CAT 2023

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CAT Registration: 2nd August 2023 (From 10 AM) To 21st September 2023 (Till 11 AM)
CAT 2023 Exam Date: 26th November 2023
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 Test Series

Rs.1499

  • 20 All-India CAT mocks with Video solutions & analysis
  • 15 VARC sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 15 DILR sectionals with detailed Video solutions & analysis
  • 15 Quant sectionals with detailed Video solutions & analysis
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024
CAT Daily Targets

Rs.1499

  • 200 VARC tests with Video solutions & analysis
  • 200 LRDI tests with Video solutions & analysis
  • 200 Quant tests with Video solutions & analysis
  • Valid upto Jan 10th, 2024
CAT 2023 Crash Course

Rs.6999

  • Daily Schedule covering from Basics to Advanced
  • 1000+ Excellent Videos
  • Weekly Live Interactive Classes
  • 18,000+ Excellent Questions
  • 100 Concept Notes & Daily Targets
  • CAT Mock Series
  • Doubt Solving By Experts
  • Valid till CAT 2023 exam

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 conducted by IIM Lucknow. Check out the important dates of CAT 2023, including the examination date.

Event Important Date
CAT 2023 Notification July 30th, 2023
CAT 2023 Registration starts

2nd Aug 2023 (10 AM)

CAT 2023 Application last date

21st September 2023 (Till 11 AM)

 (Release of Admit Card

25th 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

The expected exam pattern for CAT 2023 is as follows : Earlier CAT exam used to be 3 hours, but since 2020, the exam has moved to a 2-hour format. 

There will be three sections:

  1. VARC - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
  2. DILR - Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation
  3. QA - Quantitative Ability

Each correct answer is awarded three 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. Checkout more details on Negative marking in CAT exam.

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 institutes accepting CAT scores for admission have sectional and overall cut-offs.

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

SECTIONDURATIONNUMBER OF QUESTIONS
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
40 minutes

24

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning40 minutes

20

Quantitative Ability40 minutes

22

Total120 minutes

66

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CAT Exam 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

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 Exam

CAT Test Series

Rs.1499

  • 20 All-India CAT mocks with Video solutions & analysis
  • 15 VARC sectionals with detailed solutions & analysis
  • 15 DILR sectionals with detailed Video solutions & analysis
  • 15 Quant sectionals with detailed Video solutions & analysis
  • Access till Jan 10th, 2024
CAT Daily Targets

Rs.1499

  • 200 VARC tests with Video solutions & analysis
  • 200 LRDI tests with Video solutions & analysis
  • 200 Quant tests with Video solutions & analysis
  • Valid upto Jan 10th, 2024
CAT 2023 Crash Course

Rs.6999

  • Daily Schedule covering from Basics to Advanced
  • 1000+ Excellent Videos
  • Weekly Live Interactive Classes
  • 18,000+ Excellent Questions
  • 100 Concept Notes & Daily Targets
  • CAT Mock Series
  • Doubt Solving By Experts
  • Valid till CAT 2023 exam

Registration Process

CAT Exam Registration Process 2023

The CAT 2023 exam registration starts from 2nd August 2023. Check out the steps given below to register for the CAT 2023 exam.

  1. Visit the Official website of CAT 2023 (August 2nd, 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 2023 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 2023 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

    More Info

    Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta

    More Info

    Indian Institute Of Management(IIM), Lucknow

    More Info

    Indian Institute Of Management (IIM), Kozhikode

    More Info

    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore

    More Info

    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

    More Info

    Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong

    More Info

    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Trichy

    More Info

    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kashipur

    More Info

    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

    Also check out the CAT Topic-Wise Previous Questions

    Last updated: Aug 24th, 2023 11:05 IST

    Published: Aug 24th,2023 09:03 IST

    Latest Changes In CAT Exam

    Latest Changes In CAT Syllabus & Exam Pattern

    Over the past two years (due to covid pandemic), the CAT 2022, 2021 exam pattern has been changed. Earlier CAT was conducted in a 3-hour pattern with 1 hour for each section.

    But, since 2020, the exam moved to a 2-hour format. Check out the CAT exam pattern changes mentioned below in CAT 2022, CAT 2021, CAT 2020, and CAT 2019.

    Also, check out the score required for CAT 100%iler, CAT 99%ile & Above.

    CAT Exam YearCAT 2022

    Exam Pattern

    CAT 2021

    Exam Pattern

    CAT 2020

    Exam Pattern

    CAT 2019

    Exam Pattern

    No. of Questions666676100
    Marks Per Question3333
    Total Score198198228

    300

    Exam Duration

    120 Minutes120 Minutes120 Minutes180 Minutes
    Score to get
    100 Percentile

    145.83

    (Maruti Sir,
    Co-founder of Cracku)

    161.36

    (Maruti Sir,
    Co-founder of Cracku)
    161

    242.15

    (Maruti Sir,
    Co-founder of Cracku)
    Score to get 
    99 Percentile
    9898101156
    VARC
    [No. of Questions]
    24

    24

    2634
    LRDI

    [No. of Questions]

    202024

    32

    QA
    [No. of Questions]
    222226

    34

    Which IIMs have conducted the CAT exam for the past 16 years?

    CAT Exam YearConducted By
    CAT 2023IIM Lucknow
    CAT 2022IIM Bangalore
    CAT 2021IIM Ahmedabad
    CAT 2020IIM Indore
    CAT 2019IIM Kozhikode
    CAT 2018IIM Calcutta
    CAT 2017IIM Lucknow
    CAT 2016IIM Bangalore
    CAT 2015IIM Ahmedabad
    CAT 2014IIM Indore
    CAT 2013IIM Indore
    CAT 2012IIM Kozhikode
    CAT 2011IIM Calcutta
    CAT 2010IIM Lucknow
    CAT 2009IIM Ahmedabad
    CAT 2008IIM Ahmedabad
    CAT 2007 IIM Bangalore

    Key Points About CAT Exam Syllabus PDF

    Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): The CAT syllabus for VARC section focuses on the candidate's English language skills. It includes reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, sentence correction, para-jumbles, and para-completion.

    Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR): The DILR section of CAT syllabus evaluates the candidate's ability to analyze and interpret complex data and make logical deductions. This section covers data interpretation & sufficiency, logical and analytical reasoning.

    Quantitative Ability (QA): The CAT QA section tests the candidate's mathematical and problem-solving skills. It covers arithmetic, algebra, geometry, number systems, percentages, ratios, probability, permutations, and combinations.

      As each of these sections significantly influences the final score and percentile after the CAT exam, it is crucial for CAT applicants to fully comprehend and prepare for each section. Your chances of getting a good outcome will increase if you set aside enough time to study and practice.

      How to Prepare For CAT 2023 As Per CAT Syllabus?

      Preparing for CAT 2023 as per the CAT syllabus requires a structured and strategic approach. Here are some steps you can follow:
      1. Understand the CAT syllabus thoroughly before creating a study plan.
      2. Gather comprehensive study material and resources aligned with the CAT syllabus.
      3. Develop a structured study plan for CAT preparation, allocating time for each section and topic.
      4. Focus on building a strong conceptual understanding of each topic.
      5. Practice regularly with a variety of question types and difficulty levels.
      6. Take CAT mock tests to simulate the exam environment and assess your performance.
      7. Manage your time effectively and practice solving questions under time constraints.
      8. Analyze your performance, identify weaknesses, and improve them.
      9. Regularly revise the topics to reinforce understanding and retention.
      10. Stay updated with the latest CAT trends, stay motivated, and believe in your abilities.

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