CAT 2025 exam is around the corner and there are less than 15 days left. Candidates are now on their revision level to boost the entire CAT exam preparation. Here, we all are aware about the fact that Common Admission Test is one of the toughest management entrance examinations to get admission in the top Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) or B-Schools in India. Every year there are lakhs of aspirants registered for the exam, but very few are able to make it for 99+ percentile and the respective competition increases the overall difficulty level. There is one common question that candidates are really worry about – What will be the difficulty level of slots in CAT 2025?
Although, as an aspirant it is quite usual to keep worried about the same but continuously thinking the same question before CAT 2025 is of no use because the competitive level of the CAT exam slots varies based on the performance. Exam Authority ensures the fairness by keeping the normalisation process after exam according to the performance of candidates to that particular slot and this process eradicates all discrimination or discrepancies that might occur due to different questions in different slots.
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CAT 2025: What is the CAT Normalisation Process?
CAT normalisation of scores ensure fairness and transparency as the exam is conducted in different slots (slot 1, slot 2 & slot 3). This process eradicates all discrimination and discrepancy that might occur due to different questions in different slots. Talking about the difficulty level of exam which is completely dependent on the performance of candidates rather than just directly pointing out slots or worrying about it. The normalisation process can be done only after the completion of the CAT exam and there are simple steps to calculate the same, first it is important to determine the overall test-takers in CAT then assign ranks to all CAT test takers based on their respective scaled scores. The third step is to compute the simple formula: P=((N-r)/N)*100, where ‘N’ is the number of test-takers and ‘r’ is their respective ranks. At last, round off the computed percentile score.
Exam authority either scaled up or scaled down the scores after evaluating the candidates’ performance across VARC, DILR & QA. Later in the blog, we will determine the scaled score and CAT percentile according to the past year paper’s difficulty and normalisation process so that candidate will prepare accordingly for the CAT 2025 exam without pre-deciding the difficulty for CAT 2025 slots.
CAT 2025 (Expected) vs Past Year Difficulty & Normalisation Process
CAT 2025 is approaching and candidates have already received their CAT admit cards where slots and timings are embarked. Although after getting the respective CAT 2025 slot 1 vs slot 1 vs slot 3, aspirants keep thinking about a common question – What would be the difficulty level?
It is not worth thinking about the difficulty level of the CAT 2025 exam slots rather students should focused on the CAT preparation more to get 99+ percentile. To keep students familiar with the scaled score, CAT percentile and normalisation process, here is the detailed analysis of CAT last year paper – difficulty and normalisation process according to the slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3. Mentioned below are the detailed tables that cover scaled score and CAT percentile according to the slot 1 vs slot 2 vs slot 3 across VARC, DILR and QA.
| CAT Last Year Paper – Difficulty & Normalisation Process (Slot 1) | |||
| Slot 1 | Scaled Score | CAT Percentile | |
| VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension) | 32 | 39.24 | 99.05 |
| DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning) | 28 | 33.21 | 99.55 |
| QA (Quantitative Ability) | 24 | 22.76 | 95.49 |
| Overall | 95.21 | 99.58 |
| CAT Last Year Paper – Difficulty & Normalisation Process (Slot 2) | |||
| Slot 2 | Scaled Score | CAT Percentile | |
| VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension) | 32 | 34.41 | 97.93 |
| DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning) | 28 | 25.81 | 98.29 |
| QA (Quantitative Ability) | 24 | 25.66 | 96.94 |
| Overall | 85.88 | 99.15 |
| CAT Last Year Paper – Difficulty & Normalisation Process (Slot 3) | |||
| Slot 3 | Scaled Score | CAT Percentile | |
| VARC (Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension) | 32 | 27.81 | 94.21 |
| DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning) | 28 | 35.73 | 99.79 |
| QA (Quantitative Ability) | 24 | 24.34 | 96.25 |
| Overall | 87.88 | 99.27 |
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CAT 2025 Slot 1 vs Slot 2 vs Slot 3 – Which One is Tougher?
We cannot pre-decide the CAT 2025 slots directly because the difficulty level of CAT 2025 will depend on the overall performance of candidates on a particular slots. Questions difficulty level for a particular slot can be possible but still that can be manageable through the normalisation process after CAT 2025 where exam authority evaluates overall performance of candidates and based on that either they scaled up or down the scores and proceed with the final CAT percentile. Don’t try to anticipate everything before CAT 2025 rather boost your preparation level to grab confidence for scoring good CAT percentile.
CAT 2025: Understand How to Convert CAT Score to Percentile?
Understanding the CAT Score vs Percentile is important for the candidates. There are mainly four simple steps to convert your respective CAT score to percentile.
Step 1: Determine the overall number of test-takers (participants) in the CAT exam
Step 2: Assign ranks to all the CAT exam test-takers based on their scaled scores.
Step 3: Now a simple formula is used to compute the percentile (P) of the test-takers with the respective ranks (r). P=((N-r)/N)*100.
Step 4: Finally, rounding off computed CAT percentile score.
Don’t Try to Anticipate Slots for CAT 2025 !
CAT 2025 exam is now ticking the clock and students are having mixed feelings of excitement, fear, confidence, stress or pressure and more. Candidates cannot prior determine the difficulty level of the slots due to its dependency on the candidate’s performance. But, the exam authority is well equipped for maintaining fairness whether the respective slot will be difficult or not. So it is better to keep working towards the best preparation for CAT 2025 rather than wasting time in worrying about the which slot is tougher?
Conclusion: CAT 2025 Preparation Strategy
CAT 2025 requires a structured approach for the preparation across Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and QA (Quantitative Ability). Student need to follow a structured time table that ensures consistency during preparation along with solving good CAT-level questions with the help of mock test series and PYQs (Previous Year Questions). To aim 99+ percentile in CAT (Common Admission Test), candidates have to evaluate their overall performance across sections with the proper CAT preparation strategy. Always keep calm while solving CAT question paper and rather solving each and every question, it is important to maintain accuracy and speed. All the best for CAT 2025 !
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