CAT 2023 Analysis by IMS, CL, TIME: Difficulty Level, Likely Scores, Cut offs for 99 percentile

Like every year, CAT 2023 Analysis by IMS, TIME, CL, the top three CAT Coaching Institutes is first published by MBAUniverse.com on November 26, 2023. TIME, IMS, and Career Launcher share their analysis of CAT 2023 exam with MBAUniverse.com after the exam is over. CAT Analysis by TIME, IMS, CL is released separately for slot-1, slot-2 and slot-3 exam. This year too, CAT exam is conducted in three slots but with some changes in the exam structure.  

The in-depth CAT 2023 analysis by IMS, TIME, CL reflects upon the key changes in overall & sectional CAT exam pattern, overall and slot wise difficulty level, predictions on CAT cut offs among others. MBAUniverse.com is the first to publish IMS, CL, TIME CAT 2023 Analysis. 

CAT 2023 Time Slots & Release Time of CAT Analysis by IMS, TIME, CL
IMS Learning, Career Launcher, T.I.M.E. share with MBAUniverse.com slot wise analysis with CAT 2023 paper difficulty level, key changes in question paper, good attempts and likely cut off score for different percentile range in the changed CAT exam pattern.  

IMS, TIME CL CAT 2023 Exam Analysis: 10 Key Takeaway
MBAUniverse.com publishes slot wise CAT 2023 Analysis by TIME, IMS, CL for Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot 3 immediately after the exam is over. MBAUniverse CAT 2023 Analysis by IMS, CL, TIME covers the following:

1. CAT Exam Pattern & key changes as per experts from the top CAT coaching institutes
2. Variation as compared to last year in Type of Questions for each section
3. Changes in questions split (MCQs and Non-MCQs) 
4. Any Surprise elements in CAT 2023 Exam paper and Test Interface
5. Exam Difficulty Level: Overall & Section wise Analysis by Experts at IMS, CL, TIME
6. Required Good Attempts: Overall and Section wise
7. Sectional Cut off Predictions Slot wise for Slot-1, Slot-2 and Slot-3 as per the difficulty level
8. Overall CAT 2023 cut offs predictions by CL, IMS, TIME experts for each of the three slots to help the aspirants to assess their performance and check their call chances by top B-schools
9. Percentile Predictions & Cut off CAT score range by IMS, CL, TIME are considered nearly accurate over the years

CAT Analysis by IMS, TIME, CL: Quick Comparison
If we compare the CAT analysis by top CAT coaching institutes, following feedback has been observed

Previous Year CAT exam Analysis by IMS, CL, TIME

Below is shared the CAT 2022 and earlier CAT exams analysis by IMS, CL Time

IMS CAT 2022 Slot-1 Analysis
(Sunday, November 27 - 8:30 to 10:30 am)

The first slot of CAT 2022 took place today between 8.30 am and 10:30 am. The structure of CAT 2022 remained largely the same as in 2021. However, the DILR and Verbal sections saw some changes in segmentation and the number of MCQs and TITA. Verbal Section had 2 paragraph completion questions instead of the anticipated Odd Sentence questions. Overall, Slot 1 of CAT this year was slightly more difficult than Slot 1 of last year.

The marking scheme was +3 for every correct and -1 for incorrect. There was no negative marking for TITA Qs.

Based on the feedback received from several candidates who have appeared in the first slot,our initial estimate of the percentiles and scores*** is as follows. These estimates will be suitably revised soon after the CAT releases the response sheets.

*** Students are advised not to take any B-School application decision based on these initial estimates. They serve only as the first indicator of likely performance.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
The VA-RC section consisted of 16 Reading Comprehension questions and 8 Verbal Ability questions. As in the past several years, there were no direct Grammar or Vocabulary

questions. The passages were of Medium difficulty level except for the one on Political Philosophy. Overall, Comprehension was more difficult than the VA questions. However, 10 to 12 questions could be attempted with high accuracy. The 2 Para-completion questions, which were new, consisted of a key sentence followed by a paragraph with four numbered blanks. One had to identify the blank in which the key sentence would fit in correctly - grammatically and logically. There were 3 paragraph jumbles in TITA format, and 3 summary questions as MCQs. In VA, 5 attempts with high accuracy were possible. Overall the difficulty level was comparable to the first slot of CAT 2021.

