How to crack CAT in 6 months: the focused study plan that works
A complete 6-month roadmap covering VARC, DILR, and QA fundamentals plus mock cadence, revision sprints, and the daily schedule Sumit Sir prescribes for late-start aspirants.
Your gateway to 22 IIMs, FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IIM Mumbai, 7 IITs and 1,200+ top B-schools. Built on 18+ years of CAT coaching, 2,080+ IIM converts in 2024-25, and live lectures from 99%ile faculty who have actually been to A, B, C, L, K, I.
India's most competitive MBA exam meets India's #1 CAT coaching. CAT 2025 had 68 questions across 120 minutes, in 3 sections that are sectional time-bound. CAT 2026 is expected to follow the same pattern. Your gateway to 22 IIMs, FMS Delhi, IIFT, SPJIMR, MDI, 7 IITs, and 1,200+ top B-schools across India.
Three flagship programs. Pick the one that fits your time commitment. All prices are inclusive of GST. EMI from 3 months. 6-day money-back guarantee.
Concept Builder Videos, 130+ eBooks (LOD 1 and 2), Full-length Mocks. Validity till CAT 2026.
Live CAT lectures plus full coverage of NMAT, SNAP, XAT, CMAT, MICAT, CET, MAT, ATMA - all in one fee. Validity till May 2027.
Everything in Turbo plus full GMAT prep and Admission Consulting for IIM, ISB, and global B-school applications. Validity till May 2027.
Already enrolled elsewhere? Pick up CATKing-quality mocks as an add-on. 100% same interface as the actual CAT exam, alumni-verified by IIM Kozhikode and Lucknow toppers.
20 Real CAT mocks (RC 1 to RC 20), 100% same interface as actual CAT. Alumni-verified mock pattern from IIM Bangalore, FMS and CAT 99.7%iler toppers.
45 mocks total (30 Proctored + 15 Take-home), tested by IIM Kozhikode alumni. Built on the past 5 years' CAT pattern plus expected convenor inputs.
All exams in one pack: CAT + NMAT + SNAP + XAT + CMAT mocks together. Single subscription covers your entire MBA exam season.
Five reasons 5,000+ students chose CATKing over a Kota or a Pune. Not slogans. These are the levers that delivered 2,080+ IIM converts in 2024-25 alone - including 460+ to BLACKI (Bangalore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Kozhikode, Indore).
Most coaching is taught by ex-students. CATKing is taught by the founder himself. Sumit Singh - SPJIMR Mumbai PGDM 2009, Harvard Executive Management alumnus, NIT Karnataka B.Tech - runs every live VARC class personally. No outsourcing. No franchisee model. The person who has built 2,080+ IIM admits across 18 years is teaching your batch.
Most students take 5 random mocks and pray. CATKing students take 30+ mocks across three calibrated levels - Turbo (foundation), Intensive (mid-prep), Advance (exam-ready). Each comes with a sectional analytics dashboard so you fix the right topic at the right time, not panic on test day.
One bad CAT slot day shouldn't cost you a year. CAT Intensive at ₹24,999 covers 10 MBA entrances - CAT, NMAT, SNAP, XAT, CMAT, MICAT, CET, MAT, ATMA, CUET PG, SRCC GBO. Plus full GD-WAT-PI prep for IIMs, SPJIMR, FMS, XLRI, NMIMS. Validity till May 2027 - through the entire 2026 admissions cycle. Students call this their insurance policy.
Stuck on a remainder problem at midnight? Post it on MBAGeeks.com and wake up to a worked solution. Staffed by CATKing faculty and 99%ile alumni - every question gets a response, no exception. 10,000+ solved threads already searchable, so often someone has already asked your exact doubt.
Every CATKing teacher has cracked a top B-school themselves and specialises in one section. Biswadip Sir (NMIMS) for Verbal. Sahil Sir and Prantik Sir (CAT 99%ile, QA specialists) for Quant. Krishna Sir (IIM Mumbai) for DILR. Anisha Ma'am (NMIMS + Harvard PMNO) for GDPI. Section-wise depth, not generalist shallow coverage.
