Common Admission Test (CAT)

  The Common Admission Test (CAT) exam is conducted once a year and is a computer-based test and held across 156 cities in India. In order to qualify for CAT, a candidate must have finished or be appearing for his or her Bachelor’s degree, final year examination, with at least a 50% and 45% in Graduation for the GN & Reserved category respectively . The degree should be granted by any university, incorporated or declared to be deemed under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956, or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India. IIMs conduct the Common Admission Test on a rotational basis for admission into management and business courses.

  The duration of CAT exam is usually (According to CAT - 2022) 120 minutes and is estimated to have a total of 66-72 Questions distributed amongst 3 sections:

-> Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
     24-26 questions with 19-21 MCQs and 5-6 TITA (Non-MCQs).

-> Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
     20-22 questions with 15-17 MCQs and 5-6 TITA (Non-MCQs).

-> Quantitative Ability (QA)
     22-24 questions with 16-18 MCQs and 6-8 TITA (Non-MCQs).

  As per the marking scheme, 3 marks are awarded for every correct answer and 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer. There is no negative marking for TITA ( Non-MCQs) questions. CAT Score is the total score obtained in the exam based on the marking scheme. Scaled CAT scores are different from the raw scores. CAT Scaled scores are calculated by IIM after normalizing raw scores for all 3 CAT slots. CAT Percentile is calculated based on the scale scores of the candidates. Candidates have to clear both the sectional and overall cut offs to be eligible for admission.

  Candidates must be well aware of the process they have to follow on CAT exam day. Before starting with the exam, candidates will have to go through a few formalities. On arrival at the test center for CAT, firstly the candidates need to locate their lab and go through the process of frisking. Post completion of this task, document verification will be done and candidates will be assigned their systems for taking CAT exam.