A. It constitute 3 sections:
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC),
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR),
- Quantitative Ability (QA).
B. It is a Computer Based Test (CBT).
C. Duration of the test is 2 hours.
D. Each section of the CAT exam is allocated 40 minutes and there is no concept of carrying that time forward to other sections.
E. Questions types are MCQs and Non MCQs (TITA).
F. Marking Scheme is as follow:
+3 For Correct Answers
-1 For Incorrect Answers
0 For Unattempted Questions
G. Total Questions in CAT are 100 Questions.
QA: 34
VA & RC: 34
LR & DI: 32
Sectional Pattern:-
- QA: There would be 25-27 MCQs based questions and rest questions would be based on TITA. Candidates have to go through the entire syllabus in order to be confident of scoring well in this section.
- VA & RC: There would be 24 questions on RC and rest 10 on VA. There are usually 5 RC passages in exam. There is a combination of MCQs and TITA questions.
- LR & DI: 16 Questions on LR and 16 Questions on DI. LR & DI usually consists of 4 sets each. So total sets are 8 in this section. There is a combination of MCQs and TITA questions.
Note: Ahead of the CAT exam, the institute conducting the CAT Exam will launch a CAT Mock Test in order to familiarize the students with the exam interface but not necessarily the CAT Exam Pattern. It will also help the students identify the placements of the timer and the on-screen calculator so that there is no time wastage in that aspect. The level and number of questions is usually no indicator of the actual CAT paper since they are generally found to be extremely easy compared to the actual CAT exam questions.