Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
CAT 2023 question paper was set by IIM Lucknow, the exam convening institute for that year. Check here detailed explanation CAT 2023 papers of all three slots. Download CAT 2023 question paper PDFs for knowing the sectional weightage and difficulty level.
CAT 2023 Question Paper (Slot 1, 2 and 3)
CAT 2023 question paper had the same diffculty level as CAT 2022, but there were a few changes in topic-wise weightage. The sectional breakup of CAT question paper 2023 was no different from previous years. While VARC had only MCQ, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude section had a few non-MCQs. Here we have shared the composition of CAT question paper slot 1, slot 2 and 3. Candidates preparing for CAT 2025 must go through previous years' CAT papers and solve them so as to know and understand the question types and difficulty levels. CAT exam 2025 is scheduled to be held on November 30, 2025, so do practice CAT previous year papers.
Download CAT 2023 question paper PDFs below:
| CAT question paper 2023 PDF free download | |
| CAT 2023 Question Paper Slot 1 | CAT 2023 Question Paper Slot 3 |
The CAT question paper 2023 of every slot is same in terms of structure, sectional breakup and weightage. However, the difficulty level will vary. Given below is the section wise break-up of CAT question paper 2023 Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3:
| CAT 2023 Sections |
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 |
Practice:
Every question carries 3 marks for correct entry and minus 1 mark for incorrect entry. There is no negative marking for unanswered questions and incorrect attempts in non-MCQ.
| CAT 2023 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 |
Download CAT previous year question paper PDFs
The VARC section of CAT paper 2023 as usual 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 2023:
| Module |
Total Questions |
Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension |
16 Questions | 4 RC Passages |
Moderate to Tough |
| Odd One Out |
2 Questions |
Easy to Moderate |
| Parasummary |
2 Questions |
Easy to Moderate |
| Parajumbles |
2 Questions |
Moderate to Tough |
| Paracompletion |
2 Questions |
Easy |
| Total |
24 Questions |
Good Attempts 15+ |
Check below free Shiksha CAT Mock Test for practice. These CAT mock tests are prepared from original CAT questions.
| CAT_Mock_Test_1 | CAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions |
| CAT_Mock_Test_2 | CAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions |
Check the table below for topics of the Reading Comprehension passages of CAT question paper 2023, slo1, 2 and 3. All the passages are inference based.
| CAT 2023 Slot 1 |
CAT 2023 Slot 2 |
CAT 2023 Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
RC 1 Topic: Garments/ fashion Industry & Pollution- Easy to moderate RC 2 Topic: Netflix Dubbing of titles for Europe→ Good or Bad for Europe? RC 3 Topic: Liberalism is Dying- Moderate to Difficult RC 4 Topic: Facts & Interpretation in History |
RC 1 Topic: Colonialism and Pollution RC 2 Topic: Rationalization RC 3 Topic: Romanticism RC 4 Topic: History |
Like previous years, the DILR section of CAT question paper 2023 had set of 4 and set of 5 questions. Check below the break-up of DILR section of CAT question paper 2023:
| CAT DILR Topics |
Number of Questions |
Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
| Data Interpretation Set 1 |
5 |
Moderate-Difficult |
| Logical Reasoning Set 1 |
5 |
Moderate |
| Data Interpretation Set 2 |
5 |
Moderate-Difficult |
| Logical Reasoning Set 2 |
5 |
Moderate |
You can get memory based answer keys slot wise by clicking on the following links:
Check the below table for areas and topics of DILR sets of CAT question paper 2023:
| CAT 2023 Paper Slot 1 |
CAT 2023 Paper Slot 2 |
CAT 2023 Paper Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Just like last year, the Quantitative Ability section of CAT 2023 was dominated by Arithmetic in all three slots. Given below is the Quantitative Ability sectional break up in CAT question paper 2023:
| CAT Quantitative Aptitude Topics |
Number of Questions |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
7 |
| Algebra |
7 |
| Geometry & Mensuration |
3 |
| Number System |
4 |
| Modern Math |
1 |
The CAT 2023 question paper of slot 2 was similar to slot 1. I this slot, however, Algebra had more questions than Arithmetic.
| CAT Quantitative Aptitude Topics |
No. of Questions |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
7 |
| Algebra |
8 |
| Modern Math |
2 |
| Geometry |
3 |
The quantitative aptitude section CAT 2023 question paper slot 3 was tougher than slot 1 and 2. Check the break up below:
| CAT Quantitative Aptitude Topics |
No. of Questions |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
8 |
| Algebra |
4 |
| Modern Math |
4 |
| Geometry |
3 |
| Numbers |
3 |
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 4 days ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for admission to MBA at ISMR Pune. However, it is not compulsory. Aspirants with a score in CMAT, MAT, XAT, MAH MBA CET, etc. can also get admission. Candidates selected based on their entrance exam scores also need to pass the personal interview round for admission
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 4 days ago
No, CAT scores are not compulsory for admissions into MBA course at Chhatrapati Shahu Institute of Business Education and Research. The institute accepts other national/ state level management entrance exams too. The names of the accepted entrance examinations are: XAT/ MAT/ ATMA/ MAH MBA CET.
A
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 4 days ago
No, CAT scores are not compulsory for admissions into MBA course at GLA University, Mathura. The university also considers scores from other management entrance exam and one university level entrance exam too. The names of the other accepted entrance exams are: MAT/ XAT/ UPSEE.
C
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, CAT scores are not important for enrollment into Masters of Business Administration course at Chitkara University. Because CAT is not the only scores which are considered by the university, it also accepts the scores of MAT/ XAT/ NMAT/ CMAT.
K
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Minimum qualifying cut off for IIM Ahmedabad is 95 percentile whereas for IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta, it is 85. However final cut offs for these three top IIMs are between 99 to 100 percentile.
S
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a week ago
GIBS is pretty flexible when it comes to entrance exams. They accept almost all the common management tests — CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, State CET, and even GMAT. In my batch itself, we had students who came through different exams, not just CAT.
Honestly, that's one thing I liked about GIBS — they d
M
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week ago
Yes, you can join Adarsh Institute of Management and Information Technology without appearing for CAT. This is because, the institute also accepts other tests. The accepted exams include CAT/ XAT/ MAT/ CMAT/ KMAT/ PGCET/ GMAT. Hence, if you have appeared for any of these, you can still apply.
M
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, Myra School of Business does offer CAT scores based Scholarships upto INR 1.5 lakh. In recognition of outstanding performance in CAT, MSB awards special scholarships as follows:
h
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
LISAA School of Design, Bangalore BDes admission is done based on performance in the in-house entrance test. LISAA CAT is conducted at the LISAA centres. Candidates need to connect with the admission team to set up a time slot. Besides, it is important that the eligibility criteria is fulfilled.
M
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 2 weeks ago
No, CAT is not mandatory for School of Business and Management, Christ University MBA admissions. Students can alternatively submit scores of other national-level management exams. These include MAT/ XAT/ CMAT/ ATMA and GMAT/ GRE are also accepted.
S
Contributor-Level 10
