How Many Questions to Attempt in CAT 2025 to Score 99+ Percentile?
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
How many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile?, is the question, every IIM aspirant must know so that they can make it to the selection round of the IIMs and other top B-Schools. For admission to the top IIMs, the minimum CAT cut off is 99 percentile and above.
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Out of over 3 lakh aspirants every year, only a handful of candidates score 99+ percentile. In CAT 2024, the maximum number of 99.99 percentilers was 29. The number of 100 percentilers was 14. Why is it so? Because, no matter how many questions you solve correctly in the CAT exam, your performance is directly affected by the number of aspirants who have solved more or less questions than you. Yes, in CAT, it's percentile that matters not the raw score. Many candidates perform well in the exam but get a percentile lower than what they had expected because CAT percentiles get affected by even decimal points. Thus, the significance of question - "how many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile?".
For many aspirants, the CAT scoring and normalization process is confusing. 'What is the difference between CAT score and CAT percentile?', is a question every CAT aspirant asks. We will explain that later, but first we will address another question that is asked more often - How many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile? This question is extremely crucial for a good score in CAT exam and every aspirant must know the answer.
Why is it important to know how much CAT score will convert into 99 percentile? Because scoring 99 percentile in CAT is the only way you can get closer to an IIM or a top MBA college in India. The CAT cut off for admission to the top IIMs - IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode is always above 99 percentile for General category candidates. Other top B-Schools such as FMS Delhi University, SPJIMR, IMT, MDI, IIT-DoMS also have cut off range of 95-99 percentile for CAT. Thus, it is only prudent to know your target beforehand and make a CAT preparation strategy accordingly.
- How many questions to attempt in CAT 2025 to score 99 percentile?
- CAT Marking Scheme 2025
- CAT 2025: Number of Good Attempts for 99 Percentile
- How to Score 99 Percentile in CAT: Focus on Time Management and Accuracy
- CAT Score vs Percentile
- How to Increase Speed and Accuracy in CAT Exam? Key Tips
- CAT Scaled Score and Normalization Process
- CAT Preparation Tips
- CAT Topper Interviews
How many questions to attempt in CAT 2025 to score 99 percentile?
This is tricky. There is no accurate number of questions that you can attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile, but yes, you must aim for attempting 2/3 of the total questions in every section accurately. Even though there are less chances of number of questions changing in CAT 2025, you should be prepared for every situation. So, to be able to score 99 percentile, you need to do more than just attempting a certain number of questions. Let's understand further.
CAT percentile is influenced by three things:
- CAT exam pattern and marking scheme
- Accuracy in solving the CAT questions
- CAT normalization process
Let’s look at them one by one to answer the question - How many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile?
CAT Marking Scheme 2025
During the CAT exam preparation 2025, candidates must focus on the strategy of targeting a particular score range in the exam from the very beginning. So check out previous years' CAT cut offs for admission to your preferred colleges. Given below is the CAT marking scheme.
- Three marks are awarded for each correct attempt and one mark is deducted for every wrong answer in CAT. However, there is no penalty on leaving questions unanswered.
- Non-MCQs don't have negative marking, but they are often lengthy or tricky. They usually appear in the Quantitative Aptitude section of CAT.
- The key here is to attempt only those questions which you are 100 per cent sure of answering correctly as only 100 per cent accuracy will earn you full marks. A slight miss and you may lose the score. Experts suggest, that there is no need to attempt the entire CAT 2025 question paper. Overall accuracy target should be 85 to 95 percent.
- The CAT paper pattern is never the same. CAT has seen changes in the number of questions, topic wise weightage in the last two years. So, there is no sure shot formula of scoring 100 or 99 percentile. It is all about how accurately you solve a question and in the least time taken.
But the question, "How many questions to attempt in CAT to score 99 percentile?", remains.
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Experts suggest, to aim 99 percentile, one should attempt at least 75 per cent questions accurately. Since sectional percentile and overall percentile hold individual significance in IIM admissions, it is important to maintain good accuracy in each section of the CAT exam.
CAT 2025: Number of Good Attempts for 99 Percentile
Take a look at the table below indicating number of good attempts against the total number of questions in CAT exam paper.
| CAT Exam Sections |
Total questions |
Good Attempts |
|---|---|---|
| 24 |
18 |
|
| 20 |
13 |
|
| 22 |
16 |
|
| Total |
66 |
47 |
How to Score 99 Percentile in CAT: Focus on Time Management and Accuracy
Scoring 99 percentile requires more than merely knowing all topics. The total time duration of CAT is 120 minutes with 40-minute sectional time limit for each section, thus you need to be quick and accurate in solving the questions. Focus more on time management during the last phase of CAT preparation. Additionally, you will have to ensure zero-error performance in the exam. How can you achieve zero-error performance? The only way to achieve that is by choosing the questions wisely. You must target a score of 104 (CAT raw score) to be able to enter the 99 percentile bracket.