An attempt of 15 to 17 questions with high accuracy (85-90%) will be a good performance in VARC.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
In CAT 2021 there were a total of 4 sets out of which two sets had 6 questions while the remaining two had 4 questions each. This pattern has not been followed in CAT 2022, this year the DI-LR section had a total of 4 sets of 5 questions each.

Two sets were of Easy to Medium difficulty level and the remaining two sets were Medium to Difficult. Overall the Level of difficulty was Medium to Difficult and at par with the last year’s slot - 1 DILR.

Overall, an attempt of 10 to 12 questions with high accuracy (85-90%) will be a good performance.

Quantitative Ability
This section was Medium in terms of Level of difficulty and was dominated by Arithmetic (8 questions), followed by Algebra (5 questions). There were 3 questions on Modern Math and 3 questions on Geometry. In Arithmetic, the questions were dominated by Averages and Mixtures & Allegations and Profit & Loss,.

There were 8 TITA questions this year. Selecting the right questions to attempt was the key. Students should have been able to attempt about 14/15 questions in the given time with 85-90% accuracy.

This section was very much similar as last year’s slot 1. Number of TITA (8 questions) and MCQ (14 questions) were the same as last year’s slot 1. Also area/topic wise distribution of questions was more or less similar to last year’s slot 1.

THE PROCESS
No shoes and no metallic objects including metal jewelry were allowed. Only the admit card and the ID proof were allowed. As in the previous years, the authorities took possession of the admit cards. The candidates were given a small pad with IIM CAT Logo on the cover (32 pages) for rough work and a pen – which were also taken away at the end of the exam.

TEST INTERFACE
The test interface was quite user-friendly and exactly the one provided in the official CAT Mock Test. There were no subdivisions within each section. A simple calculator was provided, and not a scientific one. There was an arrow provided near the question palette which when clicked expanded the question window to full-screen view by hiding the question palette & vice versa

At the end of the test, a summary of the number of questions attempted, visited, and not visited was displayed for each section.

There was a button marked ‘Question Paper’ that opened up a screen containing all the questions of the section. This was used by students for planning their approach for the section.

*** The scores and percentiles mentioned in this analysis are indicators based on the feedback from students and IMS experts. They are in no way related to the results which IIMs are expected to declare in January 2023. You are advised to wait for the results.

Career Launcher CAT 2022 Analysis

The CAT 2022 exam pattern came as no surprise as it followed the predictions of CL’s CAT gurus. Much like CAT 2021, the paper followed 66 questions with 40 minutes allotted to each section. The division of the questions among the slots also remained the same as that of CAT 2021, that is,

• CAT 2022 VARC: 24 questions
• CAT 2022 DILR: 20 questions
• CAT 2022 QA: 22 questions

The marking scheme also remained the same: +3/-1 for MCQs, and +3/0 for non-MCQs. The overall level of difficulty for CAT 2022 slot 1 was moderate as compared to that of CAT 2021. Regarding the section-wise level of difficulty, VARC was easy to moderate. However, there was an addition of para completion in place of the odd-sentence-out questions. DILR had 4 sets with 5 questions in each set and had an easy to moderate level of difficulty, making it marginally difficult as compared to CAT 2021. QA was moderate to difficult with half of the questions from arithmetic and similar to last year.

An overall raw score of around ~98 to 99 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT 2022.

CAT 2022 Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Analysis

• The VARC section was the same as last year and had an easy to moderate level of difficulty. There were a total of 24 questions to be attempted in 40 minutes.
• 3 questions were Non-MCQs. The RC passages were around 300-350 words each. 2 were easy while 2 passages were difficult.
• VA came with a surprise as the odd-sentence-out questions were removed and para completion was in the section.
• Overall, a score of 38-40 can be considered enough for a 99 %ile.

CAT 2022 VARC Question-wise Breakup:

CAT 2022 Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) Analysis
The DILR section had 20 questions distributed across 4 sets with 5 questions each. CAT 2022 DILR was difficult as compared to CAT 2021 DILR section. The number of non-MCQs was 6. The total number of doable questions was around 8-10. A score of 28-30 marks can be considered ideal for a 99+ percentile in DILR.

