CAT 2020 Analysis by IMS (Slot 1, 2 and 3): Check slot-wise analysis and expected cut off percentiles

CAT 2020 Analysis by IMS - The CAT question paper 2020 was of moderate difficulty without any surprises. Read here in detail CAT 2020 analysis by IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Limited.

CAT 2020 exam was conducted on November 29 amid COVID-19 safety precautions at various exam centres across India. According to the analysis of CAT 2020 question paper by IMS experts, the questions were of moderate difficulty overall. Read CAT 2020 analysis of slot 1, 2 and 3 by IMS experts in detail here. The CAT exam analysis includes evaluation of section-wise difficulty level, topic-wise break-up of the question paper, number of good attempts and sectional scores.

CAT 2020 Analysis: Highlights

• CAT 2020 exam was conducted in three slots - morning, afternoon and evening
• The exam was conducted for 120 minutes and the sectional time limit was 40 minutes
• The total number of questions was 76
• VARC section had 26 questions, DILR section had 24 questions and QA section had 34 questions

Also Read:

• CAT 2020 student reactions and reviews
• CAT cut offs: expected and previous years'
• CAT 2020 answer keys

CAT 2020 Slot 1: Question Paper Break-Up

CAT 2020 analysis indicates the total number of questions were less than in CAT 2019. Check the table below for question-wise split of CAT 2020 question paper.

CAT 2020 Sections	Total Number of Questions	MCQs	Non-MCQs	Allotted Time
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	26	21	5	40 minutes
Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI)	24	18	6	40 minutes
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	26	18	8	40 minutes
Total	76	57	19	120 minutes

CAT 2020 Analysis: Slot 1

CAT  2020 slot one was held from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM. The test started with the Verbal Section (18 RC + 8 VA questions), followed by DI-LR (18 DI + 6 LR questions). The third section was the Quantitative Ability (26 questions.) Sectional time-limit was 40 minutes. The marking scheme was plus three for every correct and minus one for incorrect. There was no negative marking for TITA questions.

CAT 2020: VARC Analysis

The VARC section was similar to CAT 2019, with no Grammar and Vocabulary questions. Reading Comprehension part had four passages in all—two passages with four questions each and two passages with five questions each. Most of the questions were moderate to difficult.

VA did not offer any surprise. It had usual question types – Summary, Odd sentence, and the all-time favorite – paragraph jumbles.

Area / Questions	No. of Questions	Type	Level of Difficulty
Reading Comprehension	18	MCQ	Overall: Moderate to Difficult
RC-1: Currency in Tang Empire	4	MCQ	Easy to Moderate
RC- 2: Elephant Seal Migration	5	MCQ	Moderate to Difficult
RC-3: importance of Grammar	5	MCQ	Easy to Moderate
RC-4: Subsets of Anarchist philosophy	4	MCQ	Moderate to Difficult
Verbal Ability	08	MCQ & TITA	Overall: Moderate
Parajumbles ( 4 sentences)	3	TITA	Moderate to Difficult
Out of Context sentence	2	TITA	Easy to Moderate
Summary	3	MCQ	Easy to Moderate

Overall, an attempt of 15 to 17 to questions with high accuracy (85-90 percentile) can be considered good in this section.

CAT 2020: DILR Analysis

The DILR section underwent a change in CAT 2020 with a total five sets, out of which two sets had six questions while the remaining three had four questions each. Out of the three sets with four questions, one set had all the four TITA questions while the remaining two had all four MCQ questions. Out of the two sets with six questions, one set had all six MCQ questions while the other set had four MCQ and two TITA questions.

There were three DI sets and two LR sets. Overall, the difficulty level of this section was moderate to difficult.

Set No.	Area	Set Description	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty	Question Type
1	Data Interpretation	6 students appearing for exam in 5 subjects	6	Moderate	4 MCQ + 2 TITA
2	Logical Reasoning	4 companies competing for Contracts	6	Difficult	6 MCQ
3	Data Interpretation	1000 patients getting treated with 4 different drugs	4	Easy to moderate	4 TITA
4	Data Interpretation	10 musicians	4	Moderate to difficult	4 MCQ
5	Logical Reasoning	Payment to taxi drivers	4	Moderate to difficult	4 MCQ

CAT 2020: Quantitative Ability Analysis

This section of CAT 2020 slot 1, was moderate in terms of level of difficulty and was dominated by Arithmetic (10 questions), followed by Algebra (eight questions). There were three questions on Modern Maths, three questions on Geometry and two questions on Numbers. In Arithmetic, Time-Speed-Distance and Mixtures and Alligations dominated the questions. Surprisingly, this year there was relatively lower emphasis on Geometry and higher emphasis on Algebra.

