CAT 2022 Slot 1 Analysis: CAT 2022 Slot 1 First Impressions are here. Candidates who have appeared for the CAT 2022 exams in slot 1 (8:30 to 10:30 AM) can check below the expert opinion on the slot 1 exam, the expected cutoff, top percentile, and sectional impressions.
CAT 2022 Slot 1 Analysis by T.I.M.E
CAT 2022 was on the expected lines in the morning slot. While there were a few changes in the paper compared to the last year, the paper retained its overall structure/pattern.
The following was the pattern of examination in the first slot
| Section | Number of Questions | MCQs | Non MCQs | Sectional time limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension | 24 | 21 | 3 | 40 Minutes |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | 20 | 14 | 6 | 40 Minutes |
| Quantitative Ability | 20 | 14 | 8 | 40 Minutes |
| Total | 66 | 48 | 18 | 120 Minutes |
The evaluation scheme remained the same as that of the earlier years - Three marks for a correct answer and a negative mark for a wrongly marked MCQ. There were no negative marks for non-MCQs.
The difficulty, overall, for CAT 2022 in the morning slot was slightly on the higher side compared to that of CAT 2021.
Section-wise analysis
The VARC section had 24 questions in the morning slot, 16 from Reading Comprehension and 8 from Verbal Ability. The same break-up was observed last year too.
The RC passages were four in number, with four questions per passage. Most of the passages had questions that involved double negatives – “do not follow + except”, “cannot be inferred + if false”. This contributed to pushing the difficulty level of the section up.
One of the RC passages, the one on Human rights & Technology was the toughest of all. It was tough to read and comprehend and the questions were no easy let-offs either. Those who got this passage as their first and continued with it may have drained their valuable time into this for a return that could have been a lot more if it were invested in the other passages or in the VA questions.
Another RC passage (On Emotions/Stoicism) was not a very easy read, but not so tough either. A well-read student could have found this to be not too challenging. To add to this, the options in this passage were not very close, helping students to zero in on the answer with a moderate effort.
The passage on Chinese/Eastern Art Philosophy was a delight to read with no heavy sentences. This passage and the one on Undeads/ghosts were easy passages to read. Questions too were not very involved. The options of a good number of questions in these sets too were easy to eliminate. These two sets would, hence, be the must-attempt RC sets in this slot, despite a couple of tough questions, overall, from them.
| Passage | Number of Questions | Readability | Overall Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undeads/Ghosts | 4 | Moderate | Moderate |
| Emotions/Stoicism | 4 | Moderate | Moderate |
| Chinese/Eastern Art Philosophy | 4 | Moderate | Moderate |
| Human rights & Technology | 4 | Very Difficult | Very Difficult |
For those who were flabbergasted by the tough RC passage on Human rights & Technology the VA questions would have provided a welcome relief as overall, they were not very difficult.
The Verbal Ability questions this year had a surprise in terms of the new question type introduced. The Odd-one-out question gave way to what could be termed “Sentence Placement” questions. These questions had a sentence that is to be placed at one of the four locations in a given paragraph. The options to be selected indicated the location where this sentence is to be placed. Two such questions were present in the morning slot. While the placement was not straightforward, it was not too tough either, placing both these questions at a moderate level of difficulty.
The Para Formation Questions (3 in number) were all four-sentence questions. The level of difficulty was moderate, enabling those with a decent amount of practice to be able to crack them with not too much effort. All these three questions were non-MCQs.
There were three Para-summary questions in this slot. All of these had not-so-tough-to-read passages
The distribution of the questions in the Verbal Ability area is as below
| Question Type | Number of Questions | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
| Para Formation Questions (PFQs) | 3 | Moderate |
| Sentence placement | 2 | Moderate |
| Para Summary | 3 | Moderate |
A net score of 22-24 would be a decent score for a test-taker to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off).
Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation
The LRDI section of the morning slot was distinctly higher in difficulty level, overall, compared to the overall difficulty of LRDI of the last year. The number of sets remained at four. However, the distribution of the number of questions within the sets has been changed. While there were two four-question sets and two six-question sets last year, all four sets of the morning slot paper this year had five questions each. This distribution removed one factor from the mind of the students – which set them to start evaluating to attempt first. As all the sets had the same number of questions, it was now the type of set and the amount of data that students had to look for, before attempting the set. One could also have taken the easy way out by checking the sets in the order of appearance, provided one was more or less equally well-versed with all the set types.
There was also a big change this year. The paper did not have the one definitely easy and must-attempt set, which was a common feature in almost all the slots last year.
This would contribute to pushing the difficulty level up this year.
The set-wise details are as below
| LRDI | No. of Questions | Difficulty level |
|---|---|---|
| Boys & Girls (Venn Diagram) | 5 | Very Difficult |
| Funding Tokens (LR Puzzle) | 5 | Difficult |
| Goals (Games & Tournament) | 5 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Metro (Routes & Networks) | 5 | Very Difficult |
The set on Boys & Girls attending their get-together was very difficult set. It was a Venn diagram set with very little concrete information to work with. That it was a Venn diagram set would not dawn upon the students immediately. Students would have done well to skip this set after realizing that the data was very unwieldy, and this decision would have saved them a lot of time.
The set on Funding tokens did not have too much data to work with - just three lines of info along with the totals. This would have perplexed many a student who attempted to solve the set as the table was not even half-filled and there was no more data to work with. Those able to identify that the value of funds is where the additional info lies would have been able to proceed to crack the set. This pegs this set at a ‘Difficult’ level.
The set on Goals by four people had a fair amount of info to work with. Cross-checking the info, ensuring all the conditions are matched and all of them have been accounted for, for all the possible options that the set throws at us are the time-taking factors in this set. This set can also be pegged at “Difficult” level.
The set on Metro routes should have been an easy set given that it is majorly an observation/calculation-based set and could be solved using minimal logic. However, the sheer amount of info to be kept in mind – different timings, number of routes, halts, etc, pushes the level of the set to a very high level of difficulty. This is one set that one could wish that he/she should not get as the first set in the paper as this is attractive enough to pull a student into attempting it, thereby making the student spend a lot of time.
A net score of 11-13 would be a decent score for a test-taker to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off).
Quantitative Ability Section
The Quant section retained the exact structure from last year, including the non-MCQs. The paper had 22 Questions, with 8 non-MCQs.
Many questions in the section appeared very doable at the outset. But the amount of information present in the seemingly easy Arithmetic questions and the kind of numbers that that one had to deal with meant that the time required to solve these questions was going to be high. Students would have ended up investing too much time in questions where they did not expect that to happen and this may have prevented them from reaching the end of the section, thereby missing out on some easy questions.
Numbers came back into reckoning with three questions in this slot, after the apparent snub that it took last year. Geometry and ERPV continued their reign joined by AMA this year.
The distribution of questions in this section across topics is as below
| Topic | No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
| ERPV | 2 | Easy |
| Percentages, Profit & Loss | 2 | Moderate - Difficult |
| SI-CI | 1 | Easy |
| Time & Distance | 1 | Moderate |
| Numbers | 3 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Geometry | 2 | Moderate |
| Progressions/Series | 2 | Moderate |
| Sets | 1 | Moderate |
| Quadratic Equations | 1 | Difficult |
| Inequalities & Modulus | 2 | Difficult |
| Averages Mixtures & Allegations | 3 | Easy-Moderate |
| Coordinate Geometry | 1 | Moderate |
| Permutations & Combinations | 1 | Difficult |
A net score of 13-15 would be a decent score for a test-taker to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off).
Analysis by Pradeep Pandey, Academic Head, T.I.M.E. Delhi
CAT 2022 Slot 1 Analysis - IMS
The structure of CAT 2022 remained largely the same as in 2021. However, the DILR and Verbal sections saw some changes in segmentation and the number of MCQs and TITA. Verbal Section had 2 paragraph completion questions instead of the anticipated Odd Sentence questions. Overall, Slot 1 of CAT this year was slightly more difficult than Slot 1 of last year.
