Saurav Anand
Table of Contents
CAT Analysis
The CAT (Common Admission Test) paper analysis for 2023 will be released after all three times the test is given. CAT 2023 slot 1 will be held online from 8:45 to 10:45 am, slot 2 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, and slot 3 from 4:45 to 6:45 pm. The CAT slot 1 analysis will give you an idea of how hard the CAT (Common Admission Test) 2023 test will be and what kinds of questions will be asked. This understanding of the CAT exam analysis will help the other people who are taking the test today but at different times.
The CAT paper analysis gives a lot of information about how hard each section is, how important each topic is, the format of the test, any changes that may have been made, the number of successful tries, and the CAT cutoff for each section.
Analysis of the CAT Paper 2023
After the CAT (Common Admission Test) 2023 exam is done well, a paper analysis will be made public. The structure and pattern of the CAT paper analysis 2023 should be the same as they were last year. According to the expected CAT Paper Analysis 2023, CAT 2023 will be 120 minutes long, with each section having a 40-minute time limit. The exam will be given based on the rules and guidelines of COVID-19.
The CAT test paper 2023 will have 66 questions in total. In the VARC part, there will be 24 questions. There will be as many RC questions as possible in this section. In the DILR part, you will have to answer 20 questions based on tables and charts. In the QA section, there will be 22 questions, most of which will be about algebra and math.
Analysis of the CAT Paper 2022
The first part of the CAT (Common Admission Test) was over at 10:30 a.m. Candidates can now look at the exam analysis for CAT 2022 Slots 1, 2, and 3. IIM CAT exam slot 2 times between 2:30 and 4:30 PM and slot 3 times between 4:30 and 6:30 PM.
Slot 1 of the CAT 2022 Paper Analysis
IIM Bangalore ran CAT (Common Admission Test) 2022 slot 1 on November 27, 2022, from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM. Here is an in-depth look at each question on the CAT 2022 exam.
| CAT Features | Number of Questions | Difficulty Level | Topics with High Weightage | Ideal CAT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Difficulty Level of the Exam | 66 | Moderate | – | 98 (An ideal score of 99%ile)110 (An ideal score of 99.5%ile) |
| Difficulty Level of VARC | 24 | Easy to Moderate | RC passages, Summary based questions | 40-42 |
| Difficulty Level of DILR | 20 | Easy to Moderate | No questions on bar graphs and pie charts, Logical Reasoning had a higher weightage | 28-30 |
| Difficulty Level of QA | 22 | Moderate to Difficult | Arithmetic | 36-38 |
CAT 2022 Analysis of Verbal Skills and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
The VARC section is the same as it was last year in terms of how hard it is. In the 40 minutes given, they had to answer a total of 24 questions.
There were 3 questions that weren’t MCQs. The number of words in each RC paragraph was between 300 and 350. Two passages were easy, while the other two were hard.
The fact that the VA section got rid of the “odd-one-out” questions and added the “fill in the blank” part was a surprise.
The 99%ile can be reached with a final score between 38 and 40.
CAT 2022 Analysis of Data Analysis and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
In the DILR part, there were 4 groups of 5 questions, for a total of 20 questions.
The CAT (Common Admission Test) 2022 DILR test was more difficult than the CAT 2021 DILR test.
There were six questions that were not MCQs. About eight to ten questions could be answered.
For a 99th percentile or higher on DILR, the best score is between 28 and 30 points.
CAT 2022 Analysis of Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
As expected, the QA section of the CAT (Common Admission Test) 2022 was easy to moderately hard.
In just 40 minutes, you had to answer 22 questions. The section had 8 questions that were not MCQs. As one might expect, this part was mostly about math.
For a 99th percentile or higher on the CAT 2022 QA section, the best score is between 36 and 38.
Slot 2 of the CAT 2022 Paper Analysis
IIM Bangalore will give CAT 2022 slot 2 on November 27, 2022, from 12:30 to 2:30. Here is an in-depth look at each question on the CAT 2022 exam.
| CAT Features | Number of Questions | Difficulty Level | Topics with High Weightage | Ideal CAT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Difficulty Level of the Exam | 66 | Moderate to Difficult | – | 97-99 |
| Difficulty Level of VARC | 24 | Moderate | To Be Updated | 37-39 |
| Difficulty Level of DILR | 20 | Easy to Moderate | To Be Updated | 27-30 |
| Difficulty Level of QA | 22 | Difficult | To Be Updated | 40-42 |
CAT 2022 Analysis of Verbal Skills and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
The second part of Slot 2 of CAT 2022 VARC continued to be easy to moderately hard. In 40 minutes, you had to answer a total of 24 questions.
