CAT 2023

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CAT 2023 Exam Date: 26th November 2023 (Expected)
CAT 2023 Results: 1st week January 2024 (Expected)

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Introduction

What is the CAT exam, and who conducts it?

Common Admission Test (CAT) is an all-India examination conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as an entrance exam to select candidates for admission to various management programmes.

Apart from the IIMs, many other top MBA colleges in India accept the CAT Score. B-schools such as the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Management Development Institute (MDI), Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), IIT-MBAs, IMT Ghaziabad, etc., use CAT score in their admission process. You can also check out the complete list of top MBA colleges in India (with detailed fees and placements) here.

There are many other MBA entrance exams available, but there is a unique preference for the candidates who ace the CAT exam during the admission process of the respective colleges. But why? The reason is that CAT tests a student's aptitude, logical reasoning, reading comprehension skills, time management skills, etc. - the basic skills necessary for aspiring managers/business leaders before starting their MBA journey.

How much CAT percentile is required for an IIM call? (based on your profile)

Our CAT 2022 Toppers List

CAT is the first stage in the selection process. The institutes prepare a shortlist of candidates based on the CAT score and several other criteria like 10th class, 12th class, Graduation percentage and Work experience. The selection criteria and weightage assigned to each criterion, including the CAT score, might vary from institute to institute.

CAT percentile required for IIM calls
CAT percentile required for IIM calls
CAT Combo

Rs.4999

  • Daily Target tests with Video solutions (3 tests every weekday till a total of 600 tests)
  • 15 Full-length CAT mocks with video solutions and detailed analysis
  • 15 VARC sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 15 DILR sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 15 Quant sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 30 CAT previous papers with solutions
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024
CAT Study Room

Rs.12999

  • Self-study Adaptive Platform
  • 17,000+ excellent questions with detailed text solutions
  • 100+ concept notes and solved example sets
  • 600+ daily target tests with video solutions (200 per each section)
  • Total of 50 National level MBA mocks as given below
  • 15 Full-length CAT mocks (with video solutions & analysis)
  • 5 Mocks each for IIFT, XAT, TISSNET, SNAP, CMAT, NMAT & MH-CET
  • 45 Sectional Tests with detailed solutions and analysis
  • 30 CAT previous papers with solutions
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024
CAT 2023 Complete Course

Rs.19999

  • Comprehensive CAT 2023 Course
  • 1000+ Videos covering from basics
  • 17,000+ Solved Questions
  • 30 Live classes by IIMA Alumni
  • 15 Full-length CAT mocks (with video solutions & analysis)
  • 5 Mocks each for IIFT, XAT, TISSNET, SNAP, CMAT, NMAT & MH-CET
  • 600+ CAT daily target tests with video solutions (200 per each section)
  • 100 concept notes & solved example sets
  • 45 Sectional Tests with detailed solutions and analysis
  • 30 CAT previous papers with solutions
  • Doubt solving by experts
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024

Important Dates

CAT 2023 Important Dates

The CAT exam is an annual management entrance test, so it will be conducted only once a year, in November. Each year, the CAT exam is conducted by any one of the top six IIMs in India. The CAT 2023 exam is expected to be conducted by IIM Lucknow. Check out the important dates of CAT 2023, including the examination date.

Event Important Dates (Tentative)
CAT 2023 Notification Last week of July 2023
CAT 2023 Registration starts

1st week of Aug 2023

CAT 2023 Application last date

1st week of Sept 2023

Release of Admit Card

3rd week of Oct 2023

CAT 2023 Exam date 26th November 2023
Answer key release 1st week of December 2023
Results 1st Week, January 2024

Eligibility

Who can take the CAT exam?

Eligibility Criteria:

The CAT is an exam conducted by the IIMs and is held nationwide, so the candidates must fulfil certain eligibility criteria. The requirements to satisfy the CAT exam eligibility criteria are as follows:

  1. The applicant should have a bachelor's degree (3 years or 4 years).
  2. Candidates in the final year of graduation can also apply.
  3. The applicant must have a minimum of 50% in graduation (45% for SC/ST/PWD categories) or an equivalent CGPA.

CAT 2023 Exam Pattern

CAT 2023 Exam pattern

Over the past two years (due to the covid pandemic), the CAT exam pattern has changed. Earlier CAT was conducted in a 3-hour pattern with 1-hour for each section. But, Since 2020, the exam has moved to a 2-hour format. The exam pattern is expected to remain the same (2-hrs) for the CAT 2023 examination. The expected exam pattern for CAT 2023 is as follows.

There will be three sections:

  1. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
  2. Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI)
  3. Quantitative Ability (QA)

Each correct answer is awarded 3 marks, and each wrong answer carries a penalty of -1 mark. Some questions are Type-in-the-answer (TITA) questions. The marking scheme for TITA questions is +3 marks for the correct answer and NO negative marks for the wrong answer. Also, there is no negative marking for Unattempted questions.

Each section has a sectional time limit of 40 minutes, and candidates are not allowed to switch between the sections. Candidates are expected to perform well in all the sections, and most of the institutes accepting CAT scores for admission have sectional cut-offs in addition to overall cut-offs.

