CAT 2021 Exam Analysis (Overall): IIM Ahmedabad conducted the CAT 2021 Exam today in three slots or sessions. As per initial reactions from experts and MBA gurus, the overall MBA entrance exam was of moderate difficulty level. With the Slot 3 of CAT 2021 Exam ending just now at 6:30 PM, CAT candidates have started trickling out of the exam centres. With all three Exam slots concluded already, it’s time for aspirants and test-takers to evaluate exam test paper and perform a thorough exam analysis that can help them decode the expected cut-off scores and their own percentile that they can expect in the exam.
To help CAT aspirants do this, the experts at JagranJosh will be provided detailed CAT 2021 Exam Analysis for each slot and also overall exam analysis covering different aspects of the examination. The CAT 2021 Overall Exam Analysis will include the section-wise difficulty level in all three sections i.e. Quant, DILR and VARC along with the expected section-wise and overall cut-off for the admission to IIMs and other premier B-schools.
Watch this space for CAT 2021 detailed Analysis, First Take & much more!
CAT 2021 Slot 3 Exam Analysis – Moderate Difficulty Level
The initial take of Experts on Slot 3 of CAT 2021 Exam is that the overall difficulty level of the test remained moderate with no major unpleasant surprises being thrown at the candidates. Similar to the first two slots, even in Slot 3, the total number of questions remained 66 and even the section-wise question mix remained the same. The toughest of the lot was VARC followed by DILR with Quant being lengthy but manageable for most of the candidates.
| Section | No of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
| VARC | 24 | Moderate |
| DILR | 20 | Easy to Moderate |
| Quant | 22 | Moderate |
Click here to get detailed analysis for CAT 2021 Slot 3 Exam
CAT Slot 2 2021 – Initial Impressions and First Take
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As per the initial impression given by the candidates coming out of CAT 2021 Exam centres, the Slot 2 of the MBA entrance exam was similar to that that of Slot 1 with total 66 questions. In terms of section-wise break-up as well the number of questions were 66 same as Slot 1 which means:
| Section | No of Questions |
| VARC | 24 |
| DILR | 20 |
| Quant | 22 |
In terms of overall difficulty level, many are rating the Slot 2 paper as slightly more difficult as compared to Slot 1 with Quant questions being tougher in the afternoon session. Majority of the students felt that Quant was quite difficult and lengthy in Slot 2.
Click Here for detailed CAT 2021 Slot 2 Analysis
Slot 1 Analysis: Section-wise Question Type and Format
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension: The VARC Section in CAT 2021 Slot 1 consisted of 24 questions. Of the total number of questions, the question-format or type is described below:
- Reading Comprehension: 4 Questions
- Parajumbles: 4 Questions
- Parasummary: 3 Questions
- Odd-one-out: 1 Question
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation: In DILR Section the total number of questions asked were 20. These were divided into 4 sets i.e. 2 sets of 6 questions and 2 sets of 4 questions. In terms of overall analysis, 3 sets of of Logical Reasoning while 1 Set was of Data Interpretation which was quite easy to answer.
Quantitative Ability: Quant section consisted of 22 questions which were primarily focused arithmetic components:
CAT 2021 Slot 1 Exam Analysis
CAT 2021 Slot 1 Exam Analysis is one of the most important resources available to not only the aspirants who have appeared for the exam in the morning session but also for those who would be appearing for the Slot 2 and Slot 3. The Slot 1 Analysis will set the tone for the CAT 2021 Exam in the next two sessions and therefore all aspirants would be looking at that with an keen eye.
As students start to trickle out of the exam centres after the 1 slots, initial reactions put the CAT 2021 Slot 1 Exam Analysis as at par with expectations. In general, candidates of slot 1 found CAT 2021 to be of moderate or medium difficulty level. Quant and DILR were found to be moderate difficulty level while DILR was relatively tougher with lengthly questions requiring more time to solve them.
In terms of question-wise break-up the CAT 2021 Slot 1 exam paper consisted of 66 Questions i.e. VARC: Quant: DILR in 24:22:24 ratio. The overall level of difficulty for CAT 2021 slot 1 was slightly higher than that of CAT 2020. The section-wise difficulty level for CAT 2021 was moderate for VARC while DILR was quite similar to that of last year. For Quantitative Aptitude section, the difficulty level was relatively easier as compared to last year, with the section question set being arithmetic heavy.
| Section | Difficulty Level |
| VARC | Moderate |
| DILR | Similar to Last year, but lengthy |
| Quant | Easier, Arithmetic heavy |
Click Here to Get Detailed Analysis for CAT 2021 Slot 1 Exam
CAT 2021 Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme
An important way to analyze the CAT 2021 Exam paper is by looking at the exam pattern and marking scheme that was announced by the exam conducting authority. Going by the CAT 2021 Exam Pattern, the test comprised of 76 Question across three sections i.e. Quantitative Aptitude, DILR and VARC. Of the total 76 sections, questions will be in both MCQs and non-MCQ format in different mix for each of the sections. The maximum marks and other details about CAT 2021 Exam pattern is given below:
| IIM CAT exam 2021 section name | Total questions | MCQs | Non-MCQs | Maximum Marks |
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 26 | 18 | 8 | 78 |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 24 | 18 | 6 | 72 |
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) | 26 | 18 | 8 | 78 |
| Total | 76 | 54 | 22 | 228 |
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