CAT 2023 Live Updates (Slot 1, 2 & 3); Question Paper Analysis (Available), Answer Key, Expected Cutoffs

After CAT, the next big MBA entrance exam is XAT which is scheduled to be held on January 7, 2024. There's over a month for XAT preparation so candidates must get started now. XAT conducted by XLRI offers some of the top colleges.

The final CAT 2023 answer key will be released if any of the objections received are found to be valid. The CAT 2023 result will be prepared on the basis of final CAT answer key 2023. 

IIMCAT will release the preliminary CAT answer key first. Test takers will be allowed to challege the preliinary answer key of CAT 2023, for any answer they think is incorrect. The ojbection raised by candidates will be evaluated and if any objection is found to be valid, the preliminary CAT answer key will be revised. 

Around 2.88 lakh candidates appeared for CAT 2023 out of 3.28 lakh registered eligible candidates. The overall attendance this year was approximately 88%. The CAT exam 2023 was held at 375 centres in 167 cities across India.

The official CAT 2023 answer key is expected to be released in 2-3 days. The download date is yet to be announced by IIM lLucknow. Candidates who have appeared for the CAT 2023 will be issued their response sheet along with the official answer key. 

The MBA cut offs of IITs offering the course through CAT are listed below:

The list of top MBA colleges in India for 2023 as ranked by NIRF are mentioned below. All these colleges will accept CAT 2023 score for admission:

The MBA course fee of all IIMs is mentioned in the table below. The amounts are for the 2023 academic session. The fee may increase in 2024 academic session:

The IIM PI shortlisting will begin most likely in the first week of January 2024. The forms will release at IIM websites. The WAT-PI round will be held in February-April 2024.

IIM eligibility criteria for MBA admission is same as CAT eligibility criteria, i.e. a minimum of 50 percent score in graduation (45 percent for SC/ST/PwD candidates). However, candidates who have higher graduation score have better chance of getting admission.

Admission process through CAT included Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI). All the MBA colleges conduct WAT-PI or GD-PI round for selection of students. Academic record i.e. class 10, 12 and graduation scores play a very important role in admission.

For a score between 50 to 60 percentile in CAT 2023, the following MBA colleges will be within reach:

• Asian Business School
• School of Management Sciences Varanasi
• New Delhi Institute of Management
• Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
• School of Management Sciences Lucknow
• International Institute of Management Studies Pune
• Jagannath International Management School Delhi
• Acharya Business School Bangalore
• Doon Business School
• FOSTIIMA Business School
• Bengal Institute of Business Studies Kolkata
• PSG Institute of Management Coimbatore
• International School of Management Excellence Bangalore
• Apeejay School of Management Delhi
• AIMS Institute Bangalore
• School of Communication and Management Studies Kochi
• Balaji Institute of Modern Management Pune
• Gitam Institute of Management Visakhapatnam
• Amrita School of Business Bangalore
• Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management
• MIT College of Management Pune

For a score between 60 to 70 percentile in CAT 2023, the following MBA colleges will be within reach:

• AIMS Institutes (AIMS), Bangalore
• Amrita School of Business - Bangalore
• Acharya Bangalore B-School
• Asian Business School (ABS), Noida
• Amrita School of Business, Kochi
• Bengal Institute of Business Studies (BIBS), Kolkata
• Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
• Christ Institute of Management, Pune
• Doon Business School (DBS), Dehradun
• Eastern Institute For Integrated Learning In Management, Kolkata
• FOSTIIMA Business School, Delhi
• International Institute of Business Studies, Noida
• International School of Business and Media
• IIKM Business School, Calicut
• IILM Institute for Higher Education, Delhi
• International Institute of Business Studies, Bangalore
• Institute of International Trade, Kolkata
• Indus Business School, IIEBM, Pune
• International Institute of Management Studies, Pune
• Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad
• ISBR Business School
• Presidency College
• Justicec KS Hegde Institute of Management
• Jagannath International Management School, Delhi
• Jagan Institute of Management Studies, Delhi (JIMS ), Rohini, Delhi
• Lotus Business School (LBS, Pune)
• New Delhi Institute of Management
• Pune Institute of Business Management (PIBM), Pune
• PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore
• Sanskar Educational Group, Ghaziabad
• SSN School of Management (SSN SOM), Chennai
• School of Business Studies - Sharda University, Greater Noida
• School of Petroleum Management-PDPU, Ahmedabad
• The Indian Institute of Financial Planning, Delhi

