How to Prepare for CAT 2025 in 6 Months: Tips and Tricks

Senior Manager - Content

Updated on Jun 26, 2025 11:09 IST

You can crack CAT 2025 exam in six months if your preparation plan is focused on the key aspects. Check how to prepare for CAT Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension in 6 months and score high in CAT 2025.

CAT 2025 preparation can be done in 6 months. CAT exam date 2025 is November 30 so this is the time to implement the 6-month plan. Those who have not appeared for the CAT exam before must ensure that the six-month preparation plan for CAT 2025 must include monthly, weekly and daily plan to syllabus end-to-end. Do keep in mind your strengths and weaknesses while making the six-month CAT preparation plan because you have limited time.

CAT exam 2025 preparation in six months is possible with a plan that includes strengthening foundation, regular practice and performance analysis. If you have appeared for CAT before, start from where you think you need improvement. If you are appearing for the CAT for the first time, get hold of the syllabus, look at the topics, make a list of what you know and what you don't and then start with basics. There are a lot of books and resources available online. Choose the best CAT study material. One can opt for student forums also for fruitful guidance and support.

CAT 2025 exam date is November 30, 2025 so one should start with their six month preparation plan NOW. The six-month strategy for CAT exam must include a monthly plan, a weekly plan and a daily plan. Do keep in mind your strength and weaknesses vs the CAT syllabus while making the plan. The CAT 2025 exam syllabus includes – Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA). You may find one section more difficult than the other. So you need to start with your weak areas. In this article, we will share some strategy and tips on how to prepare for CAT in 6 months.

Also Read: What is the Best Time to Start CAT 2025 Preparation?

Table of contents

CAT Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme 2025
How to Prepare for CAT in 6 Months: Plan for July-August 2025
How to Prepare for CAT in 6 Months: Plan for September-October 2025
How to Prepare for CAT in 6 months: Plan for November 2025
Take CAT Mock Test by Shiksha
Best Books for CAT 2025 Preparation

CAT Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme 2025

Before making a study plan, understand the CAT syllabus, pattern and marking scheme. The best source to understand these are the CAT question papers. You can check the question papers of CAT 2024, CAT 2023, CAT 2022, CAT 2021 and previous years (click here to download CAT question papers) to know the past years' trends. The CAT question paper tells you five things:

CAT Exam Highlights
Types of questions	Moderate to difficult
Section wise number of questions	VARC - 24 DILR - 22 QA - 22
Topic-wise weightage of questions	Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry dominate QA RC dominates VARC DI dominates DILR
Types of questions	MCQs and non-MCQs
Marking scheme (CAT includes negative marking)	3 for correct attempt, -1 for incorrect attempt

Once you are familiar with the latest CAT exam pattern and syllabus, make the monthly CAT 2025 preparation plan.

Download CAT syllabus PDF for topic-wise preparation of the exam

CAT 2025 Syllabus PDF

How to Prepare for CAT in 6 Months: Plan for July-August 2025

Complete the syllabus, understand concepts and fundamentals: If you are a fresher, start with solving Maths of Class 9 and 10. It will help you build the base for Quantitative Aptitude. Dedicate July and August in completing the CAT syllabus, understanding the topics and concepts, decoding formulae, memorizing theorems, etc. Take help from CAT books and study material. You can also download online courses and mobile phone apps to understand concepts and solving questions. Once your fundamentals are clear, start solving questions to understand application of those concepts.

How to Prepare for CAT in 6 Months: Plan for September-October 2025

Mock tests and sample papers: Get on to solving CAT mock tests, sample papers and previous year question papers once you have completed the syllabus. In these two months, rigorously practice mock tests and question papers. But do keep in mind that quantity must not compromise quality, i.e. make sure you not only solve a variety of sample papers (easy, medium, tough). You have to be well prepared for surprise question in the actual CAT exam 2025.

Practicing CAT mock tests will also help you in discovering shortcuts and tricks to solve questions in least time. In this period, you should ideally solve two mock test series and seven topic wise tests per week.

While practicing CAT mock test, what is important, is to keep a check on your performance. Analyse each mock test viz. your accuracy, time taken and assess areas of improvement. Take help from mentors, friends and online study groups to clear your doubt about any question in any mock test. Do not move on to a new test until your doubt has not been cleared.

Also, don’t get demoralized if you score low in mock tests initially. This happens to everyone. The key is to move from point A to point B. Continue the hard work, your performance will improve.

