CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper with Solution: PDF Download

Common Admission Test 2026 ( CAT )

Abhishek Dhawan
Updated on Oct 8, 2026 23:33 IST

By Abhishek Dhawan, Deputy Manager - MBA & BBA Content

CAT 2023 slot 3 question paper was overall moderate. VARC and DILR sections were easy whereas Quantitative Aptitude. IIM Lucknow had conducted the CAT exam that year and ensured that the question paper of all three slots were of same difficulty level and had the same sectional composition. The first section of CAT 2023 slot 3 question paper was VARC. It had 24 questions out of which 16 were based on RC passages. Rest 8 were based on parajumble, para summary, etc. The DILR section of CAT 2023 slot 4 question paper had 3 sets of DI and 1 set of LR. The Quantitative Aptitude section had 8 TITA questions, maximum across all three sections. Arithmetic was the dominant topic as usual.

Candidates preparing for CAT 2026 exam must practice CAT previous year papers to understand the latest trend and composition of questions. Practicing official papers will also help in covering the CAT syllabus effectively. Check on this page, CAT question paper 2023, slot 3 PDF, also learn the detailed break up of the paper.

Table of contents
  • CAT 2023 Slot 3 Questions with Solutions
  • CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper: MCQ & TITA Weightage
  • CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper: Topic-wise Weightage
  • CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper Analysis
  • CAT Question Paper FAQs

CAT 2023 Slot 3 Questions with Solutions

CAT 2023 Slot 3 Questions with Solutions

Check here some of the questions asked in CAT 2023 slot 3 exam. Also find the correct answers. Further below, check free PDF of CAT 2023 Slot 3 Questions with Solutions for download.

VARC questions

DIRECTIONS for the question: The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer. 

1. Veena Sahajwalla, a materials scientist at the University of New South Wales, believes there is a new way of solving this problem. 

2. Her vision is for automated drones and robots to pick out components, put them into a small furnace and smelt them at specific temperatures to extract the metals one by one before they are sent off to manufacturers for reuse.

3. E-waste contains huge quantities of valuable metals, ceramics and plastics that could be salvaged and recycled, although currently not enough of it is.

4. She plans to build microfactories that can tease apart the tangle of materials in mobile phones, computers and other e-waste. 

Correct Answer: 3142

DIRECTIONS for the question: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage. 

The weight of society's expectations is hardly a new phenomenon but it has become particularly draining over recent decades, perhaps because expectations themselves are so multifarious and contradictory. The perfectionism of the 1950s was rooted in the norms of mass culture and captured in famous advertising images of the ideal white American family that now seem self-satirising. In that era, perfectionism meant seamlessly conforming to values, behaviour and appearance: chiselled confidence for men, demure graciousness for women. The perfectionist was under pressure to look like everyone else, only more so. The perfectionists of today, by contrast, feel an obligation to stand out through their idiosyncratic style and wit if they are to gain a foothold in the attentioneconomy.

a. Though long-standing, the pressure to appear perfect and thereby attract attention, has evolved over time from one of conformism to one of non-conformism.

b. The pressure to appear perfect has been the cause of tension and conflict because the idea itself has been in a state of flux and hard to define.

c. The desire to attract attention is so deep-rooted in individual consciousness that people are willing to go to any lengths to achieve it.

d. The image of perfectionism is reflected in and perpetuated by the media; and people do their best to adhere to these ideals.

Correct Answer: a

DIRECTIONS for the question: Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

1. Although hard skills have traditionally ruled the roost, some companies are moving away from choosing prospective hires based on technical abilities alone.

2. Companies are shaking off the old definition of an ideal candidate and ditching the idea of looking for the singularly perfect candidate altogether.

3. Now, some job descriptions are frequently asking for candidates to demonstrate soft skills, such as leadership or teamwork.

4. That's not to say that practical know-how is no longer required - some jobs still call for highly specific expertise.

5. The move towards prioritising soft skills "is a natural response to three years of the pandemic" says a senior recruiter at Cenlar FSB.