For a score between 70 to 80 percentile in CAT 2023, the following MBA colleges will be within reach:

• Amity University
• Alliance School of Business - Alliance University, Bangalore
• Asia-Pacific Institute of Management (AIM, Delhi)
• Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida
• Birla Institute of Technology and Science, BITS-Pilani, Pilani
• Christ University-Institute of Management, Bangalore
• CMS Business School, J.P. Nagar, Bangalore
• Chandigarh University
• GITAM School of Business
• Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon
• GNA University, Phagwara
• Infinity Business School, Gurgaon
• Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad
• IIKM Business School, Calicut
• Indus Business School, IIEBM, Pune
• ICOFP - International College of Financial Planning, Mumbai
• ICFAI University, Mizoram
• IBS Business School
• Jagdish Sheth School of Management (Formerly IFIM Business School)
• JK Lakshmipat University-Institute of Management, Jaipur
• Jaipur National University (JNU), Jaipur
• JRE Group of Institutions (JRE), Greater Noida
• Lotus Business School, Pune
• Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar
• MATS University, Raipur
• IIM Shillong
• School of Petroleum Management, Gandhinagar
• School of Business Studies - Sharda University
• SRIRAM Group of Institutions, Greater Noida
• Universal Business School, Mumbai
• Vignan's University, Guntur
• XIME Kochi
• XIME Bangalore

For a score of 85 percentile and above in CAT 2023, the following MBA colleges will be within reach:

• IIM Nagpur
• IIM Amritsar
• IIM Bodh Gaya
• Goa Institute of Management, Goa
• FORE School of Management, Delhi
• Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai
• Great Lakes Institute of Management
• TA Pai Management Institute
• IRMA, Anand
• MICA, Ahmedabad
• KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Mumbai
• Nirma University, Ahmedabad
• Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (Delhi)
• BITS Pilani Dept. of Management
• Institute of Management, Banaras Hindu University
• IMI, Delhi
• Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur
• Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras
• Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee
• Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur
• School of Management, Manipal University
• University Business School, Chandigarh
• Delhi School of Management-DTU
• Department of Management Sciences, Pune University
• Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirapalli

For a score between 80 to 90 percentile in CAT 2023, the following MBA colleges will be within reach:

• Amity University
• Fore School of Management
• Goa Institute of Management
• International Management Institute, Delhi
• Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
• Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam
• Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai
• Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management
• National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli
• Praxis Business School, Kolkata
• L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management development & Research, Bangalore
• Shiva Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad
• Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education
• P. Jain Institute of Management and Research
• TA Pai Management Institute
• Trinity College for Management and Technology, Ghaziabad

Here’s a table indicating expected CAT cut offs for MBA admission 2024 for top B-Schools.

The plan of action for an MBA aspirant after CAT 2023, is to attempt other MBA entrance exams, such as XAT, CMAT or MAT. XAT 2024 registrations are open till November 30. MAT 2023 December phase registrations are open till December 14 and CMAT 2024 registrations will begin in February 2024. Candidates can decide to appear of these or any of these exams as per their preference.

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Udaipur have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Udaipur cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Shillong have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Shillong cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Indore have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Indore cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Kozhikode have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. The sectional cut offs are same for VARC, DILR and QA. Check category-wise IIM Kozhikode cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Lucknow have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Lucknow cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Calcutta have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Calcutta cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Bangalore have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Bangalore cut offs:

The qualifying CAT cut offs 2023 for IIM Ahmedabad have been fixed for PI-WAT shortlisting. Check category-wise IIM Ahmedabad cut offs:

The IIM admission criteria and selection policy 2024-2026 includes 3 steps:

• Step 1: Shortlisting of candidates ont the basis of CAT 2023 score
• Step 2: WAT-PI round
• Step 3: Final selection 

Parameters on which candidates are rated include academic record, work experience, academic diversity and gender diversity.

Check the table below for the qualifying CAT cut offs for MBA admission in 2024 academic year. The qualifying cut offs are the minimum CAT percentile required to be eligible for getting shortlisted for IIMs WAT-PI round. Final CAT cut offs 2023 will be higher.

CAT result is usually announced in the first week of January but last year, it was released in the third week of December. The CAT 2023 result may also be declared in December only. The CAT 2023 result date is never notified in advance.

To ensure fairness and equity in the performances of candidates in all the sessions, their scores will go through CAT normalisation process to arrive at individual percentiles. The formula of CAT normalization is same as that of GATE. The scores are normalised by adjusting location and scale differences of score distributions across different question papers. The scaled scores obtained by this process are then converted into CAT percentiles. 