6 questions were Non-MCQs. Each of the RC passages had about 500 words. Two were simple to read. Since there were 4 passages, it would have been best to try to answer 11–14 questions.
Overall, you can get a 99+% with a score of 40–42.
CAT 2022 Analysis of Data Analysis and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
It was hard to do DILR in Slot 2. The DILR part had four sets of five questions each, just like slot 1.
Again, there were 6 questions that were not MCQs. Two sets were easy to figure out, and a 12–13 try was suggested for this phase.
For a 99th percentile or higher on DILR, the best score is between 30 and 32 points.
CAT 2022 Analysis of Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
The QA part of CAT (Common Admission Test) 2022 Slot 2 was the same as last year’s. 15 of the section’s 22 questions were the best ones to answer.
The section had 8 questions that were not MCQs. Algebra came in second in the Slot 2 QA section of the Slot 1 QA after Arithmetic.
For the CAT 2022 Slot 2 QA section, a score of 30-34 is the best way to get a 99+ percentile.
Slot 3 of the CAT 2022 Paper Analysis
IIM Bangalore will give CAT 2022 slot 3 on November 27, 2022, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Here is an in-depth look at each question on the CAT 2022 exam.
| CAT Features | Number of Questions | Difficulty Level | Topics with High Weightage | Ideal CAT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Difficulty Level of the Exam | 66 | Moderate to Difficult | – | 93-95 |
| Difficulty Level of VARC | 24 | Moderate to Difficult | Para jumbles Summary Para completion | 40-42 |
| Difficulty Level of DILR | 20 | Moderate to Difficult | Computer Science-Ratios Covid Cases Blue & pink- male female-graph | 26-27 |
| Difficulty Level of QA | 22 | Moderate | Arithmetic Algebra | 30-33 |
CAT 2022 Analysis of Verbal Skills and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
Compared to the slots that came before, the part in slot 3 was easier. After the VARC of Slots 1 and 2, there were a total of 24 questions to be answered in 40 minutes.
There were 3 questions that weren’t MCQs. About 500 words were in each RC chapter. Two of the passages were easy to read, one was a little hard, and one was hard.
Paragraph completion and paragraph jumbles were new parts of the VA part. Each of the three themes had one question that was hard to answer.
Many of the questions in this section were hard because they were based on inferences. In VARC Slot 3, a final score of 40 to 42 can be good enough for a 99%.
CAT 2022 Analysis of Data Analysis and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
Slot 3 DILR was harder in terms of LOD than Slot 2 and Slot 1 DILR. In the DILR part, there were 4 groups of 5 questions, for a total of 20 questions. Again, there were 6 questions that were not MCQs. Only one of the four sets in the section was easy.
For a 99th percentile or higher on the DILR test, the best score is 26–27 points.
CAT 2022 Analysis of Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
The CAT 2022 Slot 3 QA section was longer and more difficult. In just 40 minutes, you had to answer 22 questions. The section had 8 questions that were not MCQs. Just like in Slots 1 and 2, most of the questions in Slot 3’s QA section were about math.
For the CAT 2022 Slot 3 QA section, a score of 30-33 is the best way to get a 99+ percentile.
How CAT 2022 students felt about the Slot 1 exam:
Mridula, a candidate for CAT 2022 slot 1, said that Quant was hard because most of the questions required logical thinking and the diagram problems were hard. As a whole, the CAT test was about average.
VARC: One of the students thought that the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension parts were not too hard.
Navyashri takes the CAT, and she finds it hard to answer verbal, historical, logical, class of boys and girls, and event questions. There are questions about profit and loss, ratios, and logs on the CAT slot 1 paper.
A person who took the CAT 2022 exam in Patna said that the structure of the question paper was different from that of the CAT practice test. Both the bar graph and the pie chart are fine. There were three questions about geometry, and VARC had five paragraphs and three questions about what they meant.
DILR: DILR didn’t make sense. The CAT slot 1 test was easy as a whole. Each part of the CAT had a time limit of 40 minutes, and the whole test took 2 hours to finish.
How CAT 2022 Students Reacted to the Second Exam Slot
Most people who wanted to take the CAT exam thought it was a moderately hard test. According to the student analysis of the CAT exam, the CAT 2022 exam was not too hard overall.
VARC: The DILR and QA parts of the test were harder than the verbal ability and reading comprehension parts (VARC).
The different kinds of questions were also a surprise. In the questions, people talked about things that were not expected.
