CAT Exam Analysis – Trends Over Last 5 Years

Common Admission Test (CAT) is conducted by IIM for admission to various management programmes (MBA/PGDM) in top B-schools in India. Over the past years, as per the CAT exam analysis the level of the question paper has been moderately difficult. There have also been changes in the CAT exam pattern, including the number of questions, maximum marks, and exam duration. Last year, the CAT 2024 exam consisted of 68 questions, which needed to be attempted within 120 minutes. Candidates who are planning to participate in the upcoming CAT 2025 exam must check last year CAT Exam Analysis to understand the past exam trends and formulate their strategy accordingly. It typically reveals the weightage of the section along with the changes in difficulty level in the past decades. In this article, we have compiled CAT Exam Analysis of the last few years and other crucial information to simplify the candidate’s preparation journey.

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Last Year CAT Exam Analysis Highlights

Understanding the last year CAT Exam Analysis helps candidates gain insights into subject-wise difficulty level, number of questions asked, and overall exam toughness. This allows them to establish realistic targets and improve their strategy for achieving a 99+ percentile in the exam. Check the overview of last year CAT Exam Analysis shared below for reference purposes:

CAT Questions Trend

Year	Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)	Quantitative Ability (QA)	Total
2024	24	22	22	68
2023	24	20	22	66
2022	24	20	22	66
2021	24	20	22	66
2020	26	24	26	76

CAT Exam Difficulty Level- Section-Wise

Section	CAT 2024 Difficulty Level	CAT 2023 Difficulty Level	CAT 2022 Difficulty Level	CAT 2021 Difficulty Level	CAT 2020 Difficulty Level
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	Moderate	Moderate to Difficult	Moderate	Moderate to Difficult	Moderate to Difficult
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)	Moderate	Easy to Moderate	Difficult	Difficult	Difficult
Quantitative Ability (QA)	Moderate	Difficult	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Overall	Moderate	Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate-Difficult

Last Year CAT Exam Analysis

The CAT exam paper consists of three sections, i.e. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA). Analysing the section-wise difficulty level of the CAT exam over the past years can help you understand topic-wise weightage and boost your preparation. To help, we have shared below last year’s CAT Exam Analysis from 2021 to 2024 for the guidance of the candidates.

CAT Exam Analysis 2024

As per the feedback of students, the difficulty level of the CAT 2024 exam was moderate across all the slots. Most of the questions in the Quant section were asked from Arithmetic and Algebra. The sets asked in LRDI were moderately difficult. On the other hand, reading comprehension questions asked in VARC were moderate to tough level. 

CAT Exam Analysis 2024 for Quantitative Ability (QA)

Topic	Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Arithmetic	7-8	7-8	7-8
Modern Math	2-3	2-3	–
Algebra	6-7	4-5	6-7
Numbers	1-2	2-3	1-2
Geometry	2-3	2-3	2-3

CAT Exam Analysis 2023

According to the review collected from the candidates, the questions asked in the CAT 2023 exam were difficult in nature. In summary, the VARC exam level ranged from moderate to difficult, questions in DILR were easy to moderate,  while the Quantitative Ability section was challenging. Check the section-wise CAT exam analysis 2023 shared below for reference purposes.

CAT Exam Analysis 2023 for Quantitative Ability

CAT QA Topics	Number of Questions
Arithmetic	7-9
Geometry & Mensuration	2-4
Algebra	5-9
Moderate Math	1-3
Number System	2-3

CAT Exam Analysis 2023 for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

CAT VARC Topics	Number of Questions
Reading Comprehension	15-16
Para Summary	2-3
Para Jumbles	2-3
Odd One Out/Para Completion	1-2

CAT Exam Analysis 2023 for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

CAT DILR Topics	Number of Questions
Matrix and Grid	6-7
Misc	10-11
Matrix Arrangement	6-7
Reasoning-based DI	9-10
Order and ranking	2-3
Arithmetic Caselet	2-3
Venn Diagram	6-7
Scheduling and Matrix	5-6
Logic Based Table	2-3
Mathematical AR	3-4

CAT Exam Analysis 2022

As per the feedback of students who participated in the exam, the CAT 2022 exam level was moderately difficult. In brief, the VARC section was moderate, questions in DILR were difficult, and the Quantitative Ability section was moderate. Learn about the section-wise CAT exam analysis 2022 discussed below for reference purposes.

CAT Exam Analysis 2022 for Quantitative Ability

Topics	Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Arithmetic	7-8	7-8	7-8
Geometry	3-4	3-4	4-5
Algebra	5-6	6-7	5-6
Numbers	3-2	1-2	2-3
Modern Math	3-4	4-5	3-4

CAT Exam Analysis 2021

Based on expert analysis and feedback received from test-takers, the CAT 2021 exam level was moderately difficult. In brief, the VARC section was moderate to difficult, questions in DILR were difficult, and the Quantitative Ability section was moderate. Here is the section-wise CAT exam analysis 2021 for different sections tabulated below for reference purposes.

CAT Exam Analysis 2021 for Quantitative Ability

CAT Quant Section	Number of Questions (Slot 1)
Arithmetic	10
Algebra	5-6
Modern Maths	4-5
Geometry	3-4

CAT Exam Analysis 2021 for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

CAT VARC Section	Number of Questions (Slot 1)
Reading Comprehension	16
Out of Context sentence	2-3
Parajumbles	3-4
Summary	3-4

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