CAT Exam Pattern 2021
CAT Convenor 2021 – Prof. M P Ram Mohan
MP Ram Mohan, an associate Professor at IIM A has been appointed as convenor of CAT 2021. Ram Mohan obtained his doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur before MPhil, National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, and LL.M, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
His opinions on topics such as shale gas extraction, need of public support for scientific research, and dealing with dual disaster of COVID-19 and monsoon in Kerala last year have been published in The Week and the Hindu.
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CAT Conducting Body Since 2007
Year |
Conducting IIM |
|
2021
|
IIM Ahmedabad |
| 2020 | IIM Indore |
| 2019 | IIM Kozhikode |
| 2018 | IIM Calcutta |
| 2017 | IIM Lucknow |
| 2016 | IIM Bangalore |
| 2015 | IIM Ahmedabad |
| 2014 | IIM Indore |
| 2013 | IIM Indore |
| 2012 | IIM Kozhikode |
| 2011 | IIM Calcutta |
| 2010 | IIM Lucknow |
| 2009 |
IIM Ahmedabad
|
|
2008
|
Not Known |
|
2007
|
IIM Bangalore |
CAT Exam Changes since Computerization
The exam design in the course of recent years since it was automated in 2009 has gone for detectable changes. Feline paper design before 2009 was paper-pen based. Feline exam design was changed from paper-based exam to CAT online PC based test in 2009. Indeed, even after that CAT paper design kept changing from 3 areas to 2, and after that CAT design was changed to 3 segments in 2015. From that point, forward CAT is following a comparable example. Feline 2020 example likewise continues as before as that of CAT exam 2019 example with 3 segments and 3 hours time in spite of the fact that the quantity of MCQs and Non-MCQs may change.
CAT Paper Pattern over the Years
CAT exam pattern has gone with perceptible changes since 2014 not only in CAT structure but also in content. Going by the tradition in changes in different types of questions in CAT, you cannot rule out a different CAT 2021 Exam pattern. CAT 2021 exam is expected to be held in the month of November/December 2021. The next 6 months will be a crucial period to devise a well chalked out plan for your CAT preparation as per the CAT 2021 pattern.
Given below is the exam pattern from 2005 up to 2020.
| Year | Number of Questions | Sections | Marking Scheme | Duration (in Mins) | Conducting Body | Minutes / Question |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Total of 76 questions (24 in one section and 26 in the other two sections) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 120 | IIM Indore | 1.58 |
| 2019 | Total of 100 questions (32 in one section and 34 in the other two sections) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 180 | IIM Kozhikode | 1.8 |
| 2018 | Total of 100 questions (32 in one section and 34 in the other two sections) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 180 | IIM Calcutta | 1.8 |
| 2017 | Total of 100 questions (32 in one section and 34 in the other two sections) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 180 | IIM Lucknow | 1.8 |
| 2016 | Total of 100 questions (32 in one section and 34 in the other two sections) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 180 | IIM Bangalore | 1.8 |
| 2015 | Total of 100 questions (32 in one section and 34 in the other two sections) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 180 | IIM Ahmedabad | 1.8 |
| 2014 | Total of 100 Questions (50 per section) | 2 Sections - Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI), Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 170 | IIM Indore | 1.7 |
| 2013 | Total of 60 Questions (30 per section) | 2 Sections - Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI), Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 140 | IIM Indore | 2.33 |
| 2012 | Total of 60 Questions (30 per section) | 2 Sections - Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI), Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 140 | IIM Kozhikode | 2.33 |
| 2011 | Total of 60 Questions (30 per section) | 2 Sections - Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI), Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 140 | IIM Calcutta | 2.33 |
| 2007 | Total of 75 questions (25 per section) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 150 | IIM Bangalore | 2 |
| 2006 | Total of 75 questions (25 per section) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 150 | Not Known | 2 |
| 2005 | Total of 75 questions (25 per section) | 3 Sections - Verbal & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude | 3 Marks for every correct answer and Minus 1 mark for every incorrect answer | 150 | Not known | 2 |
What will be the CAT 2021 Exam Pattern
If CAT exam design of 2020 is followed, CAT 2021 will comprise of 3 segments with a sum of 76 questions. Each area is planned with the individual time point of confinement of 40 minutes. You have to guarantee a high score in every one of the 3 segments as there is additionally a sectional score cut off in IIMs for shortlisting.
Be that as it may, regardless of a number of changes achieved amid the most recent 4 years in CAT exam design, the nuts and bolts of the CAT exam have not changed. CAT exam design since 2015 has stayed on similar lines. CAT exam is of 180 minutes with 100 questions, but in CAT 2020, both exam duration and number of questions were reduced. Apart from that, no other change was made in the CAT exam pattern. However it is expected that CAT 2021 will be on the similar lines as CAT 2020, nothing firm can be said yet. Below are some guestimates of how the paper might be set.
1. Same as 2020 – (Total 76 questions for a duration of 2 Hours)
2. Total 60 questions comprising of 20 questions per section for a duration of 2 Hours
3. Total 100 questions comprising of 34/32/34 questions for VARC/DILR/QA sections respectively for a duration of 3 Hours
4. Total 90 questions comprising of 30/30/30 questions for VARC/DILR/QA sections respectively for a duration of 3 Hours
Disclaimer: The above points are only estimates from CATKing’s Experienced Faculties. The original paper pattern might vary depending on the decision taken by Conducting Body.
