CAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2024, Subject Wise

Last updated on 01-Aug-2023

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CAT Syllabus

CAT conducts online examinations to shortlist candidates for the MBA and postgraduate programs in the IIMs and other Business Colleges. The syllabus and Exam pattern plays a very important role in the preparation for any examination. It is good to have updated information on the syllabus for any competitive exam. Proper information regarding the CAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern will help candidates create an effective preparation strategy. This section will help you with complete details of the CAT exam covering the detailed exam syllabus and the exam pattern.

CAT Syllabus 2024

Candidates who are preparing to appear in the CAT 2024 examination must have all the updates regarding the latest exam pattern and the syllabus. CAT consists of only one stage of the Computer Based Examination which is conducted in various test centers all over India. It is an objective-type test and the final result is decided based on the candidates' performance in this computer-based test. We have mentioned below the CAT 2024 Syllabus and Exam Pattern to give a better idea to the candidates.

Attempt Free CAT 2024 Mock Test

CAT Syllabus Latest Changes

Syllabus & Pattern for CAT	Changes in CAT 2019 to 2020	Changes in CAT
Total Questions	76 instead of 100	Decrease from 76 to 66
Total score	Decrease from 100 to 76	Decrease from 228 to 198
Total questions in the VARC section	Decrease from 34 to 26	Decrease from 26 to 24
Questions asked overall in the DILR section	Decrease from 32 to 24	Decrease from 24 to 20
Total Questions in the QA section	Decrease from 34 to 26	Decrease from 26 to 22

CAT 2024 exam syllabus has three distinct sections which are:

CAT Exam Pattern 2024

The CAT 2024 exam pattern is as follows

CAT Section	Questions	MCQs	Non-MCQs	Maximum Marks
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	26	18	8	78
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	24	18	6	72
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	26	18	8	78
Total	76	54	22	228

Note: There will be a negative marking of 1 mark for the MCQ while no negative marking in Non-MCQ questions.

CAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2024 – CAT Exam Guidelines 2024

As per the previous year's notification, IIMs conducted the CAT 2024 in the exam pattern for CAT 2021 entrance examination. The revised duration of the test will be 120 minutes. There will be three sections:

Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
Section III: Quantitative Ability

Candidates will be allotted exactly 40 minutes for answering questions in each section and they will not be allowed to switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section.
Some questions in each section may not be of multiple-choice type. Instead, direct answers will have to be typed on the screen. Also, they will allow the use of a basic on-screen calculator for computation.

CAT 2024 Syllabus

QA or Quantitative Aptitude
DILR or Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
VARC or Verbal and Reading Comprehension

Once you have familiarized yourself with the CAT exam pattern, take a look at the syllabus for each section. Here's the detailed syllabus you need to know.

CAT Syllabus 2024 – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

The first section in the CAT exam is VARC, which stands for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. This section has two parts. Let's go through some essential topics and key points of this section.

Fill in the blanks	Para Completion and inference	Verbal Logic
Verbal Reasoning	Subject-verb agreement	Para jumbles
Sentence completion	Foreign language words used in English	Different usage of the same word
Grammar	Reading Comprehension	Idioms
Syllogisms	Analogies	Antonyms
Jumbled paragraphs	Sentence correction	One word substitution
Parts of speech	Preposition	Types of Clauses
Phrases Modifiers	Errors in tenses	Articles usage

Topic Wise Questions in CAT VACR

Topics	Number of questions expected
Para-Jumbles	2-4
Sentence Completion & Correction	2-3
Odd Sentences	1-2
Others (Fill in the blanks, Vocabulary Based, etc.)	1-2

CAT Syllabus 2024 – Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

The second section in the CAT exam is DILR, which stands for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. This section is split into two parts: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. Here are the important topics you should focus on for this section.

Blood Relations	Clocks and Calendars	Syllogism
Series	Statements	Venn Diagram
Proposition	Data Arrangement	Data Structures
Direction Sense	Family Tree	Tables
Coding-Decoding	Binary Logic	Pie Charts
Assumptions	Seating Arrangement	Data Sufficiency
Puzzles	Sets & Caselets	Bars & Line Graphs

The number of expected questions from the topics in the CAT DILR Section is given below:

Topics	Total Number of Questions
Graph, Bar diagram	6-8
Tables & Charts	5-8
Graphs, Charts	7-10
Tables, Pie chart	4-5

CAT Syllabus 2024 – Quantitative Aptitude

The last section of the CAT question paper is Quantitative Aptitude. It should be completed in the final 40 minutes of the exam. Let's take a look at the important topics and key points for this section.

Geometry	Ratios and Proportion	Inequalities
Trigonometry	In-equations Quadratic and linear equations	Work and Time
Algebra	Surds and Indices	Percentages
Mensuration	Time-Speed-Distance	Logarithms
Partnership (Accounts)	Number System	Square Root and Cube Root
Profit & Loss	Geometric Progression	Probability
Mean, mode, median	Binomial theorem	Simple interest and compound interest