Changes in CAT Exam Pattern Over the Years

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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.