Set 1: Routes and Network
Set 2: Contradictory Conditions
Set 3: 12 Months Students Subscribed
Set 4: Grouping, Students, Project Scores, and Test Scores

Passage 1: Colonialism and Pollution 
Passage 2: Rationalization
Passage 3: Romanticism
Passage 4: History

The CAT 2023 answer keys for slot 1, 2 and 3 will be released at iimcat.ac.in website within 3-4 days. Some of the coaching institutes have released analysis and answer keys (memory based) for candidates to assess their performance.

In the CAT 2023 slot 2, the ideal score would be:

The third and last slot of the CAT exam this year is over now. The third slot was also moderate like slot 1 and slot 2. The exam structure and pattern were also the same.

CAT 2023 slot 2 was same as slot 1 in terms of difficulty level. The VARC and DILR sections were moderate and QA section was tough.

• Garments/ fashion Industry & Pollution- Easy to moderate
• Netflix Dubbing of titles for Europe→ Good or Bad for Europe? - Easy to moderate
• Liberalism is Dying- Moderate to Difficult
• Facts & Interpretation in History- Easy

DILR D Sets Slot 1

Set 1: Professors and Departments

Set 2: VISA Office

Set 3: Routes

Set 4: Statistics

DILR sets, slot 2

Set 1: Ride - 3 Girls Taking Ride

Set 2: 3x3 Grid Box with Coins Placement

Set 3: Competition with Numbered Balls 1-9

Set 4: Start and End of 5 Companies

A QA question asked in CAT 2023 slot 1 was as follows:

Geeta sells A – 20% profit and B – 10 % loss at the same SP. If she increase SP, such that A and B still sold at an equal price and profit of 10% made on B, then profit made on A will be?

A. 45% B. 47% C. 42% D. 49%

The correct answer is 47%.

The third and last slot of the CAT 2023 exam will start at 4:30 pm. Candidates have already entered the test centres and the gates have been closed. The last session is also of 2 hours. It will end at 6:30 pm.

CAT 2023 Slot 2 ws same as CAT 2023 slot 1. Given bekow is the first impression:

As per the experts of Career Launcher, the expected CAT cut offs 2023 will be:

The second slot of CAT 2023 is over now. Candidates have started to come out of the test centre. The third slot will start from 4:30 pm.

• Environmentalists vs Farmer (400 words) - easy
• Change in Work Culture (400 words) - difficult
• Indian Ocean-based Geographical Literature (400 words) - difficult
• Human Behavior (450 words) - easy

Given the difficulty level of CAT 2023 slot 1, here the assessment of ideal score per section:

Check out what CAT 2023 test takers have to say about the paper.

The second slot of CAT 2023 exam has started. This slot is also expected to be tough like slot 1, but candidates must keep their confidence high to crack it.

Entry of candidates for CAT 2023 slot 3 has been completed and the gates have been closed. No one is now allowed to enter the premises.

The Quantitative section of CAT 2023 slot 1 paper was tough. Topic wise distribution of questions:

• Algebra -7
• Arithmetic - 7  
• Geometry - 3
• Number System - 4
•  Modern Maths -1

There were four sets with 5 questions each, just like last year. The difficulty level can be said to be moderate to difficult.

The CAT 2023 slot 1 difficulty level was moderate to high. In VA, there were four types of questions, parajumble, parasummary, paracompletion and odd one out. There were 4 passages having 4 questions each.

Entry for CAT 2023 slot 2 has started. Candidates are queueing up at the test centres to gain entry. The second slot will begin at 12:30 PM.

Shiksha team visited a CAT 2023 test centre for a review of the exam by students. Some of them said, the exam was of moderate difficulty level, whereas some said it was tough. They said that VARC section was easy but Quantitative Aptitude was difficult. 

The first slot of CAT 2023 exam got over at 10:30 am. Candidates have started to leave the test room. At the examination centres, test takers of slot 2 have also started to trickle in.

This year, IIM Lucknow is conducting the CAT exam. The institute is conducting the CAT after a gap of 6 years. It previously conducted the exam in 2017.

The difficulty level of CAT 2023 slot 1, 2 and 3 is likely to be moderate. We will share section wise difficulty level and important topics for each CAT slot after it gets over.

Today about 3.3 lakh candidates will be appearing in the CAT exam. This year, IIM Lucknow received 3.30 lakh applications for this national level MBA exam which is a record since its inception.