CHECK OUT:

CAT Practice Questions - VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude

CAT Easy Test	CAT Easy Test Solutions
CAT Medium Test	CAT Medium Test Solutions
CAT Difficult Test	CAT Difficult Test Solutions
DI Easy Test	DI Easy Test Solutions
DI Medium Test	DI Medium Test Solutions
DI Difficult Test	DI Difficult Test Solutions
LR Easy Test	LR Easy Test Solutions
LR Medium Test	LR Medium Test Solutions
LR Difficult Test	LR Difficult Test Solutions
Quant Easy Test	Quant_Easy Solutions
Quant Medium Test	Quant Medium Solutions
Quant Difficult Test	Quant Difficult Solutions

How to Prepare for CAT in 6 months: Plan for November 2025

Speed up practice and revision: Solve high difficulty-level mock tests in the final leg of exam preparation. You’ll see your performance improve with each passing day. The last few days are crucial for the hard work of past months to bear fruits. In the last 15 days, dedicate time to revision of concepts and topics. Memorise all the theorems and formulae again. In the last one month, focus more on improving mock scores and revision. However, make sure you don't over do it. If you have reached the desired score in CAT mocks, slow down. Spend more time solving previous years' CAT question papers instead.

Take CAT Mock Test by Shiksha

Check below Shiksha'a original CAT mock test for practice. The Shiksha CAT mock test is free and can be accessed with a simple click.

CAT Mock Test 1	CAT Mock Test 1 Solutions
CAT Mock Test 2	CAT Mock Test 2 Solutions

Download:

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Best Books for CAT 2025 Preparation

Selection of the right study material is very crucial for CAT exam preparation. Check the table below for the list of best books for CAT 2025.

CAT Books	Name of the Author
CAT Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	Gautam Puri
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT	Nishit K. Sinha
Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency	Ananta Ashisha
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT	Arun Sharma
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT	Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay/Arihant
30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary Mass Market Paperback	Wilfred Funk & Norman Lewis/ Simon & Schuster
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT	Sharma and Upadhyay
PSC for VA for CAT	Nishit Sinha
High School English Grammar & Composition	Wren & Martin
NCERT Mathematics Books (Class 6 to 10)	NCERT
How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT	Arun Sharma
Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT	Sarvesh Sharma
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations	Abhijit Guha

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Also Read:

CAT Percentile predictor prepared by Shiksha.com helps students to get their predicted CAT percentile on the basis of their expected exam score. So, predict your CAT 2025 score by clicking the link below:

CAT Percentile Predictor

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Q: Is the CAT syllabus difficult?

Yes, CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of the candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion.

Q: What are the factors to keep in mind to cover CAT syllabus timely?

CAT syllabus is vast. It has numerous topics from Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation. Covering the CAT syllabus also includes practicing a variety of sample questions on the topics included. Thus, it requires a lot of time. Candidates must given themselves atleast 3-4 months to cover CAT syllabus and keep in mind the following:

· Check the previous years' CAT papers to know topics which carry more weightage so that you can focus on those topics more.

· List down topicsin order of easy, moderate and tough and allot time to them accordingly.

· Make sure to study about 6-8 hours per day to complete the syllabus 2-3 months before the exam.

· After studying every topic, practice sample questions. Balance theory with practical.

Q: Is it difficult for non-English medium students to crack CAT?

It is difficult but not impossible. If you give yourself a good enough time to improve English comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, you will be able to do it. Yes, a non- English medium student will require longer time for CAT preparation as they will have to start reading and improving English comprehension. So, may be they need to start English preparation for CAT in the second year of graduation, instead of final year (much earlier than English medium students). They may also need two attempts to crack CAT with high percentile. But that's not true for all. If you work hard and study smartly, you will be able to crack it.

Q: What is the best preparation strategy for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension?

To prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, stick to the traditional path of concepts first and practice later. Study English grammar and Verbal Ability first to understand the concept. Then practice a number of sample questions of different kinds to gain confidence, speed and accuracy. For RC passages, develop the habit of reading from early stages. Read books from all walks of life.

Practicing sample Reading Comprehension passages and questions in a crucial part of VARC preparation. This will help you understand the types of questions and RC passages asked in various entrance exams.

As an aspirant, you will be appearing for more than one entrance exam, thus you need to have the practice of different types of RC passages.

Q: What are the best ways to prepare for the DILR section?

The best way to prepare for DILR section is through practice. Before starting the preparation, aspirants should check previous years’ question papers. Since there is not much conceptual understanding required in this section, practice is important.

Some of the most popular books on DILR section that you can refer are How to Prepare for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning for CAT by Arun Sharma, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit Sinha, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning for CAT by Pearson, to name a few.

Q: Is CAT exam tough for an average student?

CAT is a speed based test of analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, data interpretation and English comprehension. Now, it may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at advanced level. If you are an average student but have studied Science or commerce in Class-12 and graduation, you will find a lot of familiar topics in Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. All you will need is brush up the basics and practice the concepts on advance level problems.

However, since the competition is so high in CAT and less than 95 percentile can break your dream of joining a top college like IIM, the preparation for CAT requires a lot of focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the CAT exam.

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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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