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Common Admission Test

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"CAT test" redirects here; not to be confused with Computerized Achievement Levels Test or Computerized adaptive testing.

Common Admission Test
AcronymCAT
TypeComputer-based standardized test
AdministratorIndian Institutes of Management
Skills testedQuantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
PurposeAdmission to post-graduate management programs
Year startedJanuary 1977
Duration2 hours(40 minutes for each section) PWD candidates get 160 minutes (53 minutes and 20 seconds for each section)
Score rangevaries annually
Score validity1 year
OfferedOnce a year (usually on the last Sunday of November).
Restrictions on attemptsNo restriction
Regions170 cities and towns all over India.
LanguagesEnglish
Annual number of test takersDecrease 2.58 Lakhs (CAT 2025)
PrerequisitesBachelor's degree (or equivalent) with at least 50 % marks or equivalent GPA (45 % in case of SC, ST, PWD candidates). Final year undergraduate students are also eligible
Fee₹2,600 (US$31) for General/ EWS/NC-OBC category candidates. ₹1,300 (US$15) for SC/ST/PWD category candidates
Used byVarious business schools in India
Websiteiimcat.ac.in

The Common Admission Test (CAT)[1] is a computer based test for admission in graduate management programs. The test consists of three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. The exam was taken online over a period of three hours, with one hour per section. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 precautions, Indian Institute of Management Indore decided to conduct the CAT Exam in 2 hours with 40 minutes devoted to each section.[2] The Indian Institutes of Management started this exam and use the test for selecting students for their business administration programs (MBA or PGDM). The test is conducted every year by one of the Indian Institutes of Managements(IIMs) based on a policy of rotation.[citation needed]

In August 2011, it was announced that Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) would also use the CAT scores, instead of the Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET), to select students for their management programmes starting with the 2012-15 batch.[3]

Before 2010, CAT was a paper based test conducted on a single day for all candidates. The pattern, number of questions and duration have seen considerable variations over the years.

On 1 May 2009, it was announced that CAT would be a Computer Based Test starting from 2009. The American firm Prometric was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the test from 2009 to 2013.[4] The first computer based CAT was marred with technical snags.[5] The issue was so serious that it prompted the Government of India to seek a report from the convenor.[6] The trouble was diagnosed as 'Conficker' and 'W32 Nimda', the two viruses that attacked the system display of the test, causing server slow down.[7] Since 2014 onward, CAT has been conducted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). CAT 2015 and CAT 2016 were 180-minute tests consisting of 100 questions (34 from Quantitative Ability, 34 from Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, and 32 from Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning.[8] CAT 2020 onwards, the exam duration has been reduced to two hours, with 40 minutes allotted per section.[9]

Eligibility for CAT

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The candidate must satisfy the below specified criteria:[10]

  1. Hold a bachelor's degree, with not less than 50% or equal CGPA (45% for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disability (PWD)/Differently Able (DA) classification)
  2. The degree should be granted by any of the universities consolidated by an act of the central or state statutory body in India or other instructive organizations built up by an act of Parliament or pronounced to be considered as a university under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
  3. Competitors appearing for the final year of bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification examination and the individuals who have finished degree prerequisites and are anticipating results can likewise apply. If selected, such applicants will be permitted to join the program temporarily, only if they present a certificate most recent by June of next year in which the exam is held, from the principal/registrar of their college/institute (issued at the latest 30th June of that year) expressing that the competitor has finished every one of the prerequisites for acquiring four-year or three-year college education/identical capability on the date of the issue of the certificate.

Exam pattern

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The Common Admission Test (CAT) uses different versions of the exam each year, so it reports two types of scores: a raw score and a scaled score.

The raw score is calculated for each section based on the number of questions one answered correctly, incorrectly, or left attempted. Candidates are given +3 points for each correct answer and -1 point for each incorrect answer, no negative marking for TITA (Type in the Answer) questions.[11]

Since different versions of the test may vary slightly in difficulty, the raw scores are adjusted using a method called equating. After that, the scores are scaled to ensure fairness, so that scores from different exam slots can be compared accurately.

The number of questions in CAT can change from year to year. Recently, the paper has had 68 questions divided into three sections:[12]

  • Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 24 questions
  • Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) – 22 questions
  • Quantitative Ability (QA) – 22 questions

CAT is held in three sessions in a single day: Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. Candidate can give exam in only on of the session. [13]

CAT Pattern and Duration

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The CAT 2024 exam will be conducted in three sessions, each of 40 minutes, for a total exam duration of 120 minutes (2 hours). The CAT exam pattern includes both Multiple Choice Question and non-MCQ or TITA (Type-In-The-Answer) questions. The test comprises the following three sections:[14]

  1. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
    • 24 questions in total: 8 Verbal Ability questions and 4 Reading Comprehension passages, each containing 4 questions.
  2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
    • 22 questions are asked across 5 sets, 2 sets having 5 questions each and 3 sets having 4 questions each.
  3. Quantitative Ability (QA)

In total, the CAT 2025 exam consists of 68 questions, with a maximum score of 204 marks.[12]

Candidates can not switch between sections while answering; the order of sections is fixed as: VARC → DILR → QA.

