CAT sample questions practice is critical at every stage of exam preparation journey. To help CAT 2026 aspirants prepare well, Shiksha.com has curated CAT mock questions on the basis of official CAT question papers of previous years. Check here CAT practice questions.
CAT questions for practice - The CAT previous year question papers are best source of preparation as a time bound test requires speed and accuracy which can be achieved only through practice. The previous year CAT questions help candidates understand the difficulty level of the exam and key insights like type of questions, topic wise weightage and marking scheme.
The CAT exam 2026 will be conducted on November 29, 2026. Aspirants must have completed the CAT 2026 syllabus by now and it is time step into the next phase, i.e. practice sessions. Dedicate October and November to CAT mock test and question paper practice sessions. It is important to also solve official CAT questions during the preparation phase to know what is the difficulty level of the actual exam. After completing a topic, solve a few CAT practice questions from the same to know how well you have understood the topic.
Also Read: Are you prepared for CAT 2026? Start Your Preparation Now
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To help CAT 2026 aspirants prepare well for the exam, Shiksha.com has curated CAT question bank for practice on the basis of official CAT question papers of previous years. These CAT practice questions given below will give the aspirant an experience of actual CAT exam. Before solving the CAT questions, have a look the latest exam pattern.
- CAT Exam Pattern 2026 Overview
- CAT Topic Wise Break Up of Question Paper
- CAT Questions for Practice with Solutions
- Download Shiksha CAT Mock Test Free PDF
- Download Shiksha CAT Sample Papers PDFs with Solutions
- Previous Year CAT Question Paper with Solutions
CAT Exam Pattern 2026 Overview
The table below explains the latest CAT exam pattern 2026. Every CAT mock test is designed on the basis of the following structure to provide the candidate with the experience of the actual exam. In CAT 2025, there were 22 questions in DILR section. It is expected that CAT 2026 will also have the same number of questions in DILR.
| CAT Exam Features |
Details |
|---|---|
| Number of sections |
Three - VARC, DILR, Quantitative Aptitude (to be answered in the same sequence) |
| Number of questions |
VARC - 24 DILR -22 QA- 22 Total - 68 |
| Types of question |
MCQ |
| Examination mode |
Online |
| Sectional time-limit |
40 minutes |
| Total marks |
204 |
| Marks per question |
3 |
| Negative marking |
-1 (no negative marking for TITA and unattempted questions) |
| Exam duration |
120 minutes |
Also Read:
CAT Topic Wise Break Up of Question Paper
CAT question paper is mainly dominated by RCs in VARC and Arithmetic in Quantitative Aptitude. Presented below is the table indicating CAT 2025 question paper for reference,
| CAT sections | Topics |
|---|---|
| VARC | 4 RC passages - 4 questions each Parasummary - 2 Parajumble - 2 Paracompletion - 2 Odd one out - 2 |
| DILR | 2 sets of 5 questions 3 sets of 4 questions |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Algebra - 8 Arithmetic - 7 Geometry - 2 Number System - 4 to 5 Modern Maths -1 |
CAT Questions for Practice with Solutions
Before downloading the CAT sample paper PDFs, check out these CAT practice questions and answer keys.
CAT Questions for Quantitative Aptitude
1. A number of two digits exceed the number formed by reversing the digits by 18. If the sum of the digits is 10, find the number.
(a) 73
(b) 46
(c) 64
(d) 82
Answer: (c)
2. Five years ago, the ratio of the ages of a father and daughter is 5:3 and sum of their present age is 74 years. What will be the ratio of their ages after nine years?
(a) 29:19
(b) 27:17
(c) 27:19
(d) 54:37
Answer: (c)
3. Mohit and Aman are sharing a flat in Delhi, with an arrangement of equally dividing the household expenses. Aman went to Rohtak, where a sale was going on and bought chairs for the house, worth Rs. 300 on 30% discount. But he lost them on his way back and had to buy new ones, after he reached Delhi. How much did he end up spending on the chairs?