The numbers that actually matter. Results compiled from the last admission cycle, verified via student converts.
Everything you need to know about the exam. Facts verified against the official CAT 2025 bulletin.
The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national computer-based exam held on the last Sunday of November by one of the IIMs on rotation. CAT 2026 is tentatively scheduled for 29 November 2026. The conducting IIM is confirmed in the official notification released in the last week of July. CAT 2025 was conducted by IIM Kozhikode.
It is the primary entrance gateway for all 22 IIMs and 1,200+ top B-schools including FMS Delhi, IIFT Delhi & Kolkata, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and IIT Kharagpur. Your CAT percentile is the first filter, shortlisted candidates proceed to Written Ability Test and Personal Interview.
CAT is not just a test of content knowledge, it is a test of speed, accuracy, and composure under time pressure. Preparation typically runs 8 to 12 months.
CAT 2026 pattern (expected): 68 questions, 120 minutes, 3 sections. Sectional time-bound (40 min each). MCQs carry +3 / −1, TITA carries +3 / 0. Total marks 204. Pattern matches CAT 2024 and 2025 - IIM Indore will confirm in the July 2026 notification.
Section-wise topic breakdown with approximate weightage from recent CAT papers. Click each tab below.
4 passages, 16 questions. Business, economics, philosophy, science, arts. Focus: main idea, inference, vocabulary in context, tone.
Reorder 4 to 5 sentences into a coherent paragraph. Logical flow and transition words. Usually TITA.
Pick the best one-line summary of a short paragraph. Core argument vs supporting detail.
Identify the sentence that does not belong in a 5-sentence set. Subtle logical misalignment test.
Strengthen and weaken arguments, assumption identification, inference drawing.
Fill-in-the-blank with most contextually appropriate word or phrase.
Data in tables with multi-variable reasoning. Decode and extract trends.
Visual data interpretation combined with percentages, ratios, calculation shortcuts.
Linear, circular, and matrix-based seating puzzles. Logic grid reasoning.
Knockout tournaments, round-robin leagues, scoring patterns. Hybrid logic and DI.
Statements from truth-tellers and liars. Classical logic puzzles.
Decide if given data is sufficient to answer a question. Rare but reappearing.
Percentages, Profit & Loss, Time-Speed-Distance, Time & Work, Ratios, Averages, Mixtures. The heaviest topic.
Linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, functions, logarithms, polynomials, max-min.
Triangles, circles, coordinate geometry, areas and volumes, 2D and 3D figures.
Divisibility, HCF/LCM, remainders, base conversion, factorials, digit problems.
Permutations and Combinations, Probability, Set Theory, advanced Logarithms, Functions and Series.
Age problems, Calendar, Clocks, Mixtures and Alligations. Sneaks into 1 to 2 questions.
CAT Turbo covers CAT + every Non-CAT / OMET exam below. CAT Intensive adds GMAT prep on top.
No negative marking (NMAT), mild negative (SNAP). Speed-over-depth tests for NMIMS and Symbiosis.
XAT adds Decision Making and GK. CMAT for AICTE-approved colleges with GK focus.
CET for Maharashtra colleges (JBIMS, SIMSREE). MICAT for MICA Ahmedabad with creative plus PI rounds.
Dedicated track for WAT, GD, and PI for IIMs, SPJIMR, FMS, XLRI, NMIMS, and more.
GMAT Focus Edition coverage for ISB, IIM-A PGPX, IIM-B EPGP, S.P. Jain PGPM, and global B-schools. Quant + Verbal + Data Insights.
Our faculty reverse-engineered what 99%ile students do differently in the final 10 months. This is the exact roadmap we follow in every live batch, starting with VPAR (Verbal-Para-Arithmetic-Reasoning) foundation.
Build the concept base before speed becomes relevant. CATKing's VPAR phase is a signature start covering Vocabulary, RC, Para Jumbles, Arithmetic, Algebra and easy LR.
One module at a time, with Arithmetic and Algebra getting deeper coverage. Verbal live with Sumit Sir on a fixed weekly cadence, plus LOD 1 and LOD 2 drills running through the phase.
