Overview: The tentative date for the CAT 2024 exam is November 24. To ensure you're ready to face CAT 2024, it's crucial to begin your prep immediately, starting with an in-depth review of the latest CAT exam pattern.

However, if you're a beginner preparing for the CAT exam, the first step you should take is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the CAT exam itself including familiarizing yourself with its paper pattern, syllabus, admission process, affiliated colleges, exam fees, and other details. In this blog you will get a detailed understanding if CAT exam paper pattern!

Download FREE Study Material for CAT Exam 2024 by SuperGrads

Read More: Section Wise Detailed CAT Syllabus

What is CAT Exam Pattern?

• The CAT exam pattern is meticulously designed to evaluate candidates comprehensively, assessing their aptitude from all angles.
• The format of the CAT exam paper pattern is a two-hour session that includes a mix of multiple-choice and non-multiple-choice questions, totaling 66, mirroring the structure from CAT 2024.
• Despite the CAT's historical tendency for changes, this year, it is expected to maintain the same format.

The CAT exam pattern is divided into three main sections:

1. Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
3. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

CAT Exam Important Dates 2024

Before we go ahead and learn about the comprehensive CAT exam pattern let's learn about the important events and dates for CAT 2024:

CAT Exam 2024 Events	Tentative Dates
CAT 2024 Notification Date	Second Week of August
CAT Exam 2024 Registration Date Opens	Fourth Week of August
CAT Exam 2024 Application form last date	Second Week of September
CAT Admit Card Release Date	First Week of November
CAT Exam Registration Fees	INR 1200 (Reserved categories) INR 2400 (Other categories)
CAT 2024 Exam Date	November 24, 2024
CAT Notification & Registration Official Website	iimcat.ac.in

Checkout: How Many Times CAT Exam is Conducted in a Year

Overview of CAT Exam Pattern 2024

The highlights of the CAT exam paper pattern are as follows:

CAT Exam Paper Pattern 2024
Mode of CAT exam Pattern	Computer Based Test
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Duration of exam	120 minutes, 40 minutes per section
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Number of questions	66
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- CAT total marks	198
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Language of question paper	English
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Number of Sections	3
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Number of answer choices	4
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Sections	VARC, DI & LR and QA
CAT Exam Paper Pattern- Question Type	MCQ and non-MCQ

The CAT exam pattern pdf is not available officially; you can analyze the CAT exam pattern and syllabus from the CAT previous year's papers.

Read More: CAT Exam Slot Timings for 2023 

CAT Exam Paper Pattern-Section-wise Marks Distribution for 2024

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a competitive exam conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission into their MBA programs. 

Expected Section-wise CAT exam paper pattern 2024 details are tabulated below:

CAT Exam Pattern 2024 - Sections	Total No. of Questions	CAT Exam Pattern 2024 - MCQs	TITA Questions	CAT Exam Marks Pattern	Duration
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	21	3	72	40 min
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DI & LR)	20	14	6	60	40 min
Quantitative Ability (QA)	22	14	8	66	40 min
Total	66	49	17	198	120 (2 hours)

Last year in 2023, the CAT Exam was conducted in three slots of two hours each – morning (8:30 – 10:30 am), afternoon (12:30 – 2:30 pm) and evening (4:30 – 6:30 pm). 

CAT exam duration and CAT exam pattern details are tabulated above.

The exam has a high standard of difficulty and requires you to have a good knowledge of the syllabus and the ability to solve complex problems.

Learn More: What are the Benefits of CAT Exam for MBA

CAT Exam Pattern- Marking Scheme

Before taking the test, it's critical to understand the CAT marking scheme to decide which questions to answer and which to skip. In CAT exam paper pattern, the marking scheme incorporates negative marking specifically for the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and not for TITA questions. Below are the essential details:

• The total marks for CAT 2024 will amount to 198.
• Each question is valued at 3 marks.
• Incorrect answers will incur a penalty of 1 mark for every wrong MCQ answer.
• No marks will be deducted for unanswered questions.
• The Quantitative Ability (QA) section will include non-MCQ questions.
• Non-MCQ questions will not be subject to negative marking.

CAT Exam Pattern- Sectional Time 

1. Quantitative Aptitude (QA)- 40 minutes
2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)- 40 minutes
3. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)- 40 minutes

Read More: CAT Exam Analysis for 2023

CAT Exam Pattern PDF

One important thing you must know is that none of the IIMs or any recognized body releases the official CAT exam pattern PDF at their respective website.

