Changes in CAT Exam Pattern Over the Years

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Senior Manager - Content

Updated on Aug 30, 2024 17:54 IST

CAT exam pattern saw a major change in 2020 when the duration as well as weightage was reduced due to COVID-19. Till 2019, the CAT was being conducted on the pattern introduced in 2014. In the last three years, there has been no change. Check the evolution of CAT question paper since 2010.

There is no change in the CAT 2024 exam pattern. The exam pattern was last revised in 2020. There has been no major change in the CAT exam since then. Check the evolution of CAT exam pattern in the last 10-12 years.

CAT exam pattern was revised majorly in 2020. The total time duration of the exam was reduced from 180 to 120 minutes and the sectional time-limit was reduced from 60 to 40 minutes for each sections. The number of exam slots were increased from two to three. Along with the reduction in CAT exam duration, the total number of questions were also reduced. The CAT 2020 question paper had only 76 questions in total. However, structure of the exam remained the same with three sections - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude. In CAT 2021 the exam pattern was further modified with reduction in the number of questions from 76 to 66. Since then, there has been no change CAT exam pattern.

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Table of contents

CAT Exam Pattern 2024
Evolution of CAT Exam Pattern
CAT Marking Scheme Over the Years
Changes in CAT Exam Pattern in Past 11 Years

CAT Exam Pattern 2024

Given below is latest CAT exam pattern. Candidates who have appeared for the exam in last three years, feel that the number of questions per section and sectional time limit complemented each other.

CAT Sections	Number of Questions	Allotted Time
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	40 minutes
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	40 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	22	40 minutes
Total	66	120 minutes

Evolution of CAT Exam Pattern

The CAT exam pattern broadly remained unchanged from 2014 to 2019. There was no major change in the exam pattern and test structure, apart from a few changes in the distribution of questions and types of questions. For example; in CAT 2018 the Type-In-The-Answer (TITA) were less in number than MCQs which required selection of an option. In CAT 2019, the number of TITA questions were less than in 2018. But the VARC section was tougher than rest of the two section in both slot 1 and slot 2.

Q: What's new in CAT exam?

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.

Q: What is the sectional time limit in CAT?

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.

Q: What is the marking scheme of CAT?

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.

However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the examination body had to overhaul the CAT exam pattern to accomodate maximum candidates at the limited number of examination centres as per the social distancing guidelines. Let's take a look at changes in CAT exam pattern in the past few years.

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CAT Marking Scheme Over the Years

In the last six years, the marking scheme of CAT exam has also not changed.

For every correct answer, 3 marks are awarded
For every wrong answer -1 mark is deducted
There is no deduction of marks for TITA questions and questions left unattempted

However, looking at the trends of the past 11 years of the CAT exam pattern one cannot fail but notice that the test structure of the CAT exam witnessed a huge change in 2013-2014 in terms of duration and number of questions. While in CAT 2013, the number of questions was 60 and the time duration was 140 minutes, in CAT 2014, the number of questions increased to 100 and the time duration was increased to 170 minutes.

On the other hand, the number of sections kept changing from three to two to three again between 2010 and 2015. Between 2011 to 2014, the number of sections were two. The DI section of CAT exam was clubbed with QA and LR section was clubbed with VARC. Given below is a table indicating changes in CAT exam pattern over the years.

Q: What is the weightage of the DILR section in CAT?

In CAT exam, there are 20 questions in the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section and the total sectional marks is 60 out of 198. In CAT 2020, there were 24 question on DILR and the sectional marks were 72. In CAT 2021 and CAT 2022, there were 20 questions and the sectional marks were 60. The 20 questions are equally divided into both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. That means, Both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning have 10 questions each. The questions are mostly in sets. There’s rarely any standalone question in DILR.

Some of the top MBA entrance exams carrying a high weightage of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning questions are MAH CET, ATMA, CAT, CMAT, XAT IIFT, to name a few.

Q: Does CAT have negative marking?

Yes, the CAT exam has negative marking for wrong answers. However, the marks are deducted only for the wrong MCQ-based answer and not for non-MCQ-based answers. The latest marking scheme for the CAT exam is as follows: 1. The total number of questions is 76, and the time allotted is 120 minutes. 2. Total Scores: 228 3. The number of questions per section: VARC-26, DILR-24 and QA-26 4. Three marks are given for every correct answer. 5. Around 1/3, I. e. , 1 mark is deducted for every wrong MCQ answer. No mark is deducted for wrong non-MCQ-based answers.

Q: What is the difference between slot 1, 2 and 3 of CAT exam paper?

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.

Changes in CAT Exam Pattern in Past 11 Years

The CAT question paper and exam pattern has evolved a lot since it became an online exam in 2009. Check the table below to know the changes in number of questions, exam duration and sections of CAT exam:

CAT Year	Number of questions	Time duration	Sections
2023	66	120 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2022	66	120 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2021	66	120 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2020	76	120 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2019	100	180 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2018	100	180 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2017	100	180 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2016	100	180 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2015	100	180 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC
2014	100	170 minutes	QA & DI, LR & VARC
2013	60	140 minutes	QA & DI, LR & VARC
2012	60	140 minutes	QA & DI, LR & VARC
2011	60	140 minutes	QA & DI, LR & VARC
2010	60	150 minutes	QA, DILR, VARC

Also Read:

If you are planning to appear for CAT 2024, study the CAT syllabus and solve previous years' CAT question papers for effective exam preparation. Also, practice a good number of CAT mock tests. Shiksha has created free CAT Mock Tests for practice. Check below:

CAT_Mock_Test_1	CAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions
CAT_Mock_Test_2	CAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions

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About the Author

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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