The people who took the CAT in slot 2 looked at the questions and decided that it was also a pretty hard test. A CAT 2022 candidate said that slot 2 of the CAT exam was a little hard because most of the questions were about number systems.
The Verbal (VARC) part of the CAT test was easy to moderately hard for the students, but the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) part was hard.
How CAT 2022 Students Reacted to the Third Exam Slot
At 6:30 PM, the last time slot for taking the CAT in 2022 was over. Students who took the CAT in 2022 during slot number three said that this slot was a little harder than slots one and two.
DILR: Of the three parts, DILR was the easiest to moderately hard one.
QA: Some of the problems on the part about math skills were more difficult.
Most of the questions in VARC were not too hard or too easy.
In RC, there were two long paragraphs. Overall, CAT exam slot 3 was between easy and hard in terms of how hard it was.
Analysis of the CAT Paper 2021
According to the CAT Paper Analysis 2021, the CAT 2021 test was not too hard overall. The format of the CAT 2021 exam was the same as the CAT 2020 exam, which only had two hours and forty minutes for each section.
On the other hand, each part had fewer questions in it. The 66 questions on the CAT 2021 test were split into the following sections, and you had two hours to finish them all: The VARC had 24 questions, the DILR had 20, and the QA had 22 questions. The whole test took 40 minutes.
| Section | Time in Minutes | Ideal Score | Difficulty Level | No of questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VARC | 40 | 35-38 (15-18) | Moderate | 24 |
| DILR | 40 | 28-30 (10-12) | Moderate | 20 |
| QA | 40 | 39-42 (15-17) | Easy | 22 |
| Total | 120 | 97-99 (42-48) | 66 |
CAT Paper Analysis by Section for 2021
The CAT Section-Wise Paper Analysis for 2021 is given below for all slots.
Section Wise CAT Paper Analysis 2021 for Slot 1:
The following table shows how hard the different parts of the CAT exam are.
Analysis of Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability (VARC)
The people who took the test said that it was the hardest of the three parts. But a student could get good grades if he or she was good at reading, had a good vocabulary, and could talk well.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
It was an MCQ test, and some of the questions were about summarising and reading comprehension. It was asked which of 4 Reading Comprehension (RC) passages were MCQs. Two of the RCs for the 4 passages had 4 questions, and the other two had 5. So, 18 of the 26 RC questions were asked.
There were also Verbal Ability questions of the TITA type. Some of these were “Out of Context Sentences,” “Para Jumbled Statements,” “Para Summaries,” and other similar things. The part was long and hard to understand. Verbal Ability was made up of three sets, each with eight questions out of a total of 26. Three questions were about Para Jumbles, three were about Para Summaries, and two were about Odd Sentence Para Jumbles.
Topics for Reading Comprehension
Changes in the sound of an elephant seal when it moves – 5 questions (Difficult)
How the Tang Dynasty’s money worked – 4 questions (Moderate)
Anarchy – 5 questions (Difficult)
How does knowing grammar help with writing and vocabulary? (Moderate)
Verbal Ability
There were 8 questions in this section.
Para Formation – 3 questions – Difficult
Para Summary – 3 questions – Difficult
Odd One Out – 2 questions – Moderate
Expected marks needed: A candidate needs between 40 and 45 points on the VARC section in order to get a 99 percentile.
Analysis of Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
Even though it was the most feared part of the CAT test, the QA part was easy in 2021. In fact, people who took the test said it was the easiest of the three parts.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
Algebra and arithmetic were covered in the sections with the most questions. In other parts, there were things like Roots, Geometry, Logs, and more. The Number System was used for two or three of the questions. There were 8 Type in Answer (TITA) questions and 18 Multiple Choice (MCQ) questions.
A list of the QA’s topics
10 Questions About Math
Algebra – 8 Questions
Number System – 5 Questions
3 Questions About Geometry
Permutations and Combinations and Modern Mathematics were not used in any of the questions.
Expected marks needed: To get a 99 percentile, you needed to get between 42 and 48 points on the QA section.
DILR stands for “data interpretation and logical reasoning.”
This section was not too hard or too easy. Time was important to learn DI&LR, but it was possible to do so. Some questions were difficult. Logical Reasoning questions were asked the most.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
There are a total of 14 questions from LR and 10 questions from DI. There were 5 sets in this part. Three of the five sets had four questions each, while the other two had six questions each. One set had diagrams of veins, and the others were data sets with basic tables.
