There are certain steps that the students need to follow when they are trying to prepare for an entrance exam. Whether students are trying to focus on achieving high percentiles or the students are focused on the syllabus. Before diving deep into all of these important aspects, students need to focus on certain steps that are important to reach in order to go to the stage of the preparation for the CAT exam. As most of the students know, the Common Admission Test is a very popularly known and renowned management entrance exam for students. The entrance exam gives the opportunity to almost all the students who want to take admission in some of the most profound and well-known institutions around the country. Students always have the dream to see themselves in great IIMs and business schools, and therefore, they start their preparation well in advance. In order to have a solid preparation for the exam, the CAT exam pattern also holds a lot of importance for the students. It is important for the students to realise that the CAT paper pattern is essential for providing a lot of information to the students. Usually the exam pattern tells the students about the different sections of the exam, the time duration, whether or not there are sectional time limits, the total number of questions, the varied types of questions that can come in the exam, the mode of exam, etc. All of this information becomes very important for the students to know in order to begin with their preparation.

Types of Questions in the CAT Exam Pattern 

When students are trying to take the information on the CAT 2026 exam pattern, it becomes essential for them to realise what kinds of questions will be asked in the question paper of CAT. There are majorly two types of questions that come in the CAT exam. The first kind of questions are the multiple-choice questions. Around 70 to 75% of the exam is based on multiple-choice questions. In these kinds of questions, there's usually a statement or a question asked, and there are four options that are provided to the students, and the students have to choose the best option that they think suits the question. The other type of questions in the CAT exam are the type-in-the-answer type questions. Basically, for these types of questions, the students usually get a question, and there is a space left for them to write the answer that they feel is the correct option. In each section, there are about four to five questions that are usually typed in the answer type.

About the CAT Exam Pattern 

According to the CAT pattern, the CAT exam is conducted once a year by the Indian Institute of Management. CAT is a national-level entrance exam that provides the opportunity for the students to pursue various programmes and their management degrees. The CAT exam is a computer-based online test that is conducted at various examination centres. There are three slots for the CAT exam. The overall time limit of the exam is 120 minutes. The unique aspect attached to the CAT exam is also the sectional time limit that each section is supposed to be answered in 40 minutes of time duration by the students. That means that students cannot solve any questions of a certain section after the sectional time limit is over; the screen will automatically move to the next section. When it comes to the sections of the CAT exam, there are a total of 3 sections, which are Verbal ability and Reading Comprehension, Data interpretation and logical reasoning, and quantitative aptitude.

As discussed earlier, there are a number of multiple-choice questions and type-in-the-answer-type questions in the exam. Hence, it becomes important for the students to understand when they are studying the CAT exam pattern how many questions are MCQ based and how many are TITA based. In the first section of the exam, which is verbal ability and reading comprehension, there are a total of 24 questions, out of which 21 questions are multiple-choice questions and 3 questions are type-in-the-answer-type questions. Moving to the next section, which is Data interpretation and logical reasoning, there are a total of 22 questions, out of which 14 are multiple-choice questions and 6 are type-in-the-answer-type questions. And the last section is of quantitative aptitude. In this section there are 22 questions in total, and 14 questions are multiple-choice questions and 8 questions are type-in-the-answer-type questions. This makes the total number of questions in the CAT exam 68. Out of which the total number of questions that are MCQ based are 49 and the total number of type-in-the-answer-type questions is 17.

Topics as part of the CAT Exam Pattern 

1. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 

As a part of the CAT exam pattern, there are different topics that are a part of the VARC section of the exam. These topics are generally based on reading comprehension, parajumbles, verbal logic, syllogism and analogies, one-word substitution, drawing conclusions from text, identifying main ideas, etc.

2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning 

As a part of this section of the CAT exam, there are questions on topics such as pie charts, line charts, family tree puzzles, data tables, logical connectors, ordering problems, pattern matching, sequence identification, set theory, etc.

3. Quantitative Ability 

According to the CAT exam pattern for this section, there are questions based on modulus, absolute value, power rules, exponential functions, area and volume, speed and time, remainders, percentages, profit and loss, compound interest, etc.

Conclusion 

Students should always try and focus on the CAT exam pattern because this will help the students to get to know every aspect of the exam in a really clear manner. Without knowing the exam pattern exactly, students shouldn't really start with any kind of preparation for the exam. Each year, there can be changes made in the exam pattern as well. Therefore, students should make sure that they're very much searching for the current year's exam pattern while preparing for the exam. Having the right information about the exam pattern will enhance the students' performance and preparation.

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. How many sections does the exam have?

The exam has a total of three sections.

2. In which mode is the exam conducted?

CAT is a computer based test conducted in online mode.