Correct Answer: 2

DILR Questions

DIRECTIONS for the question: Read the information given below and answer the question that follows.

An air conditioner (AC) company has four dealers - D1, D2, D3 and D4 in a city. It is evaluating sales performances of these dealers. The company sells two variants of ACs - Window and Split. Both these variants can be either Inverter type or Non-inverter type. It is known that of the total number of ACs sold in the city, 25% were of Window variant, while the rest were of Split variant. Among the Inverter ACs sold, 20% were of Window variant.

The following information is also known:

1. Every dealer sold at least two window ACs.

2. D1 sold 13 inverter ACs, while D3 sold 5 Non-inverter ACs.

3. A total of six Window Non-inverter ACs and 36 Split Inverter ACs were sold in the city.

4. The number of Split ACs sold by D1 was twice the number of Window ACs sold by it.

5. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Window ACs and this number was one-third of the number of similar ACs sold by D2.

6. D2 and D3 were the only ones who sold Window Non-inverter ACs. The number of these ACs sold by D2 was twice the number of these ACs sold by D3.

7. D3 and D4 sold an equal number of Split Inverter ACs. This number was half the number of similar ACs sold by D2. 

Question: How many Split Inverter ACs did D2 sell?

Correct answer - 14

Question: What percentage of ACs sold were of Non-inverter type? 

A. 33.33%

B. 20.00%

C. 25.00%

D. 75.00% 

Correct answer - Option C

Quantitative Aptitude questions

Question: For a real number x , if 1/2,log3 (2x−9)/log3 4, and log5 (2x+17/2)/log5 4 are in an arithmetic progression, then the common difference is

A. log4 7

B. log4 (3/2)

C. log4 (7/2)

D. log4 (23/2) 

Correct Answer - C. 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝟒 (𝟕/𝟐)

Question: Let n and m be two positive integers such that there are exactly 41 integers greater than 8 m and less than 8n, which can be expressed as powers of 2. Then, the smallest possible value of n + m is

A. 14

B. 42

C. 16

D. 44 

Correct Answer - C. 16

Question: Let n be any natural number such that 5 𝑛−1 < 3 𝑛+1 Then, the least integer value of m that satisfies 3 𝑛+1 < 2 𝑛+𝑚 for each such n, is:

Correct Answer - 5

Question: Rahul, Rakshita and Gurmeet, working together, would have taken more than 7 days to finish a job. On the other hand, Rahul and Gurmeet, working together would have taken less than 15 days to finish the job. However, they all worked together for 6 days, followed by Rakshita, who worked alone for 3 more days to finish the job. If Rakshita had worked alone on the job then the number of days she would have taken to finish the job, cannot be

A. 17

B. 21

C. 16

D. 20

Correct Answer - 21

 
PDF
 CAT 2023 - Slot 3 Question Paper: 68 Questions with detailed step-by-step solutions.

CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper: MCQ & TITA Weightage

Check the section-wise weightage of MCQs and TITA questions in CAT 2023 slot 3 question paper below:

Section Name

Total Questions

Number of MCQs

Number of Non-MCQs (TITA Questions)

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

24

20

4

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning

20

14

6

Quantitative Ability

22

14

8

Total

66

48

18

CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper: Topic-wise Weightage

Check the table below for topic-wise weightage in the CAT 2023 slot 3 question paper:

Topic

Weightage (No. of Questions)

VARC

Reading Comprehension

16

Para Jumbles

2

Para completion

2

Para summary

2

Odd sentence questions

2

Total

24

DILR

Number of enrollments in offline and online courses

5

Six police stations with maps (route based set)

5

Project and test scores of 3 boys and 3 girls

5

AC company – 4 dealers

5

Total

20

Quantitative Aptitude

Algebra

4

Arithmetic

8

Geometry

3

Numbers

3

Modern Math

4

Total

22

CAT 2023 Slot 3 Question Paper Analysis

As per the CAT 2023 slot 3 question paper analysis, candidates found the paper tougher than CAT 2023 slot 1 and slot 2. VARC questions were moderate to high difficulty level. DILR was tough all along and so was Quantitative Aptitude. Check the below table for sectional analysis of CAT 2023 question paper slot 3.