(a) Rs. 460
(b) Rs. 270
(c) Rs. 510
(d) Rs. 360
Answer: (d)
Check here: CAT Quantitative Aptitude questions for practice with solutions PDF
CAT Questions for DILR
Direction for Question 1 to 4: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given below.
Four persons (1) Rohit, (2) Jugeet, (3) Hemraj and (4) Durgesh each had some initial money with them. They all were playing bridge in a way that the loser doubles the money of each of the other three persons from his share. They played four rounds and each person lost one round in the order 1, 2, 3 and 4 as mentioned above. At the end of fourth round each person had Rs. 3200.
1. What was the amount with Rohit to start with?
(a) Rs. 6000
(b) Rs. 3400
(c) Rs. 6600
(d) Rs. 2800
Answer: (c)
2. What was the amount with Jugeet at the end of first round?
(a) Rs. 6800
(b) Rs. 7200
(c) Rs. 6400
(d) Rs. 8000
Answer: (a)
3. Who had the lowest amount at any round of play throughout the tournament?
(a) Rohit
(b) Jugeet
(c) Hemraj
(d) Durgesh
Answer: (a)
4. What was the amount with Hemraj at the end of the second round?
(a) Rs. 3600
(b) Rs. 7200
(c) Rs. 1600
(d) Rs. 6800
Answer: (b)
Check here: CAT DILR questions for practice with solutions PDF
CAT Questions for VARC
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) given below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequence of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.
Q 5:
1. It became evident that the mosquitoes were developing an immunity to the poison and a different approach is required to combat this challenge.
- One way of destroying the mosquitoes is by spraying and a powerful poison called DDT was developed that could be sprayed on ponds and stagnant water.
- DDT can be sprayed by hand or spread by an aeroplane over areas that are difficult to reach.
- For a time, DDT worked wonders in reducing the number of mosquitoes but the promise of DDT did not last long.
Answer: 2341
Q 6:
1.An undaunted train burglary was committed the day before yesterday in a sleeper class compartment of Super Express between town-2 and town-3 at around 3 p.m.
- The majority of the travellers were in rest and just then round four reprobates entered the compartment with fatal weapons and started to beat and loot the travellers.
- A few travellers attempted to oppose them however without any result, two of them sustained serious wounds.
4.In the wake of drawing loads of fortitude, one of the travellers gathered courage and pulled the alarm chain.
Answer: 1234
Check here: CAT VARC questions for practice with answers PDF
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Download Shiksha CAT Mock Test Free PDF
Shiksha offers free CAT mock test PDFs for practice purpose. Get here Free CAT Mock Tests by Shiksha for practice. Attempt these CAT Mocks and check your preparation level.
| CAT Mock Test Set 1 | CAT Mock Test Set 1 Solutions |
| CAT Mock Test Set 2 | CAT Mock Test Set 2 Solutions |
Download Shiksha CAT Sample Papers PDFs with Solutions
CAT 2026 aspirants can download section wise CAT sample papers by Shiksha free of cost. Practice these CAT sample questions, compiled by MBA experts, to increase your chances of scoring high in the exam.
Commonly asked questions
Difficulty level in CAT exam is not specific to any of the three slots. The difficulty level across slots may vary every year. Know how the CAT scores are normalised: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/understanding-cat-normalization-process-blogId-9386.
CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Response sheet hosts CAT exam questions and answers.
In CAT 2025, the following changes were seen:
- The fee amount increased from INR 2,500 to INR 2,600 for General category candidates and from INR 1,250 to INR 1300 for Reserved category candidates.
- In DILR section, number of questions increased from 20 to 22.
- Total marks of CAT DILR section increased from 60 to 66.
- Total marks of CAT exam increased from 198 to 204.
- Candidates can select five cities instead of six.
CAT has 68 questions. Each question carries three marks. There is negative marking of minus one for incorrect attempts. There is no deduction of marks for unanswered questions. Total marks in 204.
Previous Year CAT Question Paper with Solutions
Check CAT previous year question paper with solutions:
Read More:
Commonly asked questions
There is no specific number of questions asked on Binary Logic in CAT exam. There can be 1-2 standalone questions in Logical Reasoning section of the exam.