CAT 2022 DILR Question- wise Breakup:

CAT 2022 Quantitative Aptitude (QA) Analysis
As expected, the QA section of CAT 2022 was easy to moderate in terms of the level of difficulty. It had 22 questions to be attempted in 40 minutes. The section had 8 non-MCQs.

As expected, Arithmetic dominated this section. A score of 36-38 would be ideal for a 99+ percentile in the QA section of CAT 2022.

CAT 2022 QA Questions- wise Breakup:

Candidates would have done well to stay calm and follow the guidelines shared by Career Launcher, in all its sessions. The overall raw score for a 99 percentile is expected to range around 98!

Career Launcher CAT 2022 Slot 2 Analysis

This analysis will cover following key points:

1. Exam Pattern including Number of Questions by each Section
2. Type of Questions for each section
3. Changes in questions split (MCQs and Non-MCQs) and Type of Questions
4. Any Surprise elements in CAT 2022 Exam paper
5. Exam Difficulty Level: Overall & Section wise CAT Analysis by Career Launcher
6. Required Good Attempts: Overall and Section wise
7. Overall and Section wise CAT 2022 Cut off Predictions for 99 Percentile in Slot-2

Career Launcher CAT 2022 Slot 3 Analysis: 9.30 PM on Nov 27
This analysis will cover following key points:

1. Exam Pattern including Number of Questions by each Section
2. Type of Questions for each section
3. Changes in questions split (MCQs and Non-MCQs) and Type of Questions
4. Any Surprise elements in CAT 2022 Exam paper
5. Exam Difficulty Level: Overall & Section wise CAT Analysis by Career Launcher
6. Required Good Attempts: Overall and Section wise
7. Overall and Section wise CAT 2022 Cut off Predictions for 99 Percentile in Slot-3

Comprehensive Overall Career Launcher CAT 2022 Analysis: 10.30 PM on Nov 27
This overall CAT 2027 analysis by Career Launcher will cover following key points

1. Exam Pattern including Number of Questions by each Section
2. Type of Questions for each section
3. Changes in questions split (MCQs and Non-MCQs) and Type of Questions
4. Any Surprise elements in CAT 2022 Exam paper
5. Exam Difficulty Level: Overall & Section wise
6. Required Good Attempts: Overall and Section wise
7. Overall and Section wise CAT 2022 Cut off Predictions for 99 Percentile

CAT 2021 Analysis for Slot 2 by IMS Learning

The second slot of CAT 2021 took place today between 12.30 pm and 2:30 pm. CAT 2021, in slots 1 and 2, had the following student-friendly pattern:

The marking scheme was +3 for every correct and -1 for incorrect. There was no negative marking for TITA Qs

Based on the feedback received from several candidates who have appeared in the SECOND slot, our initial estimate of the scores and percentiles*** is as follows: We shall release the revised estimates once the response sheet is released.

*** The students are advised not to take any B-School application decision based on these initial estimates. They serve only as the first indicator of likely performance.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension/
The VA-RC section consisted of 16 Reading Comprehension questions and 8 Verbal Ability questions. The passages were difficult except for the one on Decline of Languages. The passages on Knowledge & Skepticism and On Nationalism & Colonialism in India were difficult. The other passage on the Relationship between Power and Truth was at best medium. Overall Comprehension was more difficult than the VA questions. Passages were 500 to 600 words each as in the first slot. 11 or 12 questions could be attempted with high accuracy. VA questions were as expected - 3 paragraph jumbles, 2 Odd sentence questions in TITA format, and 3

summary questions as MCQs. VA was overall of medium difficulty. Summary questions were of medium difficulty level. In VA, 4 attempts with high accuracy were possible. Overall, the difficulty level was largely comparable to the first slot though slightly more difficult.

Overall, an attempt of 15 or 16 questions with high accuracy (85-90%) will be a good performance in VARC.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
The DI-LR section underwent a slight change in CAT-2021 with a total of 4 sets, out of which two sets had 6 questions while the remaining two had 4 questions each. Out of the two sets with 4 questions, both had 3 MCQ and 1 TITA. Out of the two sets with 6 questions, both had 4 MCQ questions and 2 TITA questions. Unlike the last few years, there were no Venn-diagram based sets.

