Paper Pattern of CAT Exam

The questions are multiple choices type. For each incorrect answer you get negative marks. Every year, the IIMs change the question pattern to prevent predictability. You should therefore have a deeper understanding of concepts and their applications to succeed in the CAT. It is to be noted that you have to perform well in all the three sections of the CAT as the test evaluates the overall aptitude of the student.

Questions in CAT can be classified as follows

1. Verbal ability and reasoning – covers

i)             vocabulary based questions like "synonym - antonym" , fill in the blank with the appropriate word etc.

ii)           ii) English Usage / Grammar – Questions on Sentence correction (SC) also there is an alternative A set of 4 sentences were given and you had to find out how many out of the 4 sentences were gramatically correct

iii)          iii) Verbal Reasoning questions like rearranging sentences of a paragraph, Fact Inference Judgement questions etc.

2. Reading Comprehension –

Covers passages on social or historical issue, scientific phenomenon, business related passages, topic related to entertainment, sports, leisure, etc.

3. Quantitative skills –

Broadly categorized as Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry CAT typically tests a student's quantitative ability from over 25 topics. Topics like Number Systems and Number Theory , Percentages, Profit and Loss, Simple & Compound Interest , Speed, Time and Distance, Pipes and Cisterns, Races, Averages, Ratio, Proportion, Mixtures and Alligations, Linear and Quadratic Equation, Logarithm, Progressions - AP, GP, HP, Binomial Theorem, Inequalities, Permutation & Combination, Probability, Function, Set Theory, Geometry, Co ordinate Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration etc

4. Data Intrepretation section –

In these questions data is presented either in the form of a table or a bar chart or a pie chart or a line graph or as a combination of one of these formats. Following each of these data presentations, there will be 4 to 6 questions. You are expected to answer the questions by interpreting the data given in the table or graph. Here is a sample data interpretation question. And Data Sufficiency (DS) - Every Data Sufficiency problem consists of a question followed by two statements. You have to decide NOT WHAT THE ANSWER IS, BUT WHETHER THE QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED based on the information given in the two statements.

5. Analytical and Logical reasoning