Does CAT syllabus change every year: An overview

The Common Admissions Test (CAT) is widely regarded as one of the most difficult national-level competitive examinations in India. Its primary purpose is to determine which candidates are qualified to attend India's most prestigious business schools.

The primary purpose of this examination is to evaluate your aptitude in a variety of different ways by means of its extensive curriculum and challenging questioning pattern. The CAT exam's curriculum and grading system have remained unchanged over the past ten years; nevertheless, the format of the test has been modified quite a few times since the beginning of the covid pandemic in the year 2020.

In the years 2014–2019, there were no modifications made to the test pattern; however, in the year 2020, the pattern underwent significant changes. The time allotted for the exam was cut in half, from 180 minutes to 120 minutes, and instead of 60 minutes for each section, there were only 40 minutes allotted for that section.

The total number of questions on the examination was cut in half, going from 100 to 76, concurrently with the reduction in the amount of time allotted for the examination.

The pattern was altered once more in 2021, and this time each slot was allotted forty minutes, with the complete exam taking place over the course of one hundred and twenty minutes. This time, the total number of questions was decreased from 76 questions to 66 questions, continuing the trend of previous reductions.

The course outline, on the other hand, did not shift in any way, shape, or form whatsoever during this entire time despite the many question formats. The level of difficulty did, in fact, increase or decrease from year to year, but the curriculum remained the same.

The Changing Face of the CAT Exam Format

From 2014 to 2019, the format of the CAT exam was, for the most part, unaltered. The exam pattern and the structure of the test did not undergo any significant shifts; nonetheless, there were some minor adjustments made to the question distribution as well as the sorts of questions.

For instance, in the CAT 2018 exam, there were more multiple-choice questions that required selecting an answer option than there were type-in-the-answer questions. The amount of TITA questions on the CAT 2019 was lower than in 2018 for some reason. However, the VARC component was significantly more challenging than the other two sections in both slots 1 and 2.

However, as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, the examination body was forced to completely revamp the CAT exam schedule in order to accommodate the greatest number of applicants at the examination centres that were available, in accordance with the social distancing requirements. Let's take a look at how the structure of the CAT exam has shifted over the past several years.

There has been a shift in the format of the CAT examination for the past two years in a row. After being unchanged for six years, the format of the CAT exam was altered in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. In the year 2021, it was altered once more.

The Common Admission Test (CAT) continued to be administered using the format that was first established in 2014. Examine how the CAT test has changed since it was first administered in 2010.

Marking System for the CAT Throughout the Years

The CAT exam's scoring system has likewise remained unchanged throughout the course of the past six years. Every time a question is answered correctly, a score of three points is awarded, while each incorrect answer results in a loss of one point.

There is no negative scoring for questions related to the TITA or for questions that were not answered at all. The total number of marks for the CAT 2020 exam was 228.

On the other hand, between 2010 and 2015, the number of portions was consistently shifting, going from three to two to back to three again. Between the years 2011 and 2014, there were a total of two parts. On the CAT exam, the DI section was combined with the QA section, and the LR section was combined with the VARC section.

The table that follows provides an overview of the various shifts that have taken place in the format of the CAT exam over the years.

• For the previous 10 years, the grading system has been the same, and we can only hope that it will continue to be the same for the upcoming examinations as well.
• The grading system is rather straightforward, and it is explained in more detail below.
• You will receive an additional three marks for each question that you answer correctly, regardless of whether it is a multiple-choice question (MCQ) or a type-in-the-answer (TITA) question.
• Only questions of the multiple-choice variety will result in a negative marking of one point for each erroneous response given by the examiner.
• Incorrect responses to questions that are not of the MCQ or TITA variety will not result in a loss of points.
• There will be no deductions or additions to your score based on whether or not you attend a question or leave any response blank.

CAT syllabus consists of three parts:

Syllabus of VARC

• Verbal ability
1. Sentence rearrangement / paragraph jumble
2. Paragraph summary
3. Pick the odd sentence out
• Reading comprehensions

Syllabus of LRDI

• Data Interpretation
1. Bar graphs
2. Line graphs
3. Pie charts
4. Multi charts
5. Tables
• Logical reasoning
1. Blood relation
2. Seating arrangement
3. Caselets
4. Syllogism

Syllabus for QA

1. Geometry
2. Number system
3. Algebra
4. Mensuration
5. Arithmetic

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