The marking scheme was +3 for every correct and -1 for incorrect. There was no negative marking for TITA Qs.
Based on the feedback received from several candidates who have appeared in the first slot, our initial estimate of the percentiles and scores*** is as follows. These estimates will be suitably revised soon after the CAT releases the response sheets.
*** Students are advised not to take any B-School application decision based on these initial estimates. They serve only as the first indicator of likely performance.
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
The VA-RC section consisted of 16 Reading Comprehension questions and 8 Verbal Ability questions. As in the past several years, there were no direct Grammar or Vocabulary questions. The passages were of Medium difficulty level except for the one on Political Philosophy. Overall, Comprehension was more difficult than the VA questions. However, 10 to 12 questions could be attempted with high accuracy. The 2 Para-completion questions, which were new, consisted of a key sentence followed by a paragraph with four numbered blanks. One had to identify the blank in which the key sentence would fit in correctly - grammatically and logically. There were 3 paragraph jumbles in TITA format, and 3 summary questions as MCQs. In VA, 5 attempts with high accuracy were possible. Overall the difficulty level was comparable to the first slot of CAT 2021.
An attempt of 15 to 17 questions with high accuracy (85-90%) will be a good performance in
VARC.
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
In CAT 2021 there were a total of 4 sets out of which two sets had 6 questions while the
remaining two had 4 questions each. This pattern has not been followed in CAT 2022, this year
the DI-LR section had a total of 4 sets of 5 questions each.
Two sets were of Easy to Medium difficulty level and the remaining two sets were Medium to
Difficult. Overall the Level of difficulty was Medium to Difficult and at par with the last year’s
slot - 1 DILR.
Overall, an attempt of 10 to 12 questions with high accuracy (85-90%) will be a good performance.
Quantitative Ability
This section was Medium in terms of Level of difficulty and was dominated by Arithmetic (8 questions), followed by Algebra (5 questions). There were 3 questions on Modern Math and 3
questions on Geometry. In Arithmetic, the questions were dominated by Averages and Mixtures & Allegations and Profit & Loss.
There were 8 TITA questions this year. Selecting the right questions to attempt was the key. Students should have been able to attempt about 14/15 questions in the given time with 85- 90% accuracy.
This section was very much similar to last year’s slot 1. The number of TITA (8 questions) and MCQ (14 questions) were the same as last year’s slot 1. Also, area/topic-wise distribution of questions was more or less similar to last year’s slot 1.
*The scores and percentiles mentioned in this analysis are indicators based on the feedback from students and IMS experts. They are in no way related to the results which IIMs are expected to declare in January 2023. You are advised to wait for the results.
CAT 2022 Slot 1 Analysis - CATKing
CAT 2022: A different CDC? When they first came out, the majority of aspirants indicated that as predicted the CAT 2022 exam maintained the format of the CAT 2021 exam, which had a shorter time limit of two hours and 40 minutes for each section. The number of questions in each section is still an unanswered question In the end, CAT 2021 had 66 questions, compared to CAT 2020 had 76 questions. The distribution of questions in every section was as predicted as discussed in-depth in CATKingEducare Classes and open sessions.
Big Surprises in CAT 2022
1) Para Completion is coming back again in CAT which was similar to the XAT exam and it had stopped coming in CAT from a really long time
2) DILR we had 4 sets of 5 questions
3) Modulus-based questions of Algebra were there in Quants.
Section-wise question distribution is
- CAT 2022 VARC: Total 24 questions
- CAT 2022 DILR: Total 20 questions
- CAT 2022 QA: Total 22 questions
The marking criteria remained the same: +3 for correct answers and -1 for answers in MCQs and +3 for the correct answers and there is no negative marking in non-MCQs
- The first slot of CAT 2022 was a little more challenging than the first slot of CAT 2021.
