Exams › CAT › Syllabus & pattern
CAT — the Common Admission Test — is India's premier management entrance exam, used for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and accepted by hundreds of other top B-schools for their MBA/PGP programmes. It is conducted by the IIMs on a rotational basis, usually once a year as a computer-based test.
CAT measures aptitude rather than syllabus recall: it has three sections — Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) — each with its own sectional time limit. Percentile, not raw score, decides your standing, so balanced section-wise performance is key.
On StreakPeaked you can practise CAT-style questions with solutions and build speed and decision-making under timed, competitive conditions. Browse the sections below.
Official source: IIM CAT official site. Always confirm dates and eligibility on the official notification.
CAT has three sections: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Aptitude (QA), each with a separate time limit.
Each correct answer earns +3 marks. MCQs carry a −1 penalty for a wrong answer, while non-MCQ (type-in-the-answer) questions have no negative marking.
Candidates need a bachelor's degree with the required minimum percentage (generally 50%, relaxed for reserved categories). Final-year students can also apply. See the official CAT notification for details.
Raw scores are converted to scaled scores and then to percentiles — both overall and sectional — which B-schools use for shortlisting.
CAT is primarily an aptitude test. Rather than testing a fixed syllabus, it assesses reading comprehension, reasoning and quantitative problem-solving, so regular timed practice is the most effective preparation.