There were two DI sets and two LR sets. Overall, this section was easier compared to last year’s DILR section of Slot1 and slightly tougher compared to Slot 2 and Slot 3.

Overall, an attempt of 10 to 12 questions with high accuracy (85-90%) will be a good performance.

Quantitative Ability
This section was medium in terms of Level of difficulty and was dominated by Arithmetic (9 questions), followed by Algebra (5 questions). There were 3 questions on Modern Maths, 3 questions on Geometry and 2 questions. In Arithmetic, the questions involved Percentages, Partnership, Time-Speed-Distance, Time and Work, Averages and Mixtures & Allegations.

There were 8 TITA Qs this year. Selecting the right questions to attempt was the key. Students should have been able to attempt about 13-14 questions in the given time with 85-90% accuracy.

VERDICT
IMS students found a great deal of similarity between the SimCATs and the CAT. Several students gave feedback that the CAT appeared an extension of the SimCATs and the e- Maxmiser Workshops. In fact, one of the passages was verbatim from one of the IMS full-length tests.

THE PROCESS
The pandemic-related SOPs were implemented. No shoes and no metallic objects including metal jewelry were allowed. Only the admit card and the ID proof were allowed. As in the previous years, the authorities took possession of the admit cards. The candidates were given a small pad with IIM CAT Logo on the cover (32 pages) for rough work and a pen – which were also taken away at the end of the exam.

TEST INTERFACE
The test interface was quite user-friendly and exactly the one provided in the official CAT Mock Test. There were no subdivisions within each section. A simple calculator was provided, and not a scientific one. There was an arrow provided near the question palette which when clicked expanded the question window to full-screen view by hiding the question palette & vice versa

At the end of the test, a summary of the number of questions attempted, visited, and not visited was displayed for each section.

There was a button marked ‘Question Paper’ that opened up a screen containing all the questions of the section. This was used by students for planning their approach for the section.

After the IIMs announced that CAT 2021 may see a further reduction of questions from the 100-question test in 2020, the students expected a shorter test in the range of 65 to 70 questions. The 2021 test with 66 questions was thus a student-friendly test. No new question types were introduced in any of the sections.

*** The scores and percentiles mentioned in this analysis are indicators based on the feedback from students and IMS experts. They are in no way related to the results which IIMs are expected to declare in January 2022. You are advised to wait for the results.

CAT 2021 Analysis for Slot 1 by IMS Learning

After the IIMs announced that CAT 2021 may see a further reduction of questions from the 100-question test in 2020, the students expected a shorter test in the range of 65 to 70 questions. “The 2021 test with 66 questions was thus more student-friendly. No new question types were introduced in any of the sections,” says IMS.

According to IMS, CAT 2021 Slot 1 paper pattern is as follows:

CAT 2021 Analysis for Slot 1 Exam Pattern

Source: IMS Learning

LIVE! MBAUniverse.com CAT Percentile Predictor - Check Your % in 5 Minutes Now

CAT Score Vs Percentile: CAT 2021 Slot 1 by IMS
Based on the feedback received from several candidates who have appeared in the first slot, the initial estimate of the scores and percentiles by IMS Coaching is as follows:

Source: IMS Learning

IMS has advised students “not to take any B-School application decision based on these initial estimates. They serve only as the first indicator of likely performance.”

CAT 2021 Analysis by IMS Learning: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
According to IMS, the VA-RC section consisted of 16 Reading Comprehension questions and 8 Verbal Ability questions. As in the past several years, there were no direct Grammar or Vocabulary questions.

“The passages were difficult except for the one on The Thirst Empire - Chinese tea. The passage on Utopia and Dystopia was difficult. The other two passages on Marshmallow Theory – selfcontrol and on the idea of personhood according to Classic Mayan civilization was at best medium. Overall Comprehension was more difficult than the VA questions,” says IMS. Here is the breakup of the section, as per IMS Analysis.