Candidates can expect 1 to 2 questions from Quadratic Equations in the CAT exam. CAT Algebra section has about 7 to 9 questions.
About 2-4 questions can be asked from Mensuration section in CAT. Candidates can must practice this topic extensively.
There is no difference between slot 1, 2 and 3 of CAT exam paper in terms of structure and patten. The sectional break up, marking scheme and time limit are the same in all slots. However, due to unique sets of questions in each slot leads to difference in difficulty levels. There is usually a slight difference in the CAT question papers of different slots. Sometimes, topic wise weightage of the questions also vary. To negate advantage or disadantage to candidates due to difference in difficulty level of slots, CAT scores are normalised for result preparation.
Commonly asked questions
In CAT exam, each candidate gets 120 minutes to solve the paper. There are three sections in CAT Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude. For each section 40 minutes are allotted as sectional time limit. For PwD candidates, the sectional time limit is 53.20 minutes per section. Candidates have to complete each section within the given time limit. Since the CAT is an online mode exam, the test screen will move from first section to the next section automatically as soon as the time limit gets over. Thus candidates have to be mindful of the on-screen timer and pre-decide the number of questions to solve in each section. The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section of CAT has 24 questions, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section has 22 questions and Quantitative Aptitude section has 22 questions. It is not mandatory to solve all the questions in CAT so candidates can devise a strategy to use 40 minutes per section as per their strength and weakness.
Candidates should practice CAT mock test during the day. Once, CAT admit card is released, they should practice CAT mocks at the same time as their exam slot. This will help them align their mind and body to 2 hours of rigorous test so that they can utilize their time in the CAT exam well. For example, CAT exam starts are early as 8:30 am. So, those who are not used to studying early morning will face difficulty in performing optimally if they get morning slot.
Profit and Loss is one the main topics of CAT Arithmetic, which dominates the question paper every year. About 2-4 questions are asked from Profit and Loss every slot of CAT exam.
There are no direct Fill in the Blanks-based questions in CAT exam. Candidates must however practice FIB questions to improve word usage in sentence.

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Student Forum
Answered Yesterday
To choose the best CAT coaching institute in Siliguri, evaluate centers based on faculty expertise, mock test quality, batch flexibility, and physical location convenience.
S
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
As of September 2026, IIM Indore has not announced the CAT form correction dates. Past trends indicate that the application form correction window opens a few weeks after the registration window is closed.
Check: CAT Correction Window 2026
B
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
Yes, candidates are facilitated with a window to edit exam form once the CAT registration concludes. However, candidates will only be able to edit photo, signature, and test city preference using CAT correction window. IIM Indore will announce the dates for CAT form correction window once the regist
J
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
IIM Indore has not announced the last date extension for CAT 2026 yet. However, past trends indicate CAT registration extends by a few days. If CAT 2026 registration is extended, candidates will find an update on the official website.
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
Yes, both Oral Extempore Presentation and PI round are mandatory for candidates who apply forAlliance School of Business MBA admission with CAT results.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, in recognition of outstanding performance in CAT, MSB awards special scholarships as follows:
- INR 1,50,000 for students securing a minimum 90 percentile
- INR 1,00,000 for students securing a minimum 85 percentile
- INR 75,000 for students securing a minimum 75 percentile
G
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Students pursuing PGDM from Jaipuria Institute of Management Jaipur and having 65% CAT score can get scholarship of INR 1.50 lakh. Students must have documents proving their eligibility to avail the scholarship benefit.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, you can strongly aim for interview calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta if you have a stellar high school profile and a high CAT score. Top IIMs calculate interview shortlists using strict mathematical formulas. These formulas evaluate your CAT score, Class 10 marks, Class 12 marks
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, you can and should attempt previous year papers and mock tests as part of your preparation for CAT 2026. You can attempt it on official CAT website.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Students interested in MBA at any of the Symbiosis Institutes need to take the Symbiosis National Aptitude (SNAP) Computer Based Test which will be conducted at designated test centres.
However, the institute does offer special pathways to Indian students allowing them to register for classes even i
A
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
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