| CAT Section | Number of Questions | Time Allotted |
|---|---|---|
| VARC | 24 | 40 minutes |
| DILR | 22 | 40 minutes |
| QA | 22 | 40 minutes |
CAT Score vs Percentile
Here's a table indicating percentile ranges corresponding to sectional and overall raw CAT scores (based on CAT 2024) to help you make a strategy to target the percentile range in CAT 2025.
| CAT Percentile |
VARC Score |
DILR Score |
QA Score |
Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99.5 %ile |
45 |
33 |
48 |
104 |
| 99 %ile |
41 |
29 |
42 |
97 |
| 98 %ile |
37 |
26 |
37 |
86 |
| 95%ile |
32 |
21 |
28 |
72 |
| 90%ile |
27 |
17 |
23 |
59 |
| 85%ile |
23 |
15 |
19 |
52 |
| 80%ile |
21 |
13 |
16 |
44 |
How to Increase Speed and Accuracy in CAT Exam? Key Tips
One must plan exam day strategy in advance and apply it to CAT mock tests to analyse if the strategy is good or not. They must take CAT exam day tips from experts and past toppers on how to increase speed and accuracy. Here are a few points aspirant must keep in mind:
Practice CAT questions: Solve a sample question and time yourself, check accuracy and time taken to solve it. Solve the question again. Check accuracy and time taken again. Time taken to solve a question in the second attempt will be less than the first time. Try, try and try again, until you achieve 100 per cent accuracy in the given time.
Sectional time limit: CAT exam has sectional time-limit for each section. Every section of CAT 2025 exam will be of 40 minutes. The arrangement is such that once 40 minutes are over, the screen will jump to the next section of the exam. Now this can prove to be a big hurdle if you don't have good speed in solving questions accurately. Do not spend too much time on a question. The moment you feel you are getting stuck, leave the question and move to next because there is no option to go back to questions left incomplete.
Categorize questions: Identify questions as easy, medium and difficult. Start with easy ones. If at any point of time you feel stuck or unsure of the question, leave it and move on. Don’t attempt a question even if you have even one percent doubt.
Also Read: Expert Tips on How To Prepare for CAT Exam 2025
No guess work: Some people may advise you to go by the instinct or guess the answer if you can’t solve it. Never do that. Remember there is negative marking for wrong answer; not for no answer.
Speed reading in RC: Do not speed-read the RC passages in CAT. Unlike other MBA entrance exams, CAT RC passages are inference based and it is crucial to understand the passage deeply for hidden meanings and references. Don't do reverse reading either. It will only make you read the passage repeatedly to find the right answer thereby wasting time. Do not do anything that is time consuming or which will make you read the questions again and again.
Also Read: Types of Reading Comprehension Questions in CAT
| Free VARC Questions with Answers for Practice | Free DILR Questions with Answers for Practice | Free Quantitative Aptitude Questions with Answers for Practice |
CAT Scaled Score and Normalization Process
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- Since the CAT 2025 exam will be conducted in three sessions, the difficulty level of CAT question paper of all the sessions will vary a bit. To ensure there that is no disparity in comparison of performances, candidates' scores are scaled on a common plane through CAT normalization process.
- CAT follows GATE exam’s formula of normalization process, where the normalization is based on the assumption that distribution of abilities of candidates is the same across all the sessions. It takes into account all the variations in the difficulty levels of the CAT question papers across different sessions.
- The CAT percentile is referred to as the total percentage of candidates who scored less than or equal to a particular candidate. For example, if a candidate’s CAT percentile is 90, it means he/she performed better than 90 per cent of the total candidates in CAT exam that year.
CAT normalisation formula:
CAT normalisation formula
CAT Mock Tests
Take free CAT mock tests below, improve speed and accuracy. Also analyse your strength and weakness by comparing your answers with official key.
