CAT 2020 Analysis (Slot 1, 2 and 3) and Expected Cut Offs

Read CAT 2020 analysis by experts to know the difficulty level, topic-wise weightage and number of good attempts along with expected cut offs.

CAT 2020 analysis included discussion on section-wise difficulty level of the question paper, topic-wise distribution of questions, differences and similarities between the three exam slots and sectional cut offs. Shiksha has reached out to various experts for ind-depth analysis of CAT 2020 question paper along with estimated number of good attempts and expected CAT 2020 cut offs. Read slot-wise CAT 2020 analysis below.

CAT 2020 exam was conducted at over 430 test centres in 156 cities across India amid COVID-19 guidelines and SOPs. However, instead of COVID-19, the students were more worried about the difficulty level of CAT question paper and the total number of questions. IIM Indore did not reveal the total number of question for this year’s exam until the last day, keeping students in suspense.

In the first slot of CAT 2020, the students heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the total number of questions. VARC had 26 questions, DILR had 24 questions and QA had 26 questions. There were six non-MCQs in each section. Overall, the question paper was of moderately difficult and in order to score a 99 percentile in CAT 2020, a score of 105-110 marks will be enough.

"CAT 2020 morning slot was a balanced paper both with respect to difficulty level as well as number of questions. There were 76 questions with about 20 TITA questions. Someone with adequate preparation would have handled this paper with ease. There were no glitches and any kind of lapses with respect to test administration," said Srinivas Belvi, Academic Head - South, Endeavor Careers. 

CAT 2020 Analysis: Highlights

• CAT exam session timings are 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM and 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
• IIM Indore, the exam-convening institute has set the CAT 2020 question paper for all the three slots
• The total time limit of 120 minutes was divided into 40 minutes for each section
• There is no change in CAT marking scheme. For each correct entry, three marks will be allotted
• Negative marking of - one mark will be applied to all MCQs
• VARC had 26 questions, DILR had 24 questions and QA had 26 questions
• VARC section was dominated by RC questions
• DILR section had two DILR sets 
• QA section had questions majorly from Algebra, Geometry, Mensuration and Modern Maths

CAT Exam Pattern 2020

The CAT question paper 2020 is on the same lines as last year. Take a look at the section-wise number of questions, marks and time allotted to students in CAT 2020:

CAT 2020 Sections	Questions	Marks	Allotted Time
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	26	78	40 minutes
Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI)	24	72	40 minutes
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	26	78	40 minutes
Total	76	228	120 minutes

CAT 2020 Analysis: Section Wise

Section 1: VARC

The VARC section had four Reading Comprehension passages. Two of them had four questions and the rest two had five questions. In the VA subsections, there were three Parajumbles and three Parasummary questions along with two Odd Sentence Parajumbles questions.

One can consider the VARC section of CAT 2020 as lengthy and slightly tricky. For a score of 99 percentile in this section, experts feel one needs to socre somewhere between 40-42 marks.

Section 2: DILR

The DILR section of slot 1 CAT 2020 question paper had five sets. Two sets had six questions each while the remaining sets had four questions each.

Overall, the difficulty level of the DILR section was similar to that of CAT 2019. To score 99 percentile, one needs to score around 32-34 marks.

Section 3: DILR

The QA section of CAT 2020 slot 1 question paper consisted of 26 questions with Arithmetic and Algebra dominating the section. According to the experts, the difficulty level of the QA section of the CAT 2020 slot 1 was similar to CAT 2019. To score 99 percentile in this section, one needs to score around 46-48 marks.

Read below in-depth CAT 2020 analysis of slot 1, 2 and 3 by various MBA experts:

Experts	Highlight
CAT 2020 analysis by Career Launcher	The overall level of difficulty for CAT 2020 slot 1 was slightly higher than that of CAT 2019. In terms of section wise difficulty level, VARC was lengthy and slightly tricky. Read more
CAT 2020 analysis by T.I.M.E.	The CAT question paper was more difficult than last year, VARC and DILR sections were difficult and QA was easy. Read more
CAT 2020 analysis by CATKing	Overall, CAT did not bring in any surprises for the students, the difficulty level of the exam overall was Moderate. Read more
CAT 2020 analysis by Endeavor Careers	CAT 2020 took off on a good note with students’ anxieties and anticipations of the expected format and pandemic arrangements addressed positively. Read more
CAT 2020  analysis by IMS	The VARC section was similar to CAT 2019, with no Grammar and Vocabulary questions. The DILR section underwent a change in CAT 2020 with a total five sets. QA was dominated by Arithmetic. Read More

CAT 2020: Score vs Percentile (Estimation)

Here are the predicted scores versus percentiles of all three slots by Endeavor Careers:

CAT 2020 Slot 1

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
80%ile	25	17	19	57
90%ile	30	23	27	69
95%ile	35	27	33	83
98%ile	39	33	40	101
99%ile	42	36	44	106
99.5%ile	47	41	48	122

CAT 2020 Slot 2

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
80%ile	25	16	17	54
90%ile	30	21	23	66
95%ile	34	26	30	78
98%ile	38	31	37	96
99%ile	40	35	40	101
99.5%ile	43	39	45	115

CAT 2020 Slot 3

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall
80%ile	27	16	17	57
90%ile	33	22	24	69
95%ile	37	27	30	82
98%ile	42	32	36	100
99%ile	45	36	40	104
99.5%ile	47	39	44	118

Also Read: CAT 2020 student reactions and reviews

CAT 2020 Expected Cutoffs

Take a look at the expected CAT cut off percentiles of IIMs and non-IIMs for 2020 admission.

IIM Campus	Expected CAT 2020 Cut Offs (percentile)
IIM Ahmedabad	99
IIM Bangalore	99
IIM Calcutta	99
IIM Lucknow	99-97
IIM Indore	98-97
IIM Kozhikode	98-97
IIM Amritsar	95-96
IIM Nagpur	95-96
IIM Sambalpur	95-96
IIM Trichy	94-95
IIM Raipur	94-95
IIM Ranchi	94-95
IIM Kashipur	92-94
IIM Vizag	92-94
IIM Udaipur	92-94
IIM Bodhgaya	92-94
IIM Shillong	90
IIM Sirmaur	90
IIM Rohtak	90
IIM Jammu	90

Also Read: IIM CAT cut offs 2020

Given below is the table indicating expected CAT 2020 cut off percentiles of top MBA colleges in India (non-IIMs).

Non-IIMs	Expected CAT 2020 Cut Offs (percentile)
IIT Bombay (SJMSOM)	99
JBIMS, Mumbai	99
FMS, Delhi	98.5
IIT Delhi (DoMS)	98
SPJIMR, Mumbai	97
NITIE, Mumbai	95
MDI, Gurgaon	95
IIT Madras	95
IIT Kharagpur	95
IIT Kanpur	95
IIT Roorkee	95

Read More:

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