Below is the detailed CAT exam pattern PDF explained to you with the CAT exam syllabus:

Download Detailed CAT Exam Pattern PDF with Syllabus 

CAT Exam Pattern for Quantitative Aptitude 

Here is the CAT Exam Paper Pattern for Quantitative Aptitude:

The CAT Quantitative Aptitude exam includes only numerical-based questions from various Mathematical concepts.

This year, it is expected that there will be a total of 26 questions in this section. 

The quantitative aptitude section's detailed pattern is provided below:

The five primary topics that make up the entire quantitative aptitude section CAT exam pattern:

• Basic Arithmetic
• Algebra
• Number System
• Geometry & Mensuration
• Modern Maths

Last year, QA consisted of 22 questions, out of which 8 were TITA questions. The table below gives the number of questions asked per slot based on the four broadly classified areas of QA i.e., Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Modern Math and Number Theory. 

Prepare with: CAT Exam Online Coaching

CAT Exam Pattern 2024 - Slot/Topic	Arithmetic	Algebra	Geometry	Modern Math and Number Theory
Slot 1	9	7	3	3
Slot 2	8	7	3	4
Slot 3	11	6	3	2

Check: CAT Exam Preparation Books 2024

CAT Exam Pattern for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

The CAT VARC section tests your English language skills and ability to interpret paragraphs and understand the core ideas. 

This year's CAT exam will include 26 questions from the VA-RC section.

This year, the CAT Verbal Ability section will include eight questions.

The following are CAT 2024 Exam Pattern for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Pattern:

• Para Jumbles
• Sentence Correction and Completion
• Summary Based

The reading comprehension passages and the verbal ability section each have their own questions.

Refer: CAT Exam Verbal Ability Questions with Solutions

The CAT Reading Comprehension section has several questions, including title- and vocabulary-based questions.

Last year, VARC had four passages with a total of 16 questions. 3 Para Summary Questions, 3 Para Jumble Questions and 2 Missing Sentence Questions completed the section. From a total of 24 questions, 3 were TITA questions. 

Learn more: How to improve reading comprehension for CAT Exam 2024?

CAT Exam Pattern for Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation 

The logical reasoning and data interpretation component gauge how well you analyze data and comprehend logical premises.

There will be 22–24 questions in this section altogether asked in this section.

CAT MBA entrance exam pattern or CAT Exam Pattern 2024 for Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation Pattern is as follows: 

• Percentages
• Profit & Loss
• Simple Interest-Compound Interest 
• Time & Distance
• Averages-Mixtures-Allegations
• Numbers
• Mensuration
• Logarithms
• Functions & Graphs
• Indices & Surds
• Quadratic Equations
• Special Equations
• Statistics

Last year, DILR consisted of 4 sets with five questions each. From a total of 20 questions, 6 were TITA questions. Here is a slot-wise analysis of the topics on which the sets were based. 

**Note: The detailed CAT Exam Pattern PDF has been uploaded above in this blog. You can download and save it easily.

Prepare with: CAT Mock Tests 2024

Slots/Sets	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Slot 1	Routes & Networks	Venn Diagram	Mathematical Reasoning	Games & Tournaments
Slot 2	Routes & Networks	Venn Diagram	Tables & Graphs	Selection & Distribution
Slot 3	Tables & Graphs	Arrangements	Tables & Graphs	Rank & Ordering

Check: How to prepare for CAT Exam 2024

The CAT exam pattern is summarized in the table below:

CAT Exam Pattern 2024 - Sections	Number of Questions	Marks Per Question	CAT Negative Marking (Only MCQ)
VARC	24	3	-1
DILR	20	3	-1
Quantitative Aptitude	22	3	-1
Total	66	198

**Note: The detailed CAT Exam Pattern PDF has been uploaded above in this blog. You can download and save it easily.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the CAT exam pattern 2024 is a comprehensive test that requires considerable preparation and practice. You must understand the exam format and the questions' nature to score well. Familiarize yourself with the CAT Exam paper pattern and structure to maximize your chances of scoring high. With the right preparation and practice, you can ace the CAT exam and achieve your desired score. Again, the CAT exam pattern PDF is not released on any official source.