| CAT_Mock_Test_1 | CAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions |
| CAT_Mock_Test_2 | CAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions |
CAT Preparation Tips
On an average, about 10-15 CAT aspirants score 100 percentile. Given below is the data of CAT 100 percentilers of last 3 years:
Exam year | CAT 100 percentilers | State wise numbers |
|---|---|---|
CAT 2024 | 14 | 1- Andhra Pradesh |
CAT 2023 | 14 | 1 – Andhra Pradesh |
CAT 2022 | 11 | 2 - Delhi 1 - Gujarat 1 - Haryana 1 - Kerala 1 - Madhya Pradesh 2 - Maharashtra 2 - Telangana 1 - Uttar Pradesh |
CAT exam is one of the toughest MBA entrance exams and requires months of preparation. Shiksha has a series of CAT preparation articles candidates can refer to improve their performance in the exam. Check some CAT 2025 preparation articles below:
| CAT Preparation 2025 |
|
|---|---|
| CAT Preparation Plan for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning |
|
| CAT Preparation: Your love for reading can get you the desired result |
|
CAT Topper Interviews
Shiksha reached out to previous year's toppers of CAT exam to know their preparation strategy. Check out the interviews of CAT 2024 and 2023 toppers below:
| CAT Toppers |
CAT Topper Interviews |
|---|---|
| Vagish Nangia CAT 2024, 100 percentile |
“For an aptitude exam like CAT, one should focus on two things, speed and accuracy, both of which come with practice. Speed is important as the exam typically has 66-68 Questions to be attempted within 2 hours with sections like DILR and Quant in particular being fairly time-taking. Accuracy is also important as you need to avoid taking negative marks while looking to maximise your score as much as possible.” Read: Vagish’s full interview |
| Mani Praneeth Chilukuri CAT 2024, 100 percentile |
“In terms of preparation, I started just a few weeks before the exam due to my job and other commitments. I prioritised understanding the exam format, syllabus, and structure through YouTube videos. I then solved a few previous years’ question papers to familiarize myself with the patterns.” Read Praneeth’s full interview |
| Vedant Chandewar CAT 2024, 99.98 percentile |
“I began my preparation in August 2024. Being good at mathematics, I found Quantitative Aptitude (QA) and Logical Reasoning (DILR) relatively easy to prepare for. I joined a coaching institute that provided daily practice questions for these sections, which I diligently solved.” Read: Vedant’s full interview |
| Sarthak Jaiswal CAT 2024, 99.97 percentile |
“I personally think that for the DILR section, the mock tests do not really help because every question is unique and there is no set pattern. Only practice can help for the DILR section preparation. Attempting mock tests for this section will not harm the preparation but also not give an edge. For QA and VARC, mock tests are very important.” Read: Sarthak’s full interview
|
| Kartik Bhageria CAT 2023, 99.99 percentile |
"I began my CAT preparation around July 2023. Being an engineering student, I did not spend a lot of time learning new concepts in the Quant and DILR sections. I spent most of my time giving mocks to practice and try to increase my attempted questions with better accuracy in each attempt." Read: Kartik's full interview |
| Riddhi Dugar CAT 2023, 99.91 percentile |
"My overall strategy was to finish the entire syllabus a few months before the CAT. From July, I focused entirely on taking mock tests and sectional tests to maximise my score and have a strategy for D-Day. I completed around 70 mocks from July until the CAT exam day." Read: Riddhi's full interview |
| Rounak Tikmani CAT 2023, 99.90 percentile |
I started my preparation properly in May 2023. My preparation strategy was simple build your foundations by having conceptual clarity in the basics of each section. Then It was just mocks every day. I gave around 110 mocks and made sure I spent enough time analyzing them properly. Taking a mock is not as important as analyzing the mocks and improving on your mistakes. Read: Rounak's full interview |
| Nisakar Kumar CAT 2023, 99.83 percentile |
"Quant emerged as my strength, whereas DILR presented a challenge. To address my weakness in DILR, I invested considerable time in understanding the question types and engaged in extensive practice until they became more intuitive. Simultaneously, I dedicated time to revising and practising Quant to maintain a solid grasp. I considered myself decent in VARC." Read: Nisakar's full interview |
The CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore hovers between 97-100 percentile. The qualifying CAT cut off required for being eligible for IIM Bangalore's Written Ability test (What) and Personal Interview PI is 85 percentile for General category students, whereas for SC candidates, it is 70 percentile. For ST candidates, it is 65 percentile and for PwD candidates it is 60 percentile. Given below are the sectional and overall qualifying CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore.
- General category: 80 VARC 75 DILR 75 Quantitative Aptitude 85 (Overall)
- NC-OBC category: 75 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
- EWS category: 70 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
- SC category: 65 VARC 60 DILR 60 Quantitative Aptitude 70 (Overall)
- ST category: 55 VARC 55 DILR 55 Quantitative Aptitude 65 (Overall)
- PwD category: 50 VARC 50 DILR 50 Quantitative Aptitude 60 (Overall)
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Student Forum
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14 candidates have scored 100 percentile in CAT 2024, out of a total of 2.93 Lacs candidates. Out of 14 toppers, 1 is a woman candidate. Check below CAT 2024 result data:
Check the below table for data and statistics of CAT 2024 test takers and toppers.
Discipline
percentiles 14 - Nos
Male - 13
Engg – 13
Non-Engg – 1
Delhi 2
Haryana 1
Kerala 1
Maharashtra 5
Odisha 1
Rajasthan 1
Telangana 2
percentiles 29 -Nos.
Male - 27
Engg – 25
Non-Engg - 4
Delhi 4
Gujarat 2
Haryana 1
Karnataka 3
Kerala 1
Madhya Pradesh 1
Maharashtra 5
Odisha 1
Punjab 1
Rajasthan 3
Tamil Nadu 1
Telangana 1
Uttar Pradesh1
Uttarakhand 1
West Bengal 2
percentiles 30-Nos
Male - 29
Engg – 20
Non-Engg -10
Delhi 2
Gujarat 2
Haryana 4
Karnataka 4
Madhya Pradesh 3
Maharashtra 3
Tamil Nadu 2
Telangana 3
Uttar Pradesh 2
West Bengal 4