CAT 2025 Preparation: Get Free Study Material, Prep Strategy & Tips from Toppers

Common Admission Test 2024 ( CAT )

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Vipra Shrivastava

Vipra ShrivastavaSenior Manager - Content

Updated on Dec 4, 2024 14:09 IST

CAT 2024 exam is over. Aspirants planning to pursue MBA in the year 2026, must start preparing for CAT 2025 exam from January onwards. 

Aspirants must know that the key to success in CAT exam is a well balanced plan. The CAT preparation plan must include six to eight hours of study on daily basis. Working professionals must take out at least four hours daily for CAT exam preparation and eight hours on weekends. Even if you have joined a coaching institute, do keep spare time for revision and practice. Shared below are key tips on how to prepare for CAT exam.

Q:   What is the structure of CAT question paper?

A:
The CAT question paper structure has remained unchanged since 2014 when there were only two sections. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 66 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 20 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.
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Q:   Is CAT exam tough for an average student?

A:

CAT is a speed based test which is designed to assess a candidate's analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, data interpretation and English comprehension. Now, it may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at advanced level. If you are an average student but have studied Science or commerce in Class-12 and graduation, you will find a lot of familiar topics in Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. All you will need is brush up the basics and practice the concepts on advance level problems.

However, since the competition is so high in CAT and less than 95 percentile can break your dream of joining a top college like IIM, the preparation for CAT requires a lot of focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the CAT exam.

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Q:   Which CAT slot has the toughest question paper?

A:
There is no pattern to which CAT question paper can be the toughest. The CAT question paper of every slot has unique questions. The examination body strives to maintain the same difficulty level of the paper across all slots but it may happen that a question can be more difficult from another. It is seen that, to keep the uniqueness of the question paper intact, the examination authority also changes the topic wise weightage a little bit across the exam slots. In most of the previous years, it is seen that the morning slot of the CAT exam is tougher than the rest two. However, candidates must not worry about the difficulty level of the slots as, the scores of all the candidates are normalised on a common scale to root out the possibility of advantage or disadvantage to any student due to difference in difficulty level. To know how the CAT scores are normalised, read this article: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/understanding-cat-normalization-process-blogId-9386.
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CAT Preparation Strategy 2025

Check below a general CAT exam preparation strategy that can be adopted by any candidate to make an overall study plan for CAT 2025 exam.

Step 1: Check the CAT syllabus thoroughly and understand the CAT exam pattern well

Step 2: Obtain CAT books recommended by experts and other study material

Step 3: Join online MBA study groups on YouTube, Telegram, Quora, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.

Step 4: Make a monthly time-table, a weekly time-table and a daily time-table

Step 5: Stick to the CAT prep strategy and the time-table for best results

CAT preparation 2024

CAT Preparation Highlights

Explore subject-wise topics asked in CAT

Select your preferred subject

CAT Preparation: Know the CAT Syllabus

CAT syllabus is often said to be more engineer-friendly but the truth is that except for Quantitative Aptitude, no other section of CAT exam syllabus is such that students from non-Engineering background cannot crack. However, they need to practice a lot.

CAT Quantitative Aptitude section, which is often considered tough, includes advance level Mathematics topics studied in Class 9-10. All that the candidates need to do is brush up on the fundamentals of the topics included in the CAT syllabus from the study material. infact, it is CAT VARC, that candidates from Engineering stream find tough to crack as the RC passages are long, dense and inference based. Check important topics of CAT syllabus 2025 in the table below:

CAT Syllabus

CAT Important Topics

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension, Parajumbles, English Grammar, One-word Substitution, Fill in the Blanks, Antonyms-Synonyms, Sentence Correction, Foreign Words, Verbal Ability, etc.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

Tables, Line Charts, Pie Charts, Bar Charts, Mixed Charts, Series, Coding-Decoding, Data Structures, Blood Relations, Family Tree, Assumptions, etc.

Quantitative Aptitude

Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra, Mensuration, Partnership (Accounts), Profit & Loss, Ratios and Proportion, In-equations Quadratic and Linear Equations, Surds and Indices, Time-Speed-Distance, Number System, Geometric Progression, Inequalities, Work and Time, Percentages and Logarithms, etc.

Prepare as per Latest CAT Pattern

In order to aim for 100 or 99.99 percentile in CAT exam, candidates must understand the exam pattern well, so that their selection of question is accurate and they solve the paper with overall 100 per cent accuracy. Given below is the table highlighting key aspects of the latest CAT exam pattern. 

