Common Admission Test (CAT)

The CAT is a national-level entrance exam conducted in India for admission into postgraduate management programs like MBA and PGDM at prestigious institutions such as IIMs and other top business schools.

Exam Overview

Feature	Details
Conducting Body	One of the IIMs on a rotational basis
Frequency	Once a year (November)
Mode of Exam	Computer-Based Test (CBT)
Language	English
Duration	2 hours
Number of Questions	Around 66
Sections	VARC, DILR, QA

Eligibility Criteria

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST/PWD).
• Final-year students can apply.
• No age limit.

Exam Pattern

Section	Number of Questions	Time Limit
VARC	24	40 minutes
DILR	20	40 minutes
QA	22	40 minutes

Syllabus

• VARC: Reading Comprehension, Para Jumbles, Sentence Completion
• DILR: Bar Graphs, Logical Puzzles, Data Sufficiency
• QA: Algebra, Geometry, Probability, Arithmetic

Marking Scheme

• Correct Answer: +3 marks
• Incorrect Answer (MCQs): -1 mark
• Incorrect Answer (TITA Questions): No negative marking

Registration Process

Apply online at the official CAT website.

Category	Application Fee
General/OBC	₹2400
SC/ST/PWD	₹1200

Top Colleges Accepting CAT Scores

• IIMs (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, etc.)
• IITs for MBA programs
• FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon
• IMT Ghaziabad, XIMB Bhubaneswar

Preparation Strategy

• Start early (6-9 months before the exam).
• Practice previous years' CAT papers and mock tests.
• Focus on time management.
• Read newspapers daily to strengthen reading comprehension.

Expected Important Dates (CAT 2025)

Event	Date (Tentative)
Notification Release	July 2025
Registration Start	August 2025
Admit Card Release	October 2025
CAT Exam Date	November 2025
Result Declaration	January 2026

Selection Process

1. Shortlisting based on CAT score.
2. Written Ability Test (WAT) / Group Discussion (GD).
3. Personal Interview (PI).
4. Final selection based on overall performance.