List of the DI&LR subjects
- Drivers and Ratings for Maxima Minima – 4 questions (Moderate to Difficult)
- Venn Diagrams: Set on Patients – 4 questions (Moderate to Difficult)
- Reasoning and figuring out what the numbers mean: students and tests 6 questions (Moderate to Difficult)
- Reasoning: Institutes Vendors – 6 questions (Difficult)
- Distribution: Set on Musicians – 4 questions (Moderate)
Expected marks: For the DI&LR section, you should get between 31 and 35 to be in the top percentile.
Section Wise CAT Paper Analysis 2021 for Slot 2:
The following table shows how hard the different parts of the CAT exam are.
Analysis of Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability (VARC)
The candidates said it was a simple question. It was similar to the Slot 1 VARC section in some ways. If a student was good at reading, had a good vocabulary, and could talk well, he or she could get good grades. The pattern of questions was the same as in Slot 1.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
Again, the types of questions were the same as in Slot 1.
RC was made up of four passages. Two of the passages had five questions, and the other two had four. So, 18 of the 26 questions came from RC as a whole.
List of questions asked on the Reading Comprehension test (RC)
- 5 Easy Questions on Different Kinds of Aggression (Set 1)
- 5 Questions (Moderate) – Piracy (Set 2)
- 4 Hard Questions on Art and Visual Culture (Set 3)
- 4 Questions (Moderate to Difficult) – Renewable Energy (Set 4)
Verbal Ability
There were 8 questions on it. There were 3 Para Jumbles and 2 Odd Sentence Para Jumbles in the type that wasn’t an MCQ. There were 3 Para Summary Questions in the MCQ type. The TIFA questions were a little harder than the MCQ questions. So, VA asked a total of 10 out of the 26 questions.
3 Hard Questions on Para Formation
2 Questions (Difficult) – Odd One Out 3 Questions (Moderate) Para Summary
Marks needed to pass – To get the 99 percentile, a candidate needs to get between 42 and 45 points on the VARC section.
Analysis of Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
The QA section was between easy and hard. The pattern was the same as Slot 1, and Algebra and Arithmetic were the most important topics on the paper.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
The most questions came from Arithmetic and Algebra, which made up 17 of the 26 questions in the QA section. There were 20 multiple-choice questions and 6 TITA questions.
A list of the QA’s topics
Algebra, Time and Distance, Work, Speed, Arithmetic, and Geography make up the most questions. It was easy to pass.
Two moderately hard questions were asked about the number system, and one question was asked about permutations and combinations. In slot one, no questions were asked about this topic.
Expected marks needed: To get a 99 percentile, you should get between 40 and 46 points on the QA section.
DILR stands for “data interpretation and logical reasoning.”
This part was between easy and hard in terms of difficulty. Some of the candidates said it was the hardest of the three. Most questions from Logical Reasoning were asked again, and the pattern was the same as Slot 1.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
In 2 sets, there were 6 questions, and in 3 sets, there were 4 questions. So, there were 5 sets with a total of 24 questions. Six of the 24 questions were not MCQ, and 18 of the questions were MCQ.
List of the DI&LR subjects
- Reasoning Based on Numbers: Voting and Election (Easy) – 4 questions (Set 1)
- Reasoning based on math: Blue, Green, and Red balls in a row – Presentation (Easy) – 4 questions (Set 2)
- Arrangements: Parking Slots (Moderate) – 4 questions (Set 3)
- Table: Sales Figure (Difficult) – 6 questions (Set 4)
- Scholars who do research and scheduling (Difficult) – 6 questions (Set 5)
Expected marks: For the DI&LR section, you should get between 30 and 32 to be in the top percentile.
Section Wise CAT Paper Analysis 2021 for Slot 3:
The following table shows how hard the different parts of the CAT exam are.
Analysis of Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability (VARC)
The candidates said that this part was easy to moderate. It was the same as the last two exam times, and the exam pattern didn’t change either.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
The questions in the third session were the same as those in the first and second slots.
The Reading Comprehension (RC) test had 4 passages to read. Two of the passages had five questions, and the other two had four. So, 18 of the 26 questions came from RC as a whole. The level of difficulty of these questions was about average.
Reading Comprehension (RC) Topics List – Multiple Choice Questions
- Class and Screen Time: 4 Questions (Moderate)
- How to Write a Travel Essay Based on How You Got There – 5 Questions (Easy)
- Economic Crisis – 4 Questions (Moderate)
- Views on human nature: 5 questions (Moderate to Difficult)
Types of Verbal Ability Questions: MCQ and TITA
There were 8 questions on it. There were 3 Para Jumble questions and 2 Odd Sentence Para Jumbles on the non-MCQ type. There were 3 Para Summary Questions in the MCQ type. So, VA asked a total of 10 out of the 26 questions.