Section

Total questions

Difficulty Level

No. of Doable Questions

VARC

24

Moderate

 15-16

DILR

20

Moderate - Difficult

8-9

QA 

22

Difficult

8-9

Total

66

Moderate - Difficult

30

Also Read: CAT 2023 exam analysis
Check out Shiksha's CAT college predictor to assess your admission chances.

CAT Question Paper FAQs

Check below some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on CAT Question Paper:

Q:   Which topics have the highest weightage in CAT exam?
A: 

In CAT Quantitative Aptitude, Arithmetic has the highest weightage with 7-8 questions in every shift. In VARC, Reading Comprehension has the maximum weightage with about 16 questions. In DILR, the number of questions are equally distributed.

Q:   Is it compulsory to attempt all sections in CAT?
A: 

While it is not mandatory to attempt all sections in CAT, the IIMs and all top B School consider sectional percentiles too for selecting candidates for admission. Thus, you cannot afford to skip a CAT section all together. You can skip some questions though.

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.

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Answered 4 days ago

No, according to the estimated data, you would need a CAT cutoff of atleast 94 percentile to be qualified for final admission offer. Note that this percentile is not official and is only an estimate, since the institute does not release the cutoff publicly. 

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Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

No, CAT is not the only Management entrance exam accepted by SASTRA University for its MBA programme. Candidates can also accept TANCET/ XAT/ AIMAT / CMAT/ AIMCAT scores for selection, followed by a Group Discussion and Personal Interview round.

R

Rashmi Sinha

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

Yes, you can join IIM Kashipur without CAT, depending on the desired programme. You can get admission to any of the offered courses except MBA. Check the list below to know which exam is accepted for which programme. 

  • Executive MBA (EMBA): GMAT, IIM Kashipur EMAT (Executive Management Aptitude Test).

...Read more

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Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 6 days ago

Candidates must maintain a dedicated formula sheet for properties of polygons, circle theorems, and mensuration formulas. Instead of memorising blindly, candidates must solve 15-20 problems for each sub-topic to understand how and when to apply each formula.

N

Nikita Saxena

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 6 days ago

It is technically possible to get 99 percentile in CAT Quants if a candidates obtains a perfect score in Arithmetic and Algebra. However, it can be highly risky as CAT exam often has Geometry questions aligned with Algebra or Coordinate systems. Sometimes candidates must know two different concepts

...Read more

D

Dhanya Shekhar

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 6 days ago

Triangles (properties, similarity, congruence, and theorems) is the most heavily tested sub-topic in CAT exam. Other high-yield areas include Circles (tangents, chords, and cyclic quadrilaterals), Mensuration (area and volume of 2D/3D shapes), and Coordinate Geometry.

R

Rupali Shukla

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 6 days ago

Geometry is a an important topic in the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) section. Candidates can typically expect 3 to 5 questions out of the 22 total QA questions, making up roughly 15% to 20% of the section.

B

Bhumika Sharma

Contributor-Level 7

Answered a week ago

Candidates should first understand basic concepts, including divisibility rules, prime factorisation, HCF and LCM, and remainders. They should then solve topic-wise practice questions and previous years' CAT questions to improve accuracy and problem-solving speed.

S

Shruti Shukla

Contributor-Level 7

Answered a week ago

There is no fixed number of questions from the Number System in CAT. The number of questions varies across exam slots and years. Candidates should prepare the topic along with other important areas of Quantitative Aptitude.

A

Akansha Goyal

Contributor-Level 7

Answered a week ago

Yes, the Number System is an important topic for CAT Quantitative Aptitude. Questions may test concepts such as divisibility, remainders, factors, and properties of integers. Candidates should also practise applying these concepts to different question types.

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Jaya Katariya

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