Source: IMS Learning

CAT 2021 Analysis by IMS Learning: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
The DI-LR section underwent a slight change in CAT-2021 with a total of 4 sets, out of which two sets had 6 questions while the remaining two had 4 questions each, says IMS. Out of the two sets with 4 questions, both had 3 MCQ and 1 TITA. Out of the two sets with 6 questions, both had 4 MCQ questions and 2 TITA questions. Unlike the last few years, there were no Venn-diagram based sets. There were two DI sets and two LR sets. Overall, this section was easier compared to last year’s DILR section of Slot1 and slightly tougher compared to Slot 2 and Slot 3. Here is the breakup of the section, as per IMS Analysis.

Source: IMS Learning

CAT 2021 Analysis by IMS Learning: Quantitative Ability
According to IMS, this section was medium in terms of Level of difficulty and was dominated by Arithmetic (10 questions), followed by Algebra (5 questions). Here is the breakup of the section, as per IMS Analysis.

Source: IMS Learning

Career Launcher CAT 2021 Slot 1 Analysis
Was CAT 2021 another CDC? That’s what most students said when they came out!  As predicted, CAT 2021 followed the CAT 2020 exam pattern of reduced time (2 hours) with 40 minutes allotted to each section. However, what remained under speculation was the number of questions in each of the sections. As it turned out, the number of questions in CAT 2021 reduced to 66 questions from 76 questions last year (CAT2020).

Section-wise distribution of questions was as expected, That is:

• CAT 2021 VARC: 24 questions
• CAT 2021 DILR: 20 questions
• CAT 2021 QA: 22 questions

The marking scheme remained the same: +3/-1 for MCQs, and +3/0 for non-MCQs. The overall level of difficulty for CAT 2021 slot 1 was slightly higher than that of CAT 2020. In terms of the section-wise level of difficulty, VARC was moderate and was similar to last year’s VARC section. DILR went back to CAT 2020 level and was moderate to difficult in terms of level of difficulty due to lesser choices in sets. QA was easy and along the same lines as last year in terms of LOD.

An overall raw score of around 99 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT 2021.

CAT 2021 Paper Pattern & Section-wise expected score for 99%ile+

CAT 2021 Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Analysis
The VARC section was moderate in level of difficulty, making it similar to CAT 2020. This was a slightly lengthy section, which was contrary to expectations. There were a total of 24 questions to be attempted in 40 minutes.

• 5 questions were Non-MCQs (all in Verbal). The RC passages were around 470-500 words each. 2 were easy to read while 2 passages were difficult to read with 2 questions doable in each. RC Passages were remarkably close to what you must have seen in Career launcher’s All India Mock.
• Since there were 4 passages, 2 would have been an ideal attempt. 4 would have been a risk.
• VA was fine, as usual. Para Summary had short answers; and the options were tricky. Summary questions had very close options. 2 Para Jumbles were easy.
• Overall, a score of 24-25 can be considered enough for a 85%ile. All the TITA (Non MCQ questions) should have been attempted, as usual. 35-38 marks can be considered ideal for a 99%ile.

CAT 2021 VARC Question-wise Breakup:

CAT 2021 Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) Analysis
The DILR section had 20 questions distributed across 4 sets (4+4+6+6). DILR went back to CAT 2020 level of difficulty and was moderate to difficult. Again, the number of non-MCQs was 5. In the given time duration only 2 Sets were manageable. Bar Chart was purely DI based and was easy. Other three were time consuming. 1 set was a mixed bag of DI and LR and was doable. A score of 27-30 marks can be considered ideal for a 99+ percentile in DILR.

CAT 2021 DILR Question - wise Breakup:

CAT 2021 Quantitative Aptitude (QA) Analysis
As expected, the QA section of CAT 2021 was similar to that of CAT 2018 and CAT 2020, in terms of LOD. It had 22 short and sweet questions to be attempted in 40 minutes. The section had 8 non-MCQs.

As expected, Arithmetic dominated this section. A score of 40-42 would be ideal for a 99+ percentile in the QA section of CAT 2021.

CAT 2021 QA Questions- wise Breakup:

Candidates would have done well to maintain their calm and follow the guidelines shared by Career Launcher, in all its sessions. The overall cutoff for a 99 percentile is expected to range around 97-98, as predicted by us before the exam itself !