3 Questions (Difficult to Moderate) – Para Jumbles
2 Questions (Difficult) – Odd One Out 3 Questions (Easy) Para Summary
Marks needed to pass – To get the 99 percentile, a candidate needs to get between 41 and 45 points on the VARC section.
Analysis of Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
The question and answer section for the third slot was medium to hard. Algebra and arithmetic took up most of the paper, so the pattern was the same as in the previous slots.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
Again, math and algebra questions made up most of the questions in this section. But, unlike the first two slots, Algebra was less important in this one. It also had a good number of questions on a variety of topics, which gave the paper a lot of variety and made it similar to the ones that came before. Out of the 26 questions, 8 were TITAs and the rest were MCQs.
A list of the QA’s topics
Two questions about the geometry
Mensuration – 1 Question
10 Questions About Math
Algebra – 5 Questions
Number System – 3 Questions
Three questions about coordinate geometry
To get a 99 percentile, you were expected to get between 40 and 46 points on the QA section.
DILR stands for “data interpretation and logical reasoning.”
This part was hard to understand. Some of the candidates said it was the hardest of the three. From LR, the most questions possible were asked.
What kinds of questions and subjects are asked?
For this part, the pattern stayed the same. In 2 sets, there were 6 questions, and in 3 sets, there were 4 questions. So, there were 5 sets with a total of 24 questions. Six of the 24 questions were not MCQ, and 18 of the questions were MCQ. When compared to the previous slots, the TITA questions were a little bit different.
List of the DI&LR subjects
Here’s how the questions in this section are broken down by subject.
- The Easy to Moderate section has four questions.
- HI-LO: Moderate to Difficult – 6 questions
- 16 Patients and 8 Viles: Moderate – 4 questions
- Farmer Giving Away 205 Trees in 12 Plots: Medium to Hard – 6 Questions
- Games & Tournament: Moderate – 4 questions
Expected marks: For the DI&LR section, you needed between 28 and 32 points to be in the top percentile.
Frequently Asked Questions About CAT Paper Analysis
Q. What is the expected difficulty level of CAT 2022?
Ans. The CAT 2022 exam was moderate to very difficult for all three slots. The VARC and DILR parts of the CAT 2022 were easy to moderately hard, but the Quantitative Aptitude part was easy.
Q. Who sets the CAT question paper?
Ans. The CAT question paper is set by the organisation in charge of running the test. Every year, the questions are set by a group of teachers chosen by the IIM that is running the exam. The CAT 2022 questions will be made by the faculty at IIM Bangalore, which is in charge of the test this year.
Q. Does the CAT test paper change for each time slot?
Ans. Yes, the CAT question papers are slightly different each time so that the questions don’t get copied or leaked. Because the questions on the three tests are different, one of them is harder than the other two.
Q. Were the CAT 2022 question papers for different times different in how hard they were?
Ans. Yes, the CAT 2022 test papers for each time slot were a little bit different in how hard they were because the questions were different. But the marks will be normalized so that everyone can be judged on the same scale.
Q. Which time slot’s CAT question paper is harder?
Ans. Any of the question papers could turn out to be harder than the others. There is no pattern to this, since every year a different IIM runs the exam and a different team makes the questions.
Q. How many questions should I try to get a score of 99 or above?
Ans. There is no set number of questions that, if answered correctly, can guarantee a score of 99 percent. CAT percentile is based on a number of things, like the number of people who took the test and their raw scores, how hard the test was, and the CAT normalization process. Also, how many questions do I need to answer on the CAT to get a 99th percentile score?
Q. How do you know if you did well on the CAT?
Ans. A good CAT score is between 70 and 75 correct answers out of 100 questions. Each candidate should try to get between 70 and 75 questions right. The total number of questions on the CAT in 2021 will be 76, so you’ll only need about 50 good attempts to score above 99 percentile.
Q. Which part of the CAT exam is thought to be the hardest?
Ans. Of the three parts of the CAT (VARC, DILR, and QA), the last one is thought to be the hardest because the questions are based on math and require complicated calculations. But many candidates also find VARC hard because the RC passages are long and hard to understand.
Q. Is there a set way that the CAT questions are spread out?
Ans. Yes, there are three different parts to the questions. The VARC will have 24 questions, while the DILR will have 20. There will be 22 questions on the Quantitative Aptitude part of the test.
Q. Can I move from one section to another during the CAT?
Ans. No, you can’t switch between sections on the CAT exam. Each section should be answered in the same order as it appears on the screen, and when the time limit for that section is up, the screen will move on to the next section.