- VARC had a moderate difficulty level comparable to the VARC part from the previous year.
- Due to fewer set options, DILR went to the CAT 2020 level and was moderate to challenging In terms of difficulty In terms of LODv QA was simple.
The student-friendly exam pattern for CAT is as follows
| Section Name |
Total Questions |
Time Limit |
Marking Scheme for MCQ Questions |
Marking Scheme for Non- MCQ Questions |
| Section 1: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension |
This section contains 24 questions. |
40 Minutes |
+3 for the correct answer and -1 incorrect answer |
+3 for the correct answer and there is no negative marking for the incorrect answer |
| Section 2 : Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning |
This section contains 20 questions. |
40 Minutes |
+3 for the correct answer and -1 incorrect answer |
+3 for the correct answer and there is no negative marking for the incorrect |
| Section 3 : Quantitative Ability |
This section contains 22 questions |
40 Minutes |
+3 for the correct answer and -1 incorrect answer |
+3 for the correct answer and there is no negative marking for the incorrect answer. |
| Total |
This section contains 66 questions |
120 Minutes |
+3 for the correct answer and -1 incorrect answer |
+3 for the correct answer and there is no negative marking for the incorrect answer. |
CAT Exam Slot 1: Morning Session
Other details of the CAT 2022 Question Paper are as follows:
- Test duration is 2 hours
- Total Questions 66
In 2020, there were a total of 76 questions in the CAT exam. But, this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as expected the number of questions was reduced to 66.
- The total mark is 198.
- The total number of questions in the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Section is 24.
- The total number of Questions in the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section is 20
- The total number of Questions in the Quantitative Ability section is 22
As expected the CAT 2022 Slot 1 exam paper pattern is presented in a tabular form below:
| Section |
Number of Questions |
The number of MCQ Questions |
The number of Non-MCQ Questions |
| Section 1: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension |
Total 24 questions. |
Out of that 19 questions are MCQ |
Out of that 5 questions are Non-MCQ
|
| Section 2: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning |
Total 20 questions. |
Out of that 15 questions are MCQ |
Out of that 5 questions are Non-MCQ |
| Section 3: Quantitative Ability |
Total 22 questions. |
Out of that 14 questions are MCQ |
Out of that 8 questions are Non-MCQ
|
| Total |
66 questions |
Out of that 48 questions are MCQ |
Out of that 18 questions are Non-MCQ |
CAT 2022 Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Question-wise Breakup:
The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension sections were comparable to CAT 2021 in terms of their moderate level of difficulty. Contrary to what was predicted, this section was a little longer than average. In total, 24 questions were to be answered in the allotted 40 minutes.
There were 5 non-MCQ questions (all Verbal). Each RC paragraph contained between 470 and 500 words. 2 passages were simple to read, 2 passages were challenging, and each had 2 questions that could be answered. The questions on the RC Passages were very similar to those on the CATKingEducare All India Mock
Reading Comprehension = 16 Questions
-RC 1 Topic: Ghosts and their mysteries how we can’t find their history
-RC 2 Topic: Chinese Copy of articles -- Original Copy | Second type is to change size and shape and copy it. (Very Easy)
-RC 3 Topic: Two levels of emotional thinking (Author supports the second level of emotional thinking and links to Buddhism and other religions)
-RC 4: STOICS
- Verbal Ability – Para jumbles =
- Verbal Ability – Summary =
- Verbal Ability – Para jumbles (Odd-sentence out)= 0 Questions
CAT 2022 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Question-wise Breakup
There were 20 questions total in the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning part, broken up into 4 sets.
DILR was moderate to challenging to the CAT 2021 level of difficulty. Again, there were 5 non-MCQs_ During the allotted time, only 2 Sets could be managed.