CAT 2021 Slot-2 Analysis by Career Launcher
CAT 2021 Slot 2 did not throw any major surprises as compared to CAT 2021 Slot 1. The element of ambiguity regarding the number of questions was resolved in CAT 2021 Slot 1 itself. The CAT 2021 Slot 2 pattern continued to be along the same lines as the morning slot with 66 questions in total to be solved in 2 hours with 40 minutes allotted to each section.

Based on the expectation and CL predictions, CAT aspirants had to face 66 questions in 2 hours with the section-wise distribution of questions as follows:

• CAT 2021 VARC: 24 questions in 40 minutes
• CAT 2021 DILR: 20 questions in 40 minutess
• CAT 2021 QA: 22 questions in 40 minutes

The marking scheme remained the same: +3/-1 for MCQs and +3/0 for non-MCQs. The overall level of difficulty for CAT 2021 slot 2 was slightly similar to that of Slot 1. In terms of the section-wise level of difficulty, VARC was moderate to difficult. DILR was also moderate to difficult with 2 easy sets. QA was slightly difficult than Slot 1 but was easy to moderate with around 15 doable questions.

CAT 2021 Analysis by T.I.M.E.
CAT 2021, in the morning slot, was on expected lines with not many surprises as far as the pattern goes. As announced by IIM Ahmedabad, the number of questions were reduced across all the sections.

The following was the pattern of examination in the first slot.

The evaluation scheme remained the same as that of the earlier years. Three marks for a correct answer and a negative mark for a wrongly marked MCQ. There were no negative marks for non-MCQs.

The difficulty, overall, for CAT 2021 in the morning slot was slightly on the higher side compared to that of CAT 2020 overall, which also was a two-hour paper.

Section-wise analysis
The VARC section had 24 questions in the morning slot, a reduction of two questions from the last year. The RC passages were four in number, similar to last year's papers. The number of RC questions, however, dropped to 16 from 18 of last year. The number of VA questions remained at 8.

The RC passages this year were not easy to crack. Selecting a passage to answer was not easy either, as almost none of the passages made for easy reading. One only had to implement a method of eliminating the tougher passages and attempting the passages that are left over.

The questions were also very involved, with many of them asking the students to choose the options "except". The options were close and many of them were not easy to relate directly to the passage/question. The distribution of the passages is as below

The verbal ability questions, on the other hand, can be said to have provided some relief to the students who were stumped by the RC passages/questions. There were a couple of easy ones in the PFQs that the students should have attempted, due to their short length and simple comprehension that was needed. Links connecting the sentences were clear and apparent.

The OMO questions, however, were tough, but students could afford to take a guess with these as they are non-MCQs.

The distribution of the questions in the Verbal Ability area is as below

A net score of 21-23 would be a decent score for a test-taker to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off).

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation
The LRDI section of the morning slot was at least as difficult as that of the papers last year. Some may have found it more challenging due to the number of sets now being only four instead of the five last year. The 20 questions in the section came from just two four-question sets and two six-question sets. The reduction of one set caused a drop in the choice of sets available to the students. Combined with this, that there was only one easy set out of the four, made matters tough for the students in terms of which other set to select – this is of course, after one has identified the easy set (the set on the bar graph) to do upfront.

The set-wise details are as below

The set on bar-graphs could be considered the easiest across the CAT LRDI papers over the past few years. The data was straight forward and easy to understand with no logical complications. Reading the graph was slightly tough. But this difficulty was easily offset by the direct and simple questions in the set. This is the set in this paper that one should not have missed, even though it had only four questions.

The set on Friends & Acquaintances needed the students to work with an 8x8 grid and check for additional variations/cases. However, once the given information is input into the grid after understanding it thoroughly, applying some amount of reasoning makes the set crack-able.

The set on smoothies, though having numbers that are not so complex to handle, can be classified as difficult. While a couple of the questions in the set can be solved with some moderate effort, the remaining two demanded exertion, pushing the difficulty level of this set higher.

The two sets above could be the sets that the students should pick up to solve after having solved the set on bar graphs.