Controversy

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In 2003, CAT got leaked leading to re examination [15]

In CAT 2024, a question of slot 2 in VARC was challenged by students and educators but IIM C did not accept any changes. One candidate took the matter to the court still the challenge was not accepted.[16]

In CAT 2025, IIM K released provisional answer keys without releasing provisional answers for QA (TITA) questions

CAT registrations in numbers over the years

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The number of registrations in the past years are shown in the following chart:[17]

Year No. of candidates

Registered

No. of candidates

Appeared[18]

2005[19] 170,000 155,000
2006 191,000 180,000
2007 250,000 230,000
2008 290,000 276,000
2009 241,000 230,000
2010 204,000 185,000
2011 205,000 186,000
2012 214,000 195,000
2013 194,516 173,714[20]
2014 196,988 170,000[21]
2015 218,664 179,602[22]
2016 232,434 195,679
2017[23] 231,067[24] 199,632
2018[25] 240,338 209,405
2019 244,169 209,926
2020 227,835 190,144
2021 229,969 191,660
2022[26] 255,501 222,184
2023 328,000[27] 288,000
2024 329,000[28] 293,000
2025 295,000[29] 258,000

Note: Data of candidates registered till 2012 are approximate.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CAT 2015". iimcat.ac.in. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. ^ "CAT 2020 Media Release" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  3. ^ "CAT replaces JMET in IIT, IISc". Deccan Chronicle. 27 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  4. ^ "CAT to go online from this year". Business Line. 1 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Snags hit 7,000 candidates at CAT". The Hindu. 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Govt seeks report from CAT convener on exam disruption". The Times of India. 30 November 2009. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  7. ^ "IIM-A names two viruses that caused CAT chaos". The Economic Times. 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  8. ^ "CAT 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  9. ^ "CAT Exam Pattern 2021: Check Here - New Section Wise Pattern and Marking Scheme". www.mbauniverse.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  10. ^ "CAT Eligibility - IIM Ahmedabad". Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  11. ^ "MBA Entrance Exams in India - Check Exam Dates, Fees & Pattern".
  12. ^ a b "CAT Exam Pattern 2026 - Sections, Types of Questions, & Marks". IMS India. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  13. ^ "All You Need to Know About Common Aptitude Test". Hindustan Times.
  14. ^ Shrivastava, Vipra (4 November 2025). "CAT 2025 Exam Pattern". www.shiksha.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  16. ^ "CAT 2024: Delhi High Court dismisses plea challenging CAT 2024 results, says 'we find no reason to interfere'". Hindustan Times. 7 January 2025. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  17. ^ "CAT Registration 2022, Start Date, Last Date and How to Apply". bschool.careers360.com. 29 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  18. ^ "No Change in Percentage of CAT 2021 Test Takers: 1.92 Lakh including 35% Women took CAT 2021". www.mbauniverse.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  19. ^ "CAT Registration Trends, Facts and Figures over the Years". bschool.careers360.com. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  20. ^ "CAT 2013: Even with a blank sheet you can score in 55th percentile". Firstpost. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  21. ^ "CAT 2014 results to be declared on December 27; 1.7 lakh candidates eyeing outcome". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ^ "CAT 2015: 179602 candidates appeared in the exam; 58,270 comprising girls". www.mbauniverse.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  23. ^ "CAT 2017: About 2.31 lakh candidates register for exam this year". India Today. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Over 1.99 lakh candidates appear for CAT conducted by IIM-Lucknow". Hindustan Times. 26 November 2017. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  25. ^ "CAT 2018: Number of test takers touches 2 lakh mark after a decade, 13 per cent skip the test". bschool.careers360.com. 29 November 2018. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  26. ^ "CAT 2022 Media Release 01 Dec 2022" (PDF). 2 December 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  27. ^ "2.88 lakh candidates appeared for CAT 2023 | What's next? Details here". India Today. 28 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  28. ^ "CAT 2024 Media Release 25 Nov 2024 Updated" (PDF). 25 November 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  29. ^ "CAT 2025 Media Release 01 Dec 2025" (PDF). 1 December 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
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