CAT 2023 slot 1 has started at over 400 centres in 155 cities across India. The CAT is the biggest national level MBA entrance exam in India. Over 1300 B-Schools accept CAT score for admission. Even IIFT Delhi has decided to accept CAT score instead of theit own entrance test score for MBA admission, for 2024 batch.

The entry is still underway and gates of CAT test centres will close by 8:15 am. After that no one will be allowed to enter the venue.

Entry and identification process is underway for CAT 2023 slot 1 at every test centre. Some candidates have been accompanied by their guardians who are waiting outside.

The CAT exam day 2023 has arrived and it is time for Slot 1 to start at 8:30 am. Candidates of slot 1 have started reaching their test centres.

No, candidates can appear for CAT 2023 in only that slot which is mentioned on their admit card. If they try to enter the test centre in any other slot, they will be disqualified.

Calculator or any electronic gadget is prohibited inside the CAT test centre. For rough work and calculation, rough sheet and a pen will be provided to every candidate inside the exam hall. Candidates will have to mention their name and application ID on the rough sheet and leave it in the exam hall only.

CAT 2023 slot 3 timing is 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Reporting time is 3:00 pm and the gates will close at 4:15 pm. Candidates cannot enter the test centre after the gates have been closed.

CAT 2023 slot 2 timing is 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. Reporting time is 11 am and the gates will close at 12:15 pm. No entry will be allowed after that.

CAT 2023 slot 1 timing is 8:30 am to 10:30 am. Reporting time is 7:00 am and the gates will close at 8:15 am. Candidates reaching the test centre later than that, will not be allowed to enter.

Arithmetic dominates the CAT Quantitative Aptitude section. Other topics in this section include Number System, Algebra, Geometry and Mensuration.

The DILR section has 10 questions from DI and 10 from LR. All the questions are in sets. Topics from which questions are asked include Set Theory (Variables), Set Theory + Puzzles, Puzzles with Additional Data, Coding-Decoding and Series.

In CAT, reading comprehension dominates the VARC section. Almost 50 percent of the questions are RC based. Rest of the questions are divided between Para Jumbles, Para Summary and Odd Sentence Out. There are rarely questions from FIB, Antonym-Synonym, etc.

CAT aspirants must spend sometime today in revision of the most important theorems and formulae. They should also go through short notes and short cuts for solving questions quickly and accurately.

• CAT VARC will have24 questions
• CAT DILR will have 20 questions
• CAT Quantitative Aptitude will have 22 questions

There is no change in the CAT exam pattern this year. Then number of questions, marking scheme and time duration is same as CAT 2021 and CAT 2022.

Before heading to the CAT exam centre go through the instructions printed on the card so that you are aware of all the dos and don’ts of the exam day.

As part of your final preparation, attempt the official CAT mock test 2023. The official CAT mock test will give you a preview of the actual exam that will be presented to you tomorrow.

Those who haven’t downloaded their CAT 2023 admit card yet, should do it today at iimcat.ac.in website. Check here the process to download CAT admit card:

• Go to iimcat.ac.in website
• Click on login
• Enter login credentials
• You will see ‘admit card’ tab in dashboard
• Click on it and download your admit card

Do not wear jackets, hoodies, caps, goggles or clothing with pockets to the CAT exam centre. Simple shirts and pullovers are allowed. Closed shoes are also not allowed. 

• Electronic gadget, book, note book, paper, stationary item (other than a pen).
• Jewelry or accessories containing metal.

PAN card/Driving License/Voter ID/ Passport/ Aadhaar Card (With photograph)/ E-Aadhaar/Ration Card/ Identification Affidavit along with the Admit Card.

• Two copies of the CAT admit card 2023
• Original copy of a photo ID card
• Medical certificate (incase of suffering from any medical condition)
• PwD certificate and scribe affidavit (if applicable)
• A blue/black ball point pen

CAT exam is conducted in computer based test. Every candidate has to take the test on a computer system allotted to them at a designated CAT test centre. One has to follow a process to fill the test form with correct answers, which is explained to students by the authorized invigilator.

Unlike CAT 2020, 2021 and 2022, there are no COVID-19 guidelines to be followed this year so test takers are not required to carry facemask, gloves or handsanitiser.

This year, the CAT 2023 admit card, does not have google link for the test centre location, so candidates must check the location, distance and mode to travel to their respective test centre today only.

The first session of CAT 2023 will start tomorrow at 8:30 am. Candidates who have been allotted the first slot should reach their test centre at 7:00 am.