The bar Chart was simple and simply based on DI. The other three required a lot of time. One set had a combination of LR and DI and may be completed
- Set 1: Routes and Terminals connected dotted graph-based Q(Must Do)
- Set 2: Venn Diagram Set (Data Heavy)
- Set 3: No of Goals scores football based (EASY SET)
- Set 4: Boys and Girls
CAT 2022 Quantitative Ability Question-wise Breakup
In terms of LODI the QA section of CAT 2022 was as expected comparable to CAT 2019 and CAT 2021 _ It contained 22 short questions that could be answered in 40 minutes. There were 8 non-MCQs in the section.
- 1 Time Speed Distance
- 2 Profit and Loss
- 2 Ratios
- 1 Number
- 1 Quadratic
- 3 Questions Modulus
- 1 Greatest Integer Function
- 1 Question distribution of fruits
- 2-3 Geometric similar to what was done in class
- 1 Parallelogram
Sumit Singh Gandhi, Founder, CATKing
CAT 2022 Slot 1 First Impressions - Career Launcher
According to experts, the CAT 2022 exam pattern was similar to CAT 2021. The Exam had a total of 66 questions with 40 minutes allotted to each section. The division of questions in each section was as follows -
- CAT 2022 VARC: 24 questions
- CAT 2022 DILR: 20 questions
- CAT 2022 QA: 22 questions
The marking scheme for CAT 2022 will also remain the same: +3/-1 for MCQs, and +3/0 for non-MCQs. Experts suggest that the overall difficulty level for CAT 2022 slot 1 was moderate as compared to that of CAT 2021.
Sectional Difficulty Level
- According to experts, the VARC was easy to moderate. However, there was an addition of para completion instead of the odd-sentence-out questions.
- The DILR section had 4 sets with 5 questions in each set and had an easy to moderate level of difficulty, making it marginally difficult as compared to the CAT 2021 exam.
- The QA section has been termed as moderate to difficult with half of the questions from arithmetic and similar to last year.
An overall raw score of around ~98 to 99 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT 2022.
CAT 2022 Paper Pattern & Section-wise expected score for 99%ile+
| Section Name |
Total Questions |
Time Limit |
Marking Scheme |
Score for 99%ile |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
24 |
40 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
37-38 |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) |
20 |
40 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
30-32 |
| Quantitative Ability (QA) |
22 |
40 Minutes |
+3/-1 (for MCQs) +3/0 (for non-MCQs) |
40- 42 |
What do the students have to say?
According to the initial response given by students from a CAT exam centre in Patna, the question paper for CAT 2022 Slot 1 followed a different paper pattern from that of the mock test. The test taken further added that there were no questions from Bar Graphs and Pie Charts and three questions were from Geometry. For VARC, there were five paragraphs and three summary questions.
As per another candidate to took the CAT 2022 Slot 1 exam the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) section was easy while DILR was confusing. The aspirant further added that the overall CAT slot 1 paper was easy.
Candidates must note that as per the CAT 2022 paper pattern, 1 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer in CAT 2022 paper. Each question will carry 3 marks in CAT 2022 exam. The CAT exam paper for Slot 2 will have a similar CAT exam pattern 2022 to that of CAT slot 1.
Students have also mentioned that Quantitative Aptitude was hard and while most of the questions were on Logical Reasoning, the diagram questions were hard.
Also Read: CAT 2022 Exam Analysis Paper Review
CAT 2022 Exam Review
IIM Bangalore is conducting the CAT 2022 exams with questions from three sections namely, Verbal and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation, and Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis.
Each question will carry 3 marks and a negative marking of -1 will be applicable for every incorrect answer.
CAT 2022 Exam Pattern
CAT 2022 exams are being conducted for a duration of 2 hours. Candidates can check below the exam pattern for CAT 2022.
| Section |
Total Questions |
Allotted Time |
Allotted Time for PwD Students |
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
24 |
40 Minutes |
53 minutes and 20 seconds |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) |
20 |
40 Minutes |
53 minutes and 20 seconds |
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) |
20 |
40 Minutes |
53 minutes and 20 seconds |
| Total |
66 |
120 Minutes |
160 minutes |