CAT Paper Pattern 2021
- In 2020, the total number of questions was 76 and these are in both MCQ and non-MCQ format
- Time allotted was 120 minutes (2 hours) to answer these questions
- There is a time limit of 40 minutes for each section
- The exam is conducted in online mode at various test centres
- The CAT 2021 exam pattern can be reverted back to 100 questions-180 minutes format
Sectional composition for CAT 2021
|
Section name
|
No. of questions
|
Total MCQs (With negative marking)
|
Total Non-MCQs (Without negative marking)
|
Maximum marks
|
|
VARC
|
26 | 18 |
8
|
78
|
|
DILR
|
24
|
18
|
6 |
72
|
|
Quant
|
26 | 18 | 8 | 78 |
1. VARC: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
2. DILR: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
3. Quant: Quantitative Ability
CAT 2021 exam will be directed on the third or fourth week of November 2021 of every a solitary day isolated in morning and evening sessions. One of the best six IIMs will be the Convener for CAT 2021 and has reported that CAT 2021 exam example will stay unaltered.
Free CAT study material
Is the CAT online test? Reacting to this inquiry IIMs, in spite of the fact that acknowledge that CAT paper design is PC based however whether CAT is an online test, they say ‘No.’ Regarding the CAT exam design, IIMs say “Feline isn’t an online exam. It is an advanced or Computer Based Test (CBT); not an Internet-Based Test (IBT); that is, an applicant won’t take the exam on a web website. Rather than perusing the inquiries in a paper booklet and obscuring the ovals on the appropriate response sheet, a hopeful will read the inquiries on a work station and pick an answer by tapping on the right choice.”
So the CAT exam design 2020, regardless of being a PC based exam, won’t be an online exam. Sharing the key contrast and USPs of CAT exam design, IIMs additionally expand “In the PC based arrangement, the hopeful peruses an inquiry on a work station and taps on the right answer. Moreover, the clock on the PC screen discloses to you the rest of an opportunity to finish the present segment.”
CAT 2021 exam: Sections: sub-sections, Expected difficulty level
CAT exam pattern was totally revamped in CAT 2015 by IIM Ahmedabad and since then the CAT exam pattern has followed the same CAT pattern for all the 3 sections except the recent change in CAT 2020. The key features of CAT 2020 sectional exam pattern are:
1. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension:
Total questions: 26
LOD: Moderate to Very difficult
Section Highlights:
No Grammar or vocabulary based questions in CAT 2020
Verbal Ability questions confined to 3 topics – Jumbled paragraph; Para summary; picking the odd sentence out of the jumbled sentences
2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning:
Total questions:24
LoD: Moderate to difficult
Section Highlights:
Questions appeared in set of 6 & 4
Time crunch is faced by test takers as questions are more time consuming
CAT 2020 improve logical reasoning
3. Quantitative Ability:
Total questions: 26
LoD: Moderate to difficult
Section Highlights:
More questions are on Arithmetic – Percentage, Profit & Loss, Time & speed, Work/days, Compound & Simple interest
CAT Exam: Key Facts:
The entrance exam is a Computer-based Test (CBT) of 2 hours length.
CAT exam is separated into 3 primary areas of 40 minutes each
The 3 segments in CAT exam 2021 example are – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC); Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR); Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
There will likewise be sub-segments inside the 3 segments in updated CAT exam 2021 example. For instance, the patched-up CAT exam design for VARC comprises of Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension sub-segments; DILR contains inquiries on Data Interpretation and Logical thinking.
Also read: CAT Preparation beginners
- Applicants are not permitted to move between one segment to others amid the 40 minutes relegated to the specific area.
- CAT Test takers can’t leave their seats amid the exam.
- MCQs in CAT 2020 exam example will require you to choose 1 correct answer out of 4
- Non-MCQs in the CAT exam example will expect you to type in the right answer on the PC screen.
- Each right answer in CAT exam example will be granted 3 marks whether it is MCQ or Non-MCQ
- Each wrong response for MCQ in CAT exam 2020 will be forced punishment of 1/3 negative check (- 1 stamp)
- There will be no punishment of negative checking on wrong responses to Non-MCQs in CAT 2020 exam design
- CAT exam design stays on the lines of the CAT official Mock test discharged by IIMs a month prior to the CAT exam.
CAT exam changes since Computerization
The exam design in the course of recent years since it was automated in 2009 has gone for detectable changes. Feline paper design before 2009 was paper-pen based. Feline exam design was changed from paper-based exam to CAT online PC based test in 2009. Indeed, even after that CAT paper design kept changing from 3 areas to 2, and after that CAT design was changed to 3 segments in 2015. From that point, forward CAT is following a comparable example. Feline 2020 example likewise continues as before as that of CAT exam 2019 example with 3 segments and 3 hours time in spite of the fact that the quantity of MCQs and Non-MCQs may change.
I hope this article helps you with your preparations!
All the best and Happy Learning!
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