CAT Exam- Exam Date, Eligibility, Exam Patter, Syllabus & other Details
The CAT Exam is the most popular of all IIM entrance exams held every year. Getting an MBA from a reputed institution is a dream for many aspirants. Applicants seeking admission to MBA programs must appear for the CAT Exam.
The CAT exam is an entry requirement for admissions into the IIMs and India’s top business schools. By reading through this post you can learn all about CAT, CAT Eligibility criteria, as well as the time needed to complete the entire syllabus to get through CAT and various other programs offered by IIM.
What is CAT Exam?
Common Admission Test or CAT exam is a national level management aptitude test, that a candidate has to clear for admission to the MBA courses offered by 20 IIMs and over 1,200 B-schools in India. Over two lakh candidates apply for the CAT exam every year which is conducted in computer-based mode for two hours. The CAT question paper comprises MCQs & non-MCQs from Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA). Difficulty level of the exam is moderate to high. Apart from MBA programs, the CAT score is valid for admission to Executive MBA, PhD and FPM programs.
An entry to the MBA world requires the candidates to appear for entrance exams of which the most popular is the CAT or Common Admission Test. The CAT Score allows the candidate to be eligible for most of the best B-Schools in India including the IIMs which hold the CAT Exam.
The CAT eligibility has remained more or less the same in the past years. Students can expect similar criteria this year as well. Aspirants should review the criteria, given below in detail, to check if they are eligible for the exam before they begin preparing.
Overview- CAT Eligibility Criteria 2022
Aspirants who wish to apply for the exam must meet the following eligibility requirements to sit for the CAT entrance exam 2022-
| Qualification | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Age | NA |
| Educational Qualification | Bachelor’s Degree |
| Marks in Graduation | 50% (General Category |
| Work Experience | Not Compulsory |
| Reservation | As per category |
The minimum eligibility criteria for CAT exam is graduation in any stream. Read below detailed CAT eligibility criteria:
- Candidates must possess a bachelor’s degree with minimum 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent aggregate for SC, ST and PWD/DA category) from a recognized university to appear in CAT 2022.
- Candidates who have completed a professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA) with the required percentage can also appear for CAT.
- Candidates appearing for the final year of bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification or awaiting the result are also eligible to apply for CAT 2022 exam.
CAT Exam Highlights 2022
Candidates planning to appear for the CAT this year, must know the key highlights of CAT 2022 exam. Take a look at the table below:
| Particulars | CAT Exam Details |
|---|---|
| CAT Full Form | Common Admission Test (CAT) |
| Conducting Institute | IIM Bangalore (tentative) |
| Exam level | National Level |
| Exam Frequency | Once a Year |
| Exam Duration | 2 hours (160 Minutes for PWD candidates) |
| CAT Exam Fees | INR 1100 (Reserved categories) INR 2200 (Other categories) |
| Exam Date | 27th November 2022 (Tentative date) |
| Medium of Exam | English |
| CAT Exam Pattern | Computer Based Test (CBT) |
| CAT Exam Question Type | MCQ and Non-MCQ questions |
| Syllabus | Quantitative Aptitude Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension |
| Eligibility | Bachelor’s degree with 50% aggregate (45% aggregate or equivalent for reserved categories) |
About CAT Exam Timeline and Registration:
Every year, the total number of registered eligible candidates is approximately 2.30 lakh. CAT Exam 2022 is expected to be held on November 27, 2022. CAT Exam 2022 official notification will be released in the last week of July or the first week of August 2022 (tentatively).
iimcat.ac.in will be the official website where the CAT Exam 2022 notification will be released. Following is a table showing the tentative calendar of events for the CAT exam.
| CAT Exam Date | Expected Date |
|---|---|
| Release of Online Notification | Last week of July 2022 |
| Commencement of Online Application | First week of August 2022 |
| Date of CAT Exam | November 27th 2022 |
| CAT Exam Result Declaration | First week of January 2023 |
CAT Exam Syllabus:
A thorough understanding of the CAT exam syllabus is important for determining your direction all through this CAT journey. It will be much easier to determine how much time you should spend on each segment, when you have a reasonable understanding of the CAT syllabus.
