Vipra
Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Sep 29, 2024 13:33 IST
CAT question paper is the key source of preparation at this juncture. With the exam due in a few days, you need to know how was the CAT last year question paper. There are six key benefits of it. Know here and download last year CAT paper with solutions.

Last year CAT question paper is the key source of preparation at this juncture. With the exam due in about 2 months, you need to know how was the CAT last year question paper. There are six key benefits of it. Know here and download CAT 2023 question paper PDFs with solutions.

Last Year CAT paper practice

Why practice CAT last year papers

Any candidate who is preparing for the CAT 2024 exam, must get hold of CAT last year paper and solve it now. It is an important exercise as last year CAT paper will provide you insights and experience of the latest exam pattern and difficulty level. It will also provide an insight into topic-wise break up so that you can strategise accordingly to optimise exam performance.

With the CAT 2024 exam date getting closer, it is time for you to start focusing on the exam day strategy and you can do so only if you can anticipate the question paper. That is possible only if you know what was the last year CAT paper was like.

CAT 2023 question paper was of medium to high difficulty level. There were maximum questions from Arithmetic and Algebra which were moderate. Reading Comprehension and Data Interpretation questions were difficult in the CAT last year question paper.  The exam was held in three slot and CAT exam last year papers of all three slots had the same topic wise composition and weightage. The difficulty level however varied a bit.

CAT previous year question paper

Here’s a brief overview of the last year’s CAT exam paper. The time limit for solving the questions was 40 minutes per section. Overall, there were not much surprises and the CAT question paper 2024 can be expected to be of the same difficulty level.

CAT Exam Sections

Number of Questions

Difficulty Level

Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

24

Easy to Moderate

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI)

20

Moderate to High

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

22

Moderate

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   What is the structure of CAT question paper?
A: 

Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68. 

The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.

 

Q:   Which CAT slot has the toughest question paper?
A: 

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.

Q:   From where can I download CAT question papers?
A: 

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.

Q:   How many RC questions does CAT have?
A: 

The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.

CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.

Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates

Last date of SSU CET 2026 Admi...

30 Aug '26

XAT 2027 mock test

30 Aug '26

IIHMR-U MAT Registration Deadline

1 Nov '25 - 31 Aug '26

MAT 2026 PBT (Special Drive)

3 Sep '26

IBSAT 2026 Mock Test

26 Sep '26

NMAT 2026 Registration Window

20 Aug '26 - 10 Oct '26

MICAT (I) Registrations

30 Sep '26 - 20 Nov '26

SNAP 2026 Registration Process

21 Aug '26 - 25 Nov '26

MAH MBA CAP 2026 Round III Acc...

25 Aug '26 - 27 Aug '26

APICET

LIVE
AP ICET ...

24 Aug '26 - 31 Aug '26

Check live updates

Why You Should Solve Last Year CAT Paper?

Now, let’s discuss the main point. Why you should solve last year CAT paper. There are six key reasons behind the need for solving last year’s CAT question paper. They are listed below:

  1. CAT previous year question paper help in understanding the latest CAT exam pattern, sectional weightage, topic-wise weightage and difficulty level. This in turn helps you in making a CAT exam day plan.
  2. If you know the possible topic-wise distribution and difficulty level, it will be easy for you in the last few days of preparation to focus on topics that can fetch marks
  3. Practicing CAT last 10 years question papers improves speed and accuracy as well as help you master all types of questions- easy, moderate, tough, tricky and lengthy.
  4. Practicing CAT exam paper improves time management skills. You will know how much time to spend on reading questions, calculations, making notes or taking a decision of skipping a question.
  5. Practicing CAT exam last year papers (all three slots) give you confidence of cracking CAT, in which the competition is high and scoring 99 percentile is not everybody’s cup of tea.
  6. Just like CAT mock tests or sample papers helps in discovering tricks and shortcuts to solving the questions faster, previous years CAT papers too will help you in that.