CAT Exam Features

Details

Number of sections

Three - VARC, DILR, QA (to be answered in the same sequence)

Number of questions

66

Types of question

MCQ

Examination mode

Online

Sectional time-limit

40 minutes

Total marks

198

Marks per question

3

Negative marking

-1 (no negative marking for TITA and unattempted questions)

Exam duration

120 minutes

Download:

Difficulty Level of CAT Exam

While preparing for CAT 2025, you must also know the difficulty level of the question paper so that you are aware of what' coming in the exam. Check the table below for CAT exam difficulty level of past six years.

CAT Year

Difficulty Level

Paper Analysis

CAT 2024

Moderate

Read CAT 2024 exam analysis

CAT 2023

Moderately difficult 

Read CAT 2023 exam analysis

CAT 2022

Moderately difficult 

Read CAT 2022 exam analysis

CAT 2021

Moderately difficult 

Read CAT 2021 exam analysis

CAT 2020

Moderately difficult

Read CAT 2020 exam analysis

CAT 2019

Moderately difficult

Read CAT 2019 exam analysis

CAT 2018

Moderately difficult

Read CAT 2018 exam analysis

CAT 2017

Moderately difficult

Read CAT 2017 exam analysis

CAT 2016

Moderately difficult

Read CAT 2016 exam analysis

Also Read:

How to Prepare for CAT VARC?

The CAT VARC section is broadly divided into Reading Comprehension, Verbal Ability, Vocabulary and Grammar. To prepare for this section of CAT exam, candidates need to have a separate approach for each part. For example, preparation of Reading Comprehension should begin in early months of the year as it all about developing and cultivating the habit of reading. CAT Verbal Ability can be tackled by practicing sample questions and can be done in lesser time. Grammar and Vocabulary can be handled alongside. However, the CAT VARC is mostly about RC, parajumbles, odd sentence out and para completing, you need to focus on practice of exercises based on these. By the time exam day approaches, candidates must practice mock RCs and parajumbles.  

Read More:

How to Prepare for CAT DILR?

To score well in CAT Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning or DILR, the most important thing is to have clarity of basic concepts. Since the questions in this section are data and logic based, candidates need to develop sharp observation and eye for detail. Also, there are no formulas or theorems in DILR, so your preparation majorly depends on practice of sample questions. Major topics to study for DILR are Tables, Line Charts, Pie Charts, Bar Charts, Mixed Charts. Strengthen your Mathematical calculation ability for DILR. Get hold of CAT study material having a good number of sample questions  on these topics.

Read More:

Free Quantitative Aptitude Question Bank with Answer Keys
Free DILR Question Bank with Answer Keys Free VARC Question Bank with Answer Keys

How to Prepare for CAT Quantitative Aptitude?

Quantitative Aptitude section is the last section of CAT exam and the most rigorous one. The CAT QA section includes Mathematics topics such as Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Mensuration. The key to excel in this section of CAT exam is having thorough knowledge of all the concepts, formulae and theorems. Having a good command over the fundamentals of Arithmetic and Algebra will help you immensly. Also, mental calculation plays a major role in scoring well in this section. Although an on screen calculator will be provided in the CAT exam, mental calculation saves time. Here are some tips fior CAT Quantitative Aptitude preparation:

  • Get the CAT exam study material which has a good number of sample questions on these topics.
  • Cover the topics end to end. Do not leave out any topic of Arithmetic and Algebra as most of the questions are asked from these two topics. 
  • Break down your CAT Quant preparation into phases. Start with concepts, then move to practice questions and then to mock tests.
  • Start with easy topics and then move to tough ones. Starting with easy topics will give you confidence.
  • Revise important formulae and theorem every day in the last one month. 
  • Practice sectional mock tests for Quantitative Aptitude to learn how to handle 40 minutes in the exam.

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Last Month CAT Preparation Strategy

By now, aspirants must have completed the CAT syllabus and now fully focus on practice CAT mocks and sample papers in the last one month. Check below a few last month CAT preparation tips 2024 for reference.

  • Take a CAT mock test every alternate day and analyse it. Immediately work on the topics which posed challenge in the mock test.
  • Practice CAT mock tests of various difficulty levels - easy, medium and tough.
  • It is important to also practice sectional mock tests for CAT to learn how to maximise performance in 40 minutes (sectional time limit for CAT).
  • Check your weak points and get your doubts cleared by mentors or in an online session for problem solving.
  • Seek last leg guidance from mentors on how to crack tough DI and LR patterns or tricky parajumbles without applying long process.
  • Read tips and watch videos to know shortcut methods of mathematical calculations and reading of LR patterns. This skill is important for saving time in the exam. 
  • Strengthen your skill of quick reading and picking out important points
  • Make a time table for revision. From now on, you need to revise all the topics of CAT syllabus dedicatedly everyday.
  • Practice more of CAT Logical Reasoning and Parajumbles questions in the last month for better results.
  • Stop practicing CAT mock tests once you start getting the desired score. If your performance is consistent in CAT mocks, you will maintain it in the actual exam too.
  • Do not practice CAT mock test in the last week of the exam. Stop earlier and focus on revision when CAT is only 5-6 days away.