Turbo Mocks, then Intensive Mocks, then Advance Mocks. Attempt on weekend, faculty-led analysis early next week, fix topic weakness mid-week. Repeat through the phase.
Revision, last-mile speed, exam-day simulation at your allotted slot. This is where 98 becomes 99+. Post-CAT, immediate pivot to OMET and GDPI.
Free walkthroughs covering syllabus, weightages, and how to attempt each section.
22 IIMs plus 1,200+ top B-schools including FMS Delhi, IIFT, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur. Top IIMs (BLACKI) shortlist at 99+ %ile with sectional cutoffs in the 80-85 band. Mid-tier IIMs at 95-99, new IIMs at 90-95.
CAT score is the gate, but the final shortlist is composite. Here is a representative weightage pattern for top IIMs. Exact figures vary by institute and category, but the shape is consistent.
Note: IIM Ahmedabad places heavier weight on the interview (around 50% for the PI stage composite). IIM Calcutta uses a 98%ile minimum plus academic record as filters. New IIMs shortlist at 90 to 95%ile with less weight on academics. Always verify the latest weightage on each IIM's official admissions page.
Verified CATKing students with named percentiles and IIM converts. Hover or tap a card to flip and see the institute they joined.
"74 percentile in my first mock. 99.69 on the actual CAT. CATKing believed in me before I believed in myself."
"I stopped chasing mocks. I started chasing clarity. That shift was the unlock from 95 to 99.66."
"My first mock was 78 percentile. I cried. The CATKing mentor check-in the next morning changed everything."
"Full-time job. Two hours a day. 99.29. If I can do it, so can any working professional reading this."
"I was 94.3 in my first attempt. Most people would have taken it. I took a year off. Second attempt is a different story."
"Sectional strategy separates 95 from 99. Everyone studies the content. Almost nobody studies the strategy."
"Engineers keep losing marks in VARC. I used to read fast to finish fast. That was my biggest mistake."
"Non-engineer, 99 percentile. VARC was my weapon, not my weakness. CATKing helped me lean into my strengths."
"74 percentile in my first mock. 99.69 on the actual CAT. CATKing believed in me before I believed in myself."
"I stopped chasing mocks. I started chasing clarity. That shift was the unlock from 95 to 99.66."
"My first mock was 78 percentile. I cried. The CATKing mentor check-in the next morning changed everything."
"Full-time job. Two hours a day. 99.29. If I can do it, so can any working professional reading this."
"I was 94.3 in my first attempt. Most people would have taken it. I took a year off. Second attempt is a different story."
"Sectional strategy separates 95 from 99. Everyone studies the content. Almost nobody studies the strategy."
"Engineers keep losing marks in VARC. I used to read fast to finish fast. That was my biggest mistake."
"Non-engineer, 99 percentile. VARC was my weapon, not my weakness. CATKing helped me lean into my strengths."
Check all results at catking.in/student/results.
Free · Live · Every Saturday 6 PM IST. Get your MBA profile reviewed live by CATKing's founder - and find out exactly what's between you and your dream IIM.
Founder & CEO, CATKing. SPJIMR PGDM 2009, Harvard Exec Management, NIT Karnataka B.Tech
Dates below are tentative until the official notification is published by the conducting IIM (expected last week of July 2026). We will update this timeline as announcements drop.
CAT 2025 was held on 30 November 2025 in three sessions. Results were declared in the first week of January 2026, per the official bulletin. Admit cards were available from Nov 5 to Nov 30, 2025.
DONECATKing CAT Turbo and Intensive batches are filling up. Early enrolment gets the full 10-month prep cycle. Weekend, weekday, morning, and hybrid batches open.
NOWThe conducting IIM publishes the official notification, detailed syllabus, and test city list on iimcat.ac.in. Typically released on the last Sunday of July.
Online application at iimcat.ac.in. Fee ₹2,600 General/EWS/NC-OBC, ₹1,300 for SC/ST/PwD. Select 6 test city preferences in order. Help Desk: 1800 210 0175.