The below table shows the exam pattern for CAT 2023 (the following pattern is based on the previous year's exam pattern):

SECTIONDURATIONNumber of questions (Expected)
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
40 minutes

24

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning40 minutes

20

Quantitative Ability40 minutes

22

Total120 minutes

66

Syllabus

What is the CAT syllabus?

CAT does not have a defined syllabus. Two sections (VARC & LRDI) out of the three do not require you to memorise even basic formulae. VARC and LRDI are the sections entirely based on the candidate's logical reasoning ability, reading comprehension skills, language skills etc.

Coming to the third section (Quantitative Ability): This section deals with mathematics based on the concepts learned in high school. The weightage for each section is represented in the below pie chart. (You can also download the PDF of the detailed CAT syllabus, which is given under this pie chart)

CAT exam sectional weightage pie chart

Download CAT Syllabus PDF

The topics involved in each section are as follows.

Topics in each section of CAT

Each section constitutes specific sub-topics. The below table shows the broad sub-topics in each section.

Section

Topics

Quant

  • Arithmetic
  • Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Number Systems
  • Modern Maths (Probability, Combinatorics)

LRDI

  • Logical Reasoning (Arrangements, puzzles, games & tournaments, Venn diagrams, etc.)
  • Data Interpretation(Graphs, tables, charts, etc.)

VARC

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Para Summary
  • Para Jumbles
  • Odd sentence out

Test Series

Cracku offers the following excellent courses to crack CAT 2023.

CAT Combo

Rs.4999

  • Daily Target tests with Video solutions (3 tests every weekday till a total of 600 tests)
  • 15 Full-length CAT mocks with video solutions and detailed analysis
  • 15 VARC sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 15 DILR sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 15 Quant sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 30 CAT previous papers with solutions
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024
CAT Study Room

Rs.12999

  • Self-study Adaptive Platform
  • 17,000+ excellent questions with detailed text solutions
  • 100+ concept notes and solved example sets
  • 600+ daily target tests with video solutions (200 per each section)
  • Total of 50 National level MBA mocks as given below
  • 15 Full-length CAT mocks (with video solutions & analysis)
  • 5 Mocks each for IIFT, XAT, TISSNET, SNAP, CMAT, NMAT & MH-CET
  • 45 Sectional Tests with detailed solutions and analysis
  • 30 CAT previous papers with solutions
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024
CAT 2023 Complete Course

Rs.19999

  • Comprehensive CAT 2023 Course
  • 1000+ Videos covering from basics
  • 17,000+ Solved Questions
  • 30 Live classes by IIMA Alumni
  • 15 Full-length CAT mocks (with video solutions & analysis)
  • 5 Mocks each for IIFT, XAT, TISSNET, SNAP, CMAT, NMAT & MH-CET
  • 600+ CAT daily target tests with video solutions (200 per each section)
  • 100 concept notes & solved example sets
  • 45 Sectional Tests with detailed solutions and analysis
  • 30 CAT previous papers with solutions
  • Doubt solving by experts
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024

Registration Process

CAT Exam Registration Process 2023

The CAT 2023 exam registration is expected to start in the 1st week of August 2023. Check out the steps given below to register for the CAT 2023 exam.

  1. Visit the Official website of CAT 2023 (in August 2023).
  2. Click on the “Register Now” button.
  3. Now enter the required details like Name, Email Id, DOB, etc., and submit.
  4. Your login credentials will be generated and sent to your registered mail id.
  5. Log in to the official website using your login ID and Password.
  6. Fill out your CAT application form and upload the scanned copies of the required documents.
  7. Click on save & continue.
  8. Now enter the required details like your academic background, and previous work experience (if applicable), and select the programs you prefer, and the cities for the interview.
  9. Finally, make the payment of the CAT exam through Net Banking/Credit/Debit Card/ or other and download the receipt.

    Top B-schools accepting the CAT Scores

    Top Colleges After Clearing The CAT Exam

    College

    Details

    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

    More Info

    Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore

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    Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta

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    Indian Institute Of Management(IIM), Lucknow

    More Info

    Indian Institute Of Management (IIM), Kozhikode

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    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore

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    Faculty of management studies (FMS), New Delhi

    More Info

    S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai

    More Info

    Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon

    More Info

    Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of management studies (JBIMS), Mumbai (for outside Maharashtra candidates)

    More Info

    Institute Of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad

    More Info

    National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai

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    Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong

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    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Trichy

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    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kashipur

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    Department of management studies (IIT Delhi), New Delhi

    More Info

    Shailesh J Mehta School of Management (IIT Bombay), Mumbai

    More Info

    Vinod Gupta school of management (VGSOM), IIT Kharagpur

    More Info

    Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar

    More Info

    International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi

    More Info

    CAT Question Papers

    CAT Previous Question Papers With Video Solutions

    Knowing the level of questions that arrive in the CAT examination is essential. The CAT previous year's question papers are one of the best resources to have an idea regarding the level of questions and the pattern of the examination. One can download the PDFs of the past year's question papers with all slots, with detailed video solutions, for FREE. These PDFs with video solutions of CAT previous papers will help you understand each question well. You can practice these questions or can also take these as an actual test.

    Download CAT previous question papers PDFs with video solutions

    Last updated: February 1st, 2023 15:05 IST

    Published February 1st, 2023 15:03 IST

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