CAT Preparation Tips: How Many CAT Mock Tests to Practice?

It is recommended that candidates must practice about 40-45 CAT mock tests during the preparation phase. The aim of a CAT mock test is to improve application, accuracy and speed. If you have reached a stage where you're consistently performing well in the mock tests (high difficulty level) you can slow down. It is not mandatory for all candidates to solve 40-45 mock tests. You can be prepared equally well by solving lesser number of mock tests. Judge your capacity.

Aspirants must start practicing CAT mock test after they have completed the syllabus and dedicate the second half of CAT preparation phase to it. The key here is to analyse each mock test result to see where you stand and how much more practice you need. One tip you should take note of is to not practice mock tests continuously till the exam day. In the last week of CAT preparation 2025, attempt only one mock test to keep your confidence high. Irrespective of the result of that CAT mock test, you will scoer well in the exam.

CAT Mock Test by Shiksha

IIMCAT releases official CAT mock test a month before the exam to help candidates prepare themselves for the actual exam. The official CAT mock test is replica of the exam and provides an insight of the exam pattern for that year. The official mock test provides a sneak peek of the final CAT exam. Every candidate must attempt the official CAT mock test, which can be accessed online on the official IIMCAT website. 

Shiksha has also created CAT mock tests for candidates to practice and strengthen their preparation. Given below are two CAT mock tests you can practice for free.

CAT Mock Test 1 CAT Mock Test 1 Solutions
CAT Mock Test 2 CAT Mock Test 2 Solutions

Also Read:

CAT Preparation 2025: Tips from Toppers

Shiksha reached out to previous years' CAT toppers to know their CAT preparation journey for the benefit of future aspirants. Click on the links below to know how CAT toppers prepared for the exam and follow the CAT exam day tips that they offer for a brilliant performance.

CAT Toppers

CAT Topper Interviews

Kartik Bhageria

CAT 2023, 99.99 percentile

 "I began my CAT preparation around July 2023. Being an engineering student, I did not spend a lot of time learning new concepts in the Quant and DILR sections. I spent most of my time giving mocks to practice and try to increase my attempted questions with better accuracy in each attempt." Read Kartik's full interview

Riddhi Dugar 

CAT 2023, 99.91 percentile

"My overall strategy was to finish the entire syllabus a few months before the CAT. From July, I focused entirely on taking mock tests and sectional tests to maximise my score and have a strategy for D-Day. I completed around 70 mocks from July until the CAT exam day." Read Riddhi's full interview

Rounak Tikmani

CAT 2023, 99.90 percentile

I started my preparation properly in May 2023. My preparation strategy was simple build your foundations by having conceptual clarity in the basics of each section. Then It was just mocks every day. I gave around 110 mocks and made sure I spent enough time analyzing them properly. Taking a mock is not as important as analyzing the mocks and improving on your mistakes. Read Rounak's full interview

Nisakar Kumar

CAT 2023, 99.83 percentile

"Quant emerged as my strength, whereas DILR presented a challenge. To address my weakness in DILR, I invested considerable time in understanding the question types and engaged in extensive practice until they became more intuitive. Simultaneously, I dedicated time to revising and practising Quant to maintain a solid grasp. I considered myself decent in VARC." Read Nisakar's full interview

Risshi Agrawal

CAT 2022, 99.99 percentile

Mocks play a crucial role while preparing for CAT. It helps you determine the strategy which suits you the best.

Read Risshi’s full interview

Parul Arora

CAT 2022, 99.93 percentile

I started preparing for CAT in April. My preparation strategy for CAT was to clear my basic concepts in all topics and then maximum practice.

Read Parul’s full interview

Aditya Singh

CAT 2022, 99.90 percentile

For my first attempt I attended offline coaching classes, post which I only took the online test series. This year I took the test series from two of the most renowned coaching institutes. Coaching really helps a lot. 

Read Aditya’s full interview

Atish Naskar

CAT 2022, 99.81 percentile

I started my CAT preparation back in January 2022. I set a daily target for all 3 sections that included daily 3-4 RCs daily 3-4 LRDI sets 20-30 QA questions or some QA concept understanding. The last 2-3 Months gave mocks and analyzed them properly.

Read Atish’s full interview

Tushar Sarkar

CAT 2022, 99.80 percentile

My serious preparation started in the month of June 2022. My overall strategy had three parts: Diagnosing my problems, guiding policy for improving and actions.

Read Tushar’s full interview

Chirag Gupta

CAT 2021, 100 percentile

I started preparing in March 2021. I focused mainly on giving mock tests and analysing them. I used to work on my weaknesses by watching various CAT preparation YouTube videos on various topics.