Last date to submit application, following the CAT 2025 pattern of a ~6-week window. A brief correction window opens thereafter for photograph and signature fixes only.
Admit cards available for download on iimcat.ac.in from Nov 5 to Nov 29, 2026, following the CAT 2025 pattern. Login with registered credentials. No physical copies are mailed.
Three slots: Morning (8:30 AM), Afternoon (12:30 PM), Evening (4:30 PM). Percentile normalised across slots. Approximately 3 lakh candidates expected to register.
Scorecards published on iimcat.ac.in in the third week of December. Score validity: till 31 December 2027. Simultaneously, IIMs begin releasing shortlist criteria and cutoffs.
Shortlisted candidates attend Writing Ability Test, Group Discussion, and Personal Interview at IIM campuses. Each IIM uses its own composite scoring with CAT score, academics, WAT/PI, and work experience. CATKing Intensive students enter dedicated GDPI prep.
IIMs publish merit lists and extend admission offers. Waitlist movement continues through June. Final year students must submit degree completion certificate by 31 Dec 2027 per the official bulletin.
Full feature comparison of the three flagship programs. Most students pick Intensive because it adds GMAT and admission consulting on top of everything in Turbo. EMI from 3 months. 6-day money-back guarantee on all courses.
Concept Builder Videos, 130+ eBooks (LOD 1 and 2), Full-length Mocks. Validity till CAT 2026.
Live CAT lectures plus full coverage of NMAT, SNAP, XAT, CMAT, MICAT, CET, MAT, ATMA - all in one fee. Validity till May 2027.
Everything in Turbo plus full GMAT prep and Admission Consulting for IIM, ISB, and global B-school applications. Validity till May 2027.
Already enrolled elsewhere? Pick up CATKing-quality mocks as an add-on. 100% same interface as the actual CAT exam, alumni-verified by IIM Kozhikode and Lucknow toppers.
20 Real CAT mocks (RC 1 to RC 20), 100% same interface as actual CAT. Alumni-verified mock pattern from IIM Bangalore, FMS and CAT 99.7%iler toppers.
45 mocks total (30 Proctored + 15 Take-home), tested by IIM Kozhikode alumni. Built on the past 5 years' CAT pattern plus expected convenor inputs.
All exams in one pack: CAT + NMAT + SNAP + XAT + CMAT mocks together. Single subscription covers your entire MBA exam season.
Try the CATKing prep ecosystem for free. Sample these before deciding on a paid course. No credit card, no strings.
One full-length CAT 2026 mock plus detailed analysis. Know your starting percentile before you pick a course.
Start Free Mock →MBAGeeks.com - ask a question, faculty and 99%ile alumni answer. 10,000+ searchable threads, fully indexed.
Open MBA Geeks Forum →Free CAT strategy sessions, topper interviews, topic explainers. Weekly uploads from Sumit Sir and full faculty.
Subscribe →CATKing's vocab app: daily words, flashcards, RC strategies. Android and iOS. Used by 200K+ aspirants.
Everything you need to know about CAT 2026 in one PDF: exam pattern, sectional structure, marking scheme, eligibility, key dates, accepting institutes, and how percentile is computed. Emailed after sign-in.
Live waitlist movement and RTI data for IIMs and other top B-schools whose results are being announced. Updated every admission cycle.
View Waitlist Data →Past papers reveal the real exam - pattern, difficulty, weightages and recurring traps. Download CATKing's curated PYQ pack, slot-wise, with detailed solutions.
Slot 2 was Moderate–Difficult overall - tougher than CAT 2024, easier than CAT 2023. The 99 percentile range: 80–90 marks. Here's how the three sections played out.
RC topics: K-Fish losing eyes (life in darkness), Marine fish & astronomy, ChatGPT & AI, Literature & philosophy.
VA breakdown: 2 Para Jumbles (TITA), 2 Para Summary, 2 Para Completion, 2 Odd-One-Out (TITA). Para Jumbles made a notable comeback.