There were eight TITA questions this year. Overall, this section moderately difficult. Selecting the right questions was the key. 

Area/Question Type	No. of Questions	Level of Difficulty
Numbers	2	Moderate
Arithmetic	10	Easy to moderate
Algebra	8	Moderate
Geometry	3	Easy to moderate
Modern Maths	3	Moderate

Well prepared students should have been able to attempt about 16 to 18 questions in the given time.

CAT 2020 Slot 1: Score and Percentiles (Projected)

IMS shared estimated scores and percentiles based on the feedback received from several candidates who appeared in the first slot.

Percentile	Score VARC	Score DILR	Score QA	Overall Score
99.5 %ile	44	39	49	120
99 %ile	40	34	44	110
97 %ile	37	31	40	100
95%ile	35	29	38	94
90%ile	30	26	34	81
85%ile	27	23	31	72

CAT 2020 Analysis: Slot 2

The overall difficulty level of CAT 2020 slot 2 question paper was slightly higher than that of slot 1 with QA and DILR bordering on the difficult side. VARC was on par with slot 1.

CAT 2020: VARC Analysis

The VARC section of CAT 2020 slot 2 was similar to slot 1 in segmentation and difficulty level. The majority of the questions were of moderate and high difficulty level. Very few questions were easy. Reading Comprehension had four passages—two passages had four questions each and other two passages had five questions each. Most of the questions were moderate to difficult rather heavy on application and reasoning. Despite the change in the total number of questions, VA had usual question types – Summary, Odd Sentence, and all-time favourite – paragraph jumbles.

Area / Questions	No. of Questions	Type	Level of Difficulty
Reading Comprehension	18	MCQ	Overall: Moderate to Difficult
RC-1: Piracy in International Waters	4	MCQ	Easy to Moderate
RC- 2: Renewable Energy Technologies	5	MCQ	Moderate to Difficult
RC-3: The Study of Visual Culture	5	MCQ	Easy to Moderate
RC-4: Aggression - Theories and Models	4	MCQ	Moderate to Difficult
Verbal Ability	08	MCQ & TITA	Overall: Moderate
Para jumbles ( 4 sentences)	3	TITA	Moderate to Difficult
Out of Context sentence	2	TITA	Easy to Moderate
Summary	3	MCQ	Easy to Moderate

Overall, an attempt of 16 or 17 questions with high accuracy (85-90 per cent) should be good in this section.

CAT 2020: DILR Analysis

Like in slot 1, the slot 2 of CAT 2020 had a total of five sets. Two sets had six questions while the remaining three had four questions each. Out of the three sets with four questions, one set had all the four TITA questions while the questions in the two sets were all in MCQ format. Out of the two sets with six questions, one set had all six MCQ questions while the other set had four MCQ and two TITA questions.

There were two DI sets and three LR sets. The DI sets had a tinge of logical reasoning. Overall, this section was moderate to difficult.

Set No.	Area	Set Description	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty	Question Type
1	Data Interpretation	Elections	6	Moderate	4 MCQ + 2 TITA
2	Logical Reasoning	Set on scheduling of seminars	6	Difficult	6 MCQ
3	Data Interpretation	Apparel and home decor of 4 cities over two years	4	Moderate	4 MCQ
4	Logical Reasoning	Parking lot	4	Easy to Moderate	4 MCQ
5	Logical Reasoning	Matrix arrangement set on beads of different colours	4	Moderate to difficult	4 TITA

A well prepared student should have been able to solve 12 to 14 questions in the given time limit

CAT 2020 Quantitative Ability Analysis

Like slot 1, the QA section of slot 2 of CAT 2020 was also dominated by Arithmetic (nine questions), followed by Algebra (seven questions). Like slot 1, the slot 2 also had a number of questions on Time-Speed-Distance.

There were eight TITA questions in slot 2 of CAT 2020 exam. Overall, this section was moderately difficulty but had a number of time-consuming and tricky questions. Overall, QA section of CAT 2020 second slot was one notch more difficult than the one in CAT 2019 but not as tough as the one in CAT 2018.

Area/Question Type	No. of Questions	Level of Difficulty
Numbers	1	Moderate
Arithmetic	9	Easy to moderate
Algebra	7	Moderate to difficult
Geometry	5	Moderate
Modern Maths	4	Moderate

A well prepared student should have been able to attempt about 15 to 17 questions in the given time

CAT 2020 Slot 2: Score and Percentiles (Projected)

IMS estimated the scores and percentiles for CAT 2020 slot 2 test takers. Check below.