Read Chirag's full interview

Bir Anmol Singh
CAT 2021, 99.94 percentile 

I started preparing in April 2021. I solved Arun Sharma sir's CAT books for VARC, LR, DI and Quant. I attempted as many past year CAT questions papers (timed attempt) that I could attempt, on weekends. I used to analyse my shortcomings to improve further.

Read Bir Anmol's full interview

Sagar Sengar

CAT 2021, 99.48 percentile 

I started preparing around the end of June this year and went into the full-throttle mode by end of August. My overall strategy was to first complete the theory end to end and then practice different kinds of problems across all the sections.

Read Sagar's full interview

Ved Vineet

CAT 2021, 99.40 percentile

It is not at all important to join a coaching institute for CAT preparation. You just need to prepare in a disciplined manner.

Read Ved's full interview

Sareen Shah
CAT 2021, 99.35 percentile 

Don't delay your prep. Start as early as possible. Solve as many questions as you can. Understand RCs and DILR sets properly. Quality over Quantity should be your aim.

Read Sareen's full interview

Kshitiz Singhal

CAT 2020, 99.99 percentile

My suggestion for the aspirants is to work on your fundamentals, speed and accuracy. 

Read Kshitiz’s full interview

Ekansh Agarwal

CAT 2020, 99.98 percentile

I would say that mock tests are the most important part of CAT preparation. Attempt as many mock tests as possible.

Read Ekansh’s full interview

Naval Mittal

CAT 2020, 99.97 percentile

Solve as many types of questions you can from each section. Secondly, focus on your accuracy.

Read Naval’s full interview

Swarnadeep Ghosh

CAT 2020, 99.92 percentile

Attempt all kinds of mock tests, difficult and easy. Maximize your strengths and do not stress about the weaker areas.

Read Swarnadeep’s full interview

Sabyasachi Mishra

CAT 2020, 99.90 percentile

Focus more on concepts more than the mock tests. I would say that mocks do not matter much. What you learn from the mock tests is what matters.

Read Sabyasachi’s full interview

Prepare for CAT exam with previous years’ question papers & prep guides. Get topper tips & expert advice.

Download Question Papers

CAT Preparation: Tips That Will Enhance Your Performance

  • Download MBA preparation mobile apps to prepare for CAT exam anywhere and anytime.

  • CAT is a speed and accuracy test. Practice as many CAT question papers and mock tests as you can to improve speed and accuracy.

  • During CAT exam preparation, measure your performance after each CAT mock test. Analyse strengths and weaknesses to work upon them more.

  • Solve each question of CAT study material at least thrice, because in the first attempt, you will understand it, in the second attempt you will solve it faster, and in the third attempt you may discover a shortcut.

  • CAT exam has sectional time limit, which means you need to complete each section within the stipulated time-frame.

  • CAT exam has negative marking. For each wrong answer 1 mark is deducted. To avoid this, learn the trick of selecting the right questions.

  • Do not do speed reading in RC. Nor should you go for reverse reading, i.e. reading the questions first and passage later. Read the RC passage and note down important points in the rough sheet. This way you will be able to address the questions easily.
  • CAT has sectional cut off limit, so do not ignore any topic. The sectional cut off directly affects the overall CAT percentile and selection in WAT-GD/PI.

  • Practice time-bound CAT mock tests as part of your CAT prep strategy. It will help you to develop time management skills.
  • Keep your CAT 2025 preparation optimum but do not over do anything. If you have prepared certain topics already. Do not work on them again and again. Focus on topics that are still your pain points.
  • Memorise tables up to 20, square, square roots, cubes, cube roots, etc. These will help you in mental calculation during the CAT exam.
  • Revise all the concepts of VA and LR and formulae of QA every day for one hour. You should be so well versed with these that on the exam day, you can recall them without wasting a single moment.
  • In this last phase of CAT 2025 preparation, focus completely on mock tests and revision. This is the crucial time when you can take your CAT score from 95 to 99 percentile.

Get Here: CAT Questions for Practice with Solutions: Free PDF Download

Also read:

Download CAT Previous Year Papers

Download CAT question papers of last five years from the below table to know the type and difficulty level of questions asked:

CAT 2024 Question Paper Slot 3 CAT 2018 Question Paper PDF
CAT 2023 Question Paper Slot 1 CAT 2023 Question Paper Slot 3
CAT 2022 Question Paper Slot 1 CAT 2022 Question Paper Slot 3
CAT 2021 Question Paper PDF CAT 2019 Question Paper PDF
CAT 2020 Question Paper PDF CAT 2017 Question Paper PDF

FAQs on CAT Preparation

Check below Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) on CAT preparation:

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