5 sets, 2 traps: Authors & Research Papers (doable), Ball & Hoops Ranking (doable), Scatter Plot Success % (doable), Scheduling 4-way (moderate), Weighted Average Pollution Index (toughest).
Key skill: set selection. Students who picked the right 3 of 5 cleared 90+%ile.
Topics reported: AP-GP, Riverboat (speed-stream), Geometry (triangles & area), Time & Work. No Probability appeared.
Style: more concept-testing than calculation-heavy. Arithmetic dominated; Algebra had tricky concept questions.
CAT's pattern has shifted three times in a decade - from 100 Qs / 180 min (pre-2020), to 76 Qs / 120 min (2020 reset), to 66 Qs / 120 min (2021–2023), to the current 68 Qs / 120 min (2024–2025). Post-2022, the exam-to-result gap has compressed to ~24-25 days. Expect CAT 2026 results around 23-25 December 2026.
| Year | Exam Date | Questions | Result Date | Gap | Convening IIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAT 2026 | 29 Nov 2026 (Sun) | 68 (expected) | ~23 Dec 2026 (expected) | ~24 days | IIM Indore (expected) |
| CAT 2025 | 30 Nov 2025 | 68 | 24 Dec 2025 | 24 days | IIM Kozhikode |
| CAT 2024 | 24 Nov 2024 | 68 | 19 Dec 2024 | 25 days | IIM Calcutta |
| CAT 2023 | 26 Nov 2023 | 66 | 21 Dec 2023 | 25 days | IIM Lucknow |
| CAT 2022 | 27 Nov 2022 | 66 | 21 Dec 2022 | 24 days | IIM Bangalore |
| CAT 2021 | 28 Nov 2021 | 66 | 3 Jan 2022 | 36 days | IIM Ahmedabad |
| CAT 2020 | 29 Nov 2020 | 76 (reset) | 2 Jan 2021 | 34 days | IIM Indore |
| CAT 2019 | 24 Nov 2019 | 100 | 4 Jan 2020 | 41 days | IIM Kozhikode |
| CAT 2018 | 25 Nov 2018 | 100 | 5 Jan 2019 | 41 days | IIM Calcutta |
| CAT 2017 | 26 Nov 2017 | 100 | 8 Jan 2018 | 43 days | IIM Lucknow |
Use CATKing's free IIM Call Predictor - input your CAT score, sectional %iles, 10th & 12th marks, graduation %, and category. Get a list of IIMs you're likely to convert in 30 seconds.
Predict My IIM CallsHand-picked articles from the CATKing blog. CAT strategy, exam analysis, B-school admit guides, and the prep frameworks our faculty actually use in classes.
A complete 6-month roadmap covering VARC, DILR, and QA fundamentals plus mock cadence, revision sprints, and the daily schedule Sumit Sir prescribes for late-start aspirants.
Section-wise difficulty breakdown of CAT 2025, expected percentile cut-offs across IIM ABCLKI and tier-2 schools, and how the response-sheet rollback compares to the actual scorecard.
Sumit Sir's inference-first reading method built on Aeon-style essays. Covers passage decoding, time-per-RC discipline, and the elimination logic that takes you from 85 to 98 in VARC.
IIM-wise cut-offs across all 22 IIMs, gender and category-wise variations, and the realistic CAT percentile band you need for ABCLKI vs new IIMs in the 2026 admissions cycle.
Step-by-step framework for analysing every mock you take. Covers error categorisation, time-per-question audit, sectional accuracy targets, and the weekly review cadence Sahil Sir runs in Intensive batches.
Comprehensive list of every NMAT-accepting B-school with its score cut-off, programme-wise variations for NMIMS Mumbai (Core, Pharma, Banking), and how 2024-25 cycle scores translate into admits.
Quick answers to the most common CAT 2026 queries. Pulled from CATKing's actual FAQ and student calls.
Free 15-minute consultation with a senior CATKing counsellor. All our counsellors are IIM, SPJIMR, or NMIMS alumni who have cleared these exams themselves. We will analyse your profile, target colleges, and timeline, then recommend the right prep path. No sales pressure, just honest guidance.
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