| Sectional Division of Syllabus | Overview of Topics | Weightage in CAT exam |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Ability (QA) | Arithmetic, Modern Math, Number System Algebra, Mensuration, Trigonometry, Geometry | 34% |
| Data Interpretation (DI) | Data Charts, Data Tables, Bar Graphs, Venn Diagrams | 16% |
| Logical Reasoning (LR) | Seating arrangement, Team formation, Clocks & Calendars, Direction Sense, Family Tree | 16% |
| Verbal Ability (VA) | Jumbled Paragraphs; Para-summary Picking the Out of context sentence from a jumbled paragraph | 10% |
| Reading Comprehension (RC) | Long & Short Passages | 24% |
CAT Exam Marking Scheme:
- For each correct answer, candidates will receive 3 marks.
- Candidates will receive a negative marking of 1 mark for every incorrect answer for the objective questions.
- For non-MCQ-type questions, negative marks will not be deducted.
The table below will give you an outline of the MCQ and Non-MCQ questions for CAT:
| Section | Number of MCQ and Non-MCQs In each Section |
|---|---|
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) | MCQ -19 Non-MCQ – 5 |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | MCQ – 15 Non-MCQ – 5 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | MCQ – 14 Non-MCQ – 8 |
| Total no of Questions | 66 |
Frequently Asked Questions on the CAT Exam:
What is CAT?
IIMs conduct the Common Admission Test on a rotational basis for admission into management and business courses. CAT is conducted in three sessions every year, on the last Sunday of November.
The CAT Exam consists of 3 sections:
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DII-LR)
- Quantitative Ability (QA)
What is the CAT Exam eligibility criteria?
In order to qualify for CAT, a candidate must have finished or be appearing for his or her Bachelor’s degree, final year examination, with at least a 50% aggregate score. The degree should be granted by any university, incorporated or declared to be deemed under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956, or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
When should I start preparing for CAT?
The right time to start preparing for an CAT exam is 12 months in advance. It is recommended that CAT aspirants start their preparation at least 11-12 months before the exam, considering the increased competition and peer pressure. If you have plenty of time on your hands, you can go over the basics again in the last 1-2 months. And you can also find CAT Exam Coaching in Delhi .
How do I get a good percentile in Quants?
Practice is the key to attaining quantitative ability. More practice will help a student score well on the quant section. A detailed understanding of the CAT paper pattern, understanding the weightage of each topic is essential for CAT candidates. Getting a score of 99% on the CAT QA section requires an in-depth understanding of Arithmetic and Algebra.
How do I get a good percentile in DILR?
As for the CAT DILR section, 99%iles are achieved by selecting the correct sets to answer. This takes daily practice, so CAT aspirants must become habitual to solving at least 3-5 sets everyday. This will help aspirants become proficient in choosing the right type of sets, and solving them within the time-frame, without any hassle.
Why CAT Exam Coaching in Delhi ?
The CAT (Common Admission Test) is a national-level computer-based management entrance examination conducted every year by the IIMs. CAT is the premier IIM entrance exam that allows candidates into several Postgraduate Business Management courses. CAT is considered one of the most challenging entrance examinations in India, and you need to obtain a good score to apply to any of the top business schools. CAT 2021 was conducted by IIM Ahmedabad on November 28, 2021. Since CAT scores set the benchmark for IIM acceptances, candidates need to equip themselves with the best tips and tricks to crack the CAT Exam in the shortest possible time.
In order to speed up the process of cracking the CAT Exam preparation by best cat exam coaching in delhi , Scholars Academy classroom programs have been specifically designed to use shortcut tricks and methods to achieve a top score. The CAT preparation module at BYJU’S helps students access the entire program from any location and at any time, as the whole program is made available offline. It offers online practice tests, study materials, mock tests, and tutorials, with sessions conducted by India’s top CAT trainers. Detailed time-based performance metrics, topic-wise discussions, and an LOD analysis provide a comprehensive view of a candidate’s performance.
