaCAT percentile
TAPMI CAT Cutoffs85
GIM Goa CAT Cutoff85 to 88
FORE School of Management CAT Cutoff75 to 85

 Note: All info. is from official sites and can change. 

S

Syed Aquib Ur Rahman

Contributor-Level 10

Answered a week ago

Yes, students can get admission in Sandip University, Nashik without CAT. The university also accepts other national/ state CETs. These are MAT/ XAT/ State CETs. Students can also appear for the Sandip University Management Aptitude Test - SUMAT.

P

Pallavi Karan

Contributor-Level 10