The set on Journals had multiple data points and many may have dropped this set due to the sheer complexity of the information available. However, those who persisted with it would have found out that the information falls into place after having put in some effort. This, though would have been very time consuming and hence, makes this set a prime candidate be dropped or left to be dealt towards the end of the section.

A net score of 16-18 would be a decent score for a test-taker to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off).

Quantitative Ability Section
The Quant section surprised students with a lesser number of questions compared to the VARC section. 22 questions were present in this section, two lower than that of the VARC section.

Many questions in the section appeared very doable at the outset but demanded increased effort and conceptual clarity from the students for them to be able to eventually solve them successfully. Several question could have proven to be more time consuming than expected initially.

The topics of Geometry and ERPV had the highest representation in this slot with three questions each. Numbers, a popular topic, was conspicuously underrepresented in contrast to the usual expectations.

Questions were cleverly framed to test conceptual clarity and smartness in approach. A few questions also allowed substitution from the options to help students save time.

The distribution of questions in this section across topics is as below

A net score of 21-23 would be a decent score for a test-taker to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off).

Previous Year CAT Analysis by TIME, CL, IMS

First Analysis by Career Launcher for MBAUniverse.com

Mr Arks Srinivas, National Head MBA Prep (India & Abroad), Career Launcher, shared this first analysis at a Live Sessions on MBAUniverse.com at 11.15 AM today.

Overall, CAT 2020 was a more difficult paper that CAT 2019.

Verbal & RC

• Total 26 Questions, lengthy paper with 4 RC Passages
• Not straight forward questions, Inference based questions

DILR Verbal & RC

• Total 24 Questions
• 5 Sets of questions makes it difficult
• 1 set on Set Theory was difficult
• 1 Set was easy
• 12-14 Qs is a good attempt
• Tougher than CAT 2019 Paper

Quant

• A lot of easy questions like CAT 2017
• Arithmetic, Algebra & Log Question made this section easier

Career Launched CAT 2020 Cut off Predictions based on Slot 1 Exam
Arks share following predictions for getting 99%.

First Analysis by IMS Coaching for MBAUniverse.com

Hemang Panchmatia, Program Director, PG-India, IMS Learningshared this first analysis at a Live Sessions on MBAUniverse.com at 11.30 AM today.

Overall
CAT 2020 Slot 1 is a slightly more difficult paper that CAT 2019.

Verbal & RC

• Total 26 Questions
• Slightly more difficult – similar to CAT 2019
• 4 RC Passages making time management became very important
• 8 VA Questions
  • No Grammar, No Vocab!
  • 3 Parajumble Questions
  • 2 Odd man out
  • 3 Summary Questions

DILR Verbal & RC

• Total 24 Questions
• Equal or slightly more difficult than CAT 2019
• 5 Sets of questions makes it difficult
• Element of section is key

Quant

• Total 26 Questions
• A lot of easy questions
• Arithmetic 10 Qs, Algebra & Log Question made this section easier
• Positive Surprise

IMS Learning CAT 2020 Cut off Predictions based on Slot 1 Exam
Hemang shared following predictions for getting 99%.

Message for Slot 3 test takers

• Take Mocks mentally
• Easy quant, so plan accordingly
• Don’t change too much at this last minute

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates.

Like every year, top three CAT Coaching Institutes namely TIME, IMS, and Career Launcher will share their analysis of CAT 2020 exam on November 29, 2020 after completion of all the three exam slots.

CAT Analysis 2020 by the experts at these top coaching institutes will be released separately for slot-1, slot-2 and slot-3 exam. This year CAT exam is conducted in three slots as against two slots last year.

