What is a CAT Exam?

The Common Admission Test (CAT), conducted annually by one of the top IIMs on a rotational basis, is India's most prominent MBA entrance exam. It serves as the gateway for MBA admissions in 2025 to all 21 IIMs, along with prestigious institutions like FMS Delhi, IIFT Delhi & Kolkata, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, and numerous other leading B-schools across India. With over 2 lakh aspirants appearing each year, CAT opens doors to MBA programs in India's top management institutes.

Key Highlights of the CAT Exam:

• Nationwide Computer-Based Test: Conducted across 155+ test cities and 400+ exam venues.
• Reduced Duration: The exam has been shortened to two hours since 2020, down from the previous three hours.
• Three Exam Sections: The test comprises Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA), each with a fixed time limit.
• Mandatory for IIM Admissions: All 21 IIMs and top B-schools will consider only CAT scores for MBA admissions.

CAT 2024 Exam will be held on November 24,2024 . This time, IIM Ahmedabad will be conducting CAT 2024 exam in 3 slots at over 450 test centers in 151 cities across India. The exam duration will be 2 hours and the question paper will most likely be having 76 questions in total, the same as last year. But you never know! IIM Ahmedabad is known for its surprises. So the total number of questions may vary between 60-76. 

 Through this exam, IIMs and other colleges offer MBA, PGP, PGP-FABM, PGPEM, PGDM, EPGP PGPSM, PGPWE, PGDHRM, PGPEX, PGPBM, etc. The CAT exam is an aptitude test designed to evaluate an applicant’s Quantitative, Verbal/reading, Data Interpretation, and Reasoning Skills. The Indian Institutes of Management conduct a computer-based Common Admission Test in the last week of November in two sessions. This exam will be conducted by IIMs as a prerequisite for admission to various management programs of IIMs and other colleges.

CAT Exam Important Dates

The notable CAT 2024 dates, including the CAT registration date 2024, the last date to apply, the CAT 2024 exam date, and the result date, are provided below:

CAT Exam Pattern

The initial stage before starting preparation for an exam is to know about the CAT exam syllabus. The CAT exam schedule contains three sections. These sections are QA, VARC, and DILR. QR stands for quantitative aptitude that section includes grade tenth-level mathematics.

VARC stands for verbal ability & reading comprehension. That section includes grammar and comprehensive type questions. DILR means data interpretation & logical reasoning. That includes analysis of puzzles and pie charts.