Percentile	Score VARC	Score DILR	Score QA	Overall Score
99.5 %ile	45	37	46	115
99 %ile	42	32	41	105
97 %ile	38	29	37	95
95%ile	35	26	35	89
90%ile	31	23	31	76
85%ile	28	20	28	67

CAT 2020 Analysis: Slot 3

With the third slot of CAT 2020 being over, it is now clear that CAT 2020 was more difficult than CAT 2019 and more like CAT 2018. The third slot had the same structure as the first two slots and was similar in the overall difficulty level.

Section No.	Section Name	Duration	MCQs	TITA	Total
I	VARC	40 min	21	5	26
II	DI and LR	40 min	18	6	24
III	QA	40 min	18	8	26
Total	-	120 min	57	19	76

The overall difficulty level of Slot 3 was tougher than the earlier 2 slots, with the level of difficulty of the DILR Section being more difficult than both the earlier slots, and VARC and QA sections being on par with Slot 1.

CAT 2020: VARC Analysis

The VARC section of slot 3 of CAT 2020 was similar to slot 1 and 2 in difficulty level and had the same segmentation. The majority of the questions were of moderate difficulty and some were of higher difficult. Very few questions were easy. Reading Comprehension had four passages — two passages with four questions each and two passages with five Qs each. The majority of the questions were reasoning and application-based. VA questions too did not give respite. They also needed careful deliberation to arrive at the answer. The only comfort was one dealing with familiar questions types of Summary, Odd Sentence, and Paragraph Jumble questions.

Area / Questions	No. of Questions	Type	Level of Difficulty
Reading Comprehension	18	MCQ	Overall: Moderate to Difficult
RC-1: On Travel Writing	5	MCQ	Moderate to Difficult
RC-2: Economic crises	4	MCQ	Easy to Moderate
RC-3: Views on Human Nature	5	MCQ	Moderate to Difficult
RC-4: Screen Time and class	4	MCQ	Easy to Moderate
Verbal Ability	08	MCQ & TITA	Overall: Moderate
Para jumbles ( 4 sentences)	3	TITA	Moderate to Difficult
Out of Context sentence	2	TITA	Moderate to Difficult
Summary	3	MCQ	Easy to Moderate

Overall, an attempt of 15 to 17 questions with high accuracy (85-90 per cent) should be good in this section.

CAT 2020: DILR Analysis

Like in slot 1 and 2, slot 3 of CAT 2020 had a total five sets, out of which two sets had six questions while the remaining three had four questions each. However, the number of TITA questions in different sets in slot 3 showed slight variation as compared to slot 1 and 2. Out of the three sets with four questions, one set had two TITA questions while the remaining two had all four MCQ questions. Out of the two sets with six questions, one set had all six MCQ questions while the other set had two MCQ and four TITA questions.

There were two DI sets and three LR sets. Sets 1 and 5 must not have been missed. 

Set No.	Area	Set Description	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty	Question Type
1	Data Interpretation-Four facilities in a school	Elections	4	Easy to Moderate	2 TITA + 2 MCQ
2	Data Interpretation	Organization delivering groceries	4	Moderate to Difficult	4 MCQ
3	Logical Reasoning	Game of six rounds	6	Moderate to Difficult	4 TITA + 2 MCQ
4	Logical Reasoning	Farmer and four daughters	6	Moderate to Difficult	6 MCQ
5	Logical Reasoning	Patients undergoing blood test	4	Easy to Moderate	4 MCQ

A good student should have been able to solve 11 to 13 questions in the given time limit.

CAT 2020: Quantitative Ability Analysis

Like slots 1 and 2, the QA section of slot 3 of CAT 2020 was dominated by Arithmetic (10 questions). However, the emphasis on Algebra was slightly lower than in the first two slots. There were four questions on Algebra. Similarly, there were five questions on Modern Maths, four questions on Geometry and three questions on Numbers. Like the first two slots, the slot 3 also had a number of questions on Time-Speed-Distance. There were eight TITA Qs this year. Overall, this section was moderately difficult. 

Area/Q Type	No. of Questions	Level of Difficulty
Numbers	3	Moderate
Arithmetic	10	Easy to moderate
Algebra	4	Moderate to difficult
Geometry	4	Moderate
Modern Maths	5	Moderate

A well prepared student should have been able to attempt about 16 to 18 questions in the given time.

CAT 2020 Slot 3: Score and Percentiles (Projected)

IMS estimated the scores and percentiles for CAT 2020 slot 3 test takers. Check below.

Percentile	Score VARC	Score DILR	Score QA	Overall Score
99.5 %ile	45	35	48	114
99 %ile	41	30	43	104
97 %ile	37	27	39	94
95%ile	35	24	37	88
90%ile	30	21	33	75
85%ile	27	18	30	66

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