The candidates must analyse CAT 2024 Exam Pattern before commencing the preparation. It will help them to create their personalised strategy and prioritise areas that require improvement. The CAT 2024 exam will carry 66 questions covering three sections i.e. verbal ability & reading comprehension, Data Interpretation & logical reasoning and quantitative aptitude. The total exam duration will be 120 minutes with sectional time limit. Read on to get detailed information about the CAT Exam Pattern 2024 including the marking scheme, negative marking and important topics here.
Candidates can practice the MBA Exam Mock Test by Jagran Josh to ace the exam.
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CAT Exam Pattern 2024
Knowledge of the exam pattern can help you build an exam-oriented strategy to handle different levels of questions and maximise your scores in the CAT 2024 exam. The CAT stands for Common Admission Test. It is a national-level entrance exam conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management for admission to various postgraduate and Fellow/Doctorate programmes.
The computer-based Common Admission Test 2024 (CAT 2024) will be conducted on November 24, 2024, in three sessions. Going by previous analysis and trends, it is found that the questions asked in the CAT exam are typically moderate to difficult in nature. As per the marking scheme, each question carries 3 marks with a negative marking of 1 mark for every incorrect answer. Hence, candidates must thoroughly check the CAT 2024 exam pattern to align their strategy with the latest exam requirements and trends.
CAT 2024 Exam Pattern Highlights
The CAT 2024 exam carries a total of 66 questions for 198 marks with an exam duration of 120 minutes. Knowledge of the CAT 2024 exam pattern will help candidates understand exam requirements and allow them to strategise their preparation accordingly. Here are the key highlights of CAT Exam Pattern 2024 shared below for the reference of the candidates.
| CAT Paper Pattern 2024 | |
| Mode | Computer Based Test |
| Question Type | MCQ and non-MCQ |
| Medium of Exam | English |
| Subject | Verbal ability & reading comprehension, Data Interpretation & logical reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude |
| Number of questions | 66 |
| Maximum Marks | 198 |
| Exam Duration | 120 minutes (40 minutes per section) |
CAT 2024 Exam Pattern Section Wise
Understanding the section-wise CAT Exam Pattern 2024 and weightage is important for effective preparation and time management during the exam. The total exam duration of CAT 2024 shall be 120 minutes with 40 minute time limit for each section. Here is the section-wise CAT 2024 Exam Pattern shared below for reference purposes.
| CAT Exam Sections | No. of Questions | Maximum Marks | Time Limit | Time limit for PwD students |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 24 | 72 marks | 40 minutes | 53 minutes and 20 seconds |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 20 | 60 marks | 40 minutes | 53 minutes and 20 seconds |
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) | 22 | 66 marks | 40 minutes | 53 minutes and 20 seconds |
| Total | 66 | 198 marks | 120 minutes | 160 minutes |
CAT Exam Pattern 2024 Past Trends
The CAT exam has undergone several changes over the years. However, no changes have been made to the exam pattern in the past three years. The most significant change in the CAT exam pattern happened in the year 2020 when the total exam duration was reduced from 180 minutes to 120 minutes. Here are the changes in the CAT exam pattern in the last 7 years.
| CAT Year | Sections | Number of Questions | Time Duration |
| 2024 | QA, DILR, VARC | 66 | 120 minutes |
| 2023 | QA, DILR, VARC | 66 | 120 minutes |
| 2022 | QA, DILR, VARC | 66 | 120 minutes |
| 2021 | QA, DILR, VARC | 66 | 120 minutes |
| 2020 | QA, DILR, VARC | 76 | 120 minutes |
| 2019 | QA, DILR, VARC | 100 | 180 minutes |
| 2018 | QA, DILR, VARC | 100 | 180 minutes |
CAT 2024 Marking Scheme
The CAT 2024 exam carries a negative marking for each incorrect answer. Hence, candidates need to mark the options very carefully to avoid losing marks. As per the CAT 2024 exam pattern, each question carries 3 marks with negative marking of 1 mark for every wrong answer. However, there will be no deduction of marks for unattempted questions. Here is the section-wise CAT 2024 marking scheme shared below for reference purposes.
| Sections | Number of Questions | Marks Per Question | Negative Marking (Only MCQ) |
| VARC | 24 | 3 | -1 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 22 | 3 | -1 |
| DILR | 20 | 3 | -1 |
CAT 2024 Marking Scheme: 3 X Number of Correct Answers- 1 X Number of Incorrect Response
CAT Exam Pattern 2024 Important Points
Candidates must be familiar with all the important points related to the CAT 2024 exam pattern for better clarity. Check the list of important points below.
- Candidates are permitted to use an onscreen calculator during the CAT exam.
- There shall be a sectional time limit for the exam. Once the time is up for one section, the next section will appear on the screen.
- The CAT 2024 exam will be conducted in three sessions.
- Carrying any prohibited items to the exam hall can lead to disqualification of the candidature.
CAT Syllabus 2024 Important Topics
There are three sections covered in the CAT syllabus such as verbal ability & reading comprehension, Data Interpretation & logical reasoning and quantitative aptitude. Mastering concepts of all three sections is important to score high marks in the CAT 2024 exam. Here is the list of important topics for the CAT 2024 exam shared below.
| Subject | Important Topics |
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension | Para jumbles Reading Comprehension Sentence-Completion Inferences Para-Summary |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | Blood Relation Venn Diagram Tables Graphs Seating Arrangement Data Caselets Syllogism |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Percentages Average Mixtures and Allegations Profit & Loss Simple Interest-Compound Interest Time & Distance Logarithms Functions & Graphs Numbers Mensuration Quadratic Equations Statistics Indices & Surds Special Equations |
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