Also Read:

CAT Syllabus 2024 CAT preparation tips 2024 CAT mock test 2024

Shiksha provides free last year CAT paper with solution. Use the CAT last year paper PDF to prepare for the exam which is to be held on November 24, 2024. You can download the CAT last year paper PDF below:

CAT Question_Paper 2023 with Solutions PDF- Slot 1

CAT Question Paper 2023 with Solutions PDF - Slot 3

CAT Question Paper 2022 with Solutions PDF – Slot 1

CAT Question Paper 2022 with Solutions PDF – Slot 3

Practice Shiksha CAT Mock Tests

Shiksha has prepared free CAT mock tests for aspirants to practice and check their control on the exam. The questions used in these mock tests are on par with actual CAT questions. 

CAT_Mock_Test_Set_1 CAT_Mock_Test_Set_1_Solutions
CAT_Mock_Test_Set_2 CAT_Mock_Test_Set_2_Solutions

Read More:

Videos you may like
About the Author
author-image
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

Read Full Bio
Download Important Dates for MBA/PGDM Exams

News & Updates

Latest NewsPopular News

Explore Other Exams

15 Jul '26 -

6 Dec '26

XAT 2027 registration

30 Aug '26

XAT 2027 mock test

21 Aug '26 -

25 Nov '26

SNAP 2026 Registration Process

7 Dec '26

SNAP 2026 admit card session 1...

20 Aug '26 -

10 Oct '26

NMAT 2026 Registration Window

20 Aug '26 -

22 Oct '26

NMAT 2026 Scheduling Window

17 Oct '24 -

5 Dec '24

IIFT 2025 registration and app...

22 Jun '26 -

7 Sep '26

MAT September 2026 Registratio...

22 Jun '26 -

14 Sep '26

MAT September 2026 Registratio...

26 Sep '26

IBSAT 2026 Mock Test

24 Oct '26

IBSAT 2026 Mock Test

The list of exams are recommended based on what other exams do the students in your area show interest in
qna

Student Forum

chatAnything you would want to ask experts?
Write here...

Answered 12 hours ago

No, CAT is not compulsory for MBA at SOA University. Candidates without CAT scores can appear for SAAT conducted by SOA for admission in MBA. Aspirants can choose any of these of admission pathways. 

N

Nishtha Shukla

Guide-Level 15

Answered 15 hours ago

Yes, candidates can get admission to specific executive or online MBA programs at IIM Mumbai without the CAT by using alternative exams like GMAT or GRE, or by clearing the institute's own entrance test. However, the regular, full-time flagship MBA programme strictly requires a valid CAT score.

R

Raj Priya

Contributor-Level 10

Answered Yesterday

CAT coaching institutes in Ludhiana that offer weekend batches are TIME, IMS, Master Mind, Bulls Eye and Career Launcher.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered Yesterday

To choose the best CAT Coaching institute in Ludhiana, candidates must consider the following points:

  • Ask about batch size, number of full-length mocks, recorded sessions/notes
  • Compare classroom vs. online/hybrid formats
  • Final fee structure and refund/installment policy.
  • Success Rate of the centre.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered Yesterday

The average fee in Ludhiana is from ₹50,000 to ₹85,000 for offline classroom courses and ₹18,000 to ₹35,000 for online courses.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 days ago

CAT coaching institutes in Kerala that offer weekend batches are IMS (Kochi), Career Launcher (Trivandrum) and T.I.M.E.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 days ago

To choose the best CAT Coaching institute in Kerala, candidates must consider the following points:

  • Success Rate of the centre
  • Compare classroom vs. online/hybrid formats
  • Ask about batch size, number of full-length mocks, recorded sessions/notes
  • Final fee structure and refund/installment policy.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 days ago

The average fee ranges in Kerala from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000 for offline classroom courses and ₹18,000 to ₹35,000 for online courses.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 days ago

CAT coaching institute in Goa that offers weekend batches is T.I.M.E. IMS is also said to run the batches on weekends.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 days ago

To choose the best CAT Coaching institute in Goa, candidates must consider the following points:

  • Success Rate of the centre
  • Compare classroom vs. online/hybrid formats
  • Ask about batch size, number of full-length mocks, recorded sessions/notes
  • Final fee structure and refund/installment policy.

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10