The conducting authority will release the CAT Exam Pattern 2020. With the help of CAT Exam Pattern, candidates will get complete information about how much time they need to invest in a single topic. Candidates need to be aware of the CAT Exam Pattern, which includes CAT Marking Schemes, Exam Mode, etc. To get complete information about CAT Exam Pattern, Candidates need to go through with the complete article.
CAT Exam Pattern
- Exam Mode: Computer Based Test (CBT).
- Exam Duration: 180 minutes (3 hours). 60minutes duration has been allotted to complete each section.
- Type of Question: Multiple choice type and subjective type.
- No. of Questions: 100
- Marking Scheme: Three marks will be awarded for each correct answer.
- Negative Marking: For multiple-choice questions(MCQs), one mark will be deducted for a wrong answer and for questions other than MCQs no marks will be deducted. There will be not the penalty of negative marking on wrong answers to Non-MCQs in CAT Exam.
- The 3 section are CAT: Verbal ability and & Reading comprehensive(VARC), Data Interpretation& Logical Reasoning(DILR); Quantitative Aptitute(QA).
Section Wise Weightage of Question:
| Section | No. of Question | Duration | Total Marks |
| Quantitative Ability | 34 | 60 Min | 102 |
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension | 34 | 60 Min | 102 |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | 32 | 60 Min | 96 |
| Total | 100 | 180 Min | 300 |
Marking Schemes
The total marks of CAT marks are 300 marks. all questions carry equal marks. There is a negative marking of 0.33 for every wrong answer, and three marks will be awarded for every correct answer.
Check the CAT Marking Scheme below:
| Question | Marks |
| Every single correct answer will get | Three marks |
| Every single wrong answer result in deduction of | 1 Mark |
| Deduction of marks for a wrong subjective answer | No Deduction |
| Deduction of marks for un-attempted questions | No Deduction |
CAT Exam Pattern – Total Number of MCQ Vs Non-MCQ Questions
| Name of the section | Total number of questions | Total Number of Multiple Choice Questions | Total Number of Non-Multiple Choice Questions |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 32 | 24 | 8 |
| Quantitative Ability (QA) | 34 | 27 | 7 |
| Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 34 | 24 | 10 |
Changes in CAT Exam Pattern
| Year | Sections | Marking Scheme | Duration | Total Number of Questions | Name of the exam conducting body | Other Element |
| 2018 | Quantitative Ability (QA) – 34 Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 34 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) – 32 |
|
Three Hours | 100 | IIM Kolkata | |
| 2017 | Quantitative Ability (QA) – 34
 Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 34 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) – 32 |
|
Three Hours | 100 | IIM Lucknow | |
| 2016 | Quantitative Ability (QA) – 34
Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 34 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) – 32 |
|
IIM Bangalore | |||
| 2015 | Quantitative Ability (QA) – 34
Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 34 Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) – 32 |
|
IIM Ahmedabad | Introduction of Calculator/ Induction of Non-MCQ | ||
| 2014 | Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI) – 50
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (VA & LR) – 50 |
|
2.5 hours | IIM Indore | The test was divided into two sections/Introduction of the two-day test window | |
| 2013 | Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI) – 30
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (VA & LR) – 30 |
|
2:20 hours | 60 | IIM Indore | Same as the previous year |
| 2012 | Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI) – 30
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (VA & LR) – 30 |
|
2:20 hours | IIM Indore | ||
| 2011 | Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI) – 30
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (VA & LR) – 30 |
|
2:20 hours | IIM Calcutta |