CL, TIME, IMS will share the CAT 2020 paper difficulty level, key changes in question paper, good attempts and likely cut off score for different percentile range in the changed test pattern. CAT 2020 slot timings are:

• CAT 2020 Morning Slot: 8.30 AM to 10.30 AM
• CAT 2020 Afternoon Slot: 12.30 PM to 2.30 PM
• CAT 2020 Evening Slot: 4.30PM to 6.30 PM

CAT 2020 Analysis: Key Takeaway
CAT exam 2020 analysis will cover following key points:

• Important changes in CAT exam pattern
• Surprise elements in CAT 2020
• Overall and sectional Changes in Difficulty level over last year
• Sectional composition of questions in CAT 2020 question paper
• Overall and Section-wise good attempts
• CAT score required leading to high percentile cut offs for IIMs & Other top B-schools 

Major Changes introduced in CAT 2020 Exam 
CAT 2020 Centre has introduced following key changes in CAT 2020 exam pattern

• CAT 2020 Exam duration is changed to 2 hours from earlier 3 hours
• CAT exam 2020 will be conducted in three separate sessions on same day instead of two sessions
• Exam is Divided into three sections: VARC; DILR; Quant
• 40 Minutes will be allotted to attempt each section instead of earlier 60 minutes
• You cannot move to other section till the time limit for the present section you are attempting is over.  
• CAT 2020 Exam will have reduced number of Questions divided into MCQs and Non-MCQ type questions
• MCQs have negative marking for wrong answer and Non-MCQs do not carry penalty of negative marking
• Questions with negative marking (MCQs) are 70 to 75%
• 4 answer options for MCQ type questions, click on correct answer option
• Questions without negative marking (Non-MCQs) are 25 to 30%
• Answer must be typed in the given space on computer screen for Non-MCQ.
• Score awarded for each correct answer: 3 marks
• Negative marking (Applicable for  wrong answers in MCQs): -1 mark
• Fixed order of sections to move beginning with VARC

CAT 2019 Slot 1 Analysis by TIME: Overall easy paper, VARC more difficult

TIME, India’s leading CAT coaching institute, believes that CAT 2019 was a little easier than CAT 2018, with two sections (DILR and QA) being on the easier side than those of CAT 2018, and one section (VARC) being tougher.

According to TIME, while VARC was slightly more difficult than the relatively easier levels of the previous three years, QA came down a notch in difficulty level. LRDI also became easier as compared to the previous year.

CAT 2019 Section wise analysis by TIME
Let’s look at the section wise analysis on CAT 2019 by TIME.

TIME CAT 2019 VARC Section analysis
The pattern of VARC section was along expected lines, says TIME. “There were no changes in the pattern compared to the previous year – four 5-Q passages and one 4-Q passage with 10 VA questions split between 4 Para Formation Questions, 3 Odd One Out and 3 Para Summaries,” says TIME.

According to TIME, “the VARC section tightened the screws a little bit, after three years of easy VARC sections. While the broader pattern remained the same – 24 RC questions and 10 VA questions – the difficulty level of the RC questions was a major digression from previous years’ difficulty levels. One can say it was not a breeze even for those well-versed with the language.”

TIME CAT 2019 DILR Section analysis
“The DILR section, contrary to all expectations, was lower in difficulty level compared to what test-takers have been used to facing in previous years. While this doesn’t, by any stretch of imagination, mean that the section was easy, it wasn’t as challenging as it was in the last three years. While a couple of sets were relatively straight-forward, there were some sets which required a good deal of application. Identifying the easier, straight-forward sets in the paper would play a key role in boosting the score in this section,” notes the CAT 2019 Analysis by TIME.

TIME CAT 2019 QA Section analysis
According to TIME, the QA section didn’t spring any surprises either, with 34 questions from expected topics like Arithmetic (Time, Work and Distance, P&L, Ratios, Equations, AMA and SI-CI), Geometry and Mensuration, Numbers, Algebra, Trigonometry and Permutations & Combinations. “The difficulty level, one could say, was slightly lower than that of CAT 2018, but this section was by no means as easy as the QA section of CAT 2017. Further, the students who identified the easy questions and attempted those would have gained a significant advantage. A good number of questions also demanded the use of the on-screen calculator. It could be said that the section was, on the whole, of moderate difficulty level, says TIME.

Final verdict on CAT 2019
“Overall, CAT 2019 appears a little easier than CAT 2018, with two sections (DILR and QA) being on the easier side than those of CAT 2018, and one section (VARC) being tougher,” says TIME.

CAT 2019 Slot 1 Analysis by IMS Learning

Well known preparation centre for CAT 2019, IMS Learning has come up with its comprehensive analysis of CAT 2019 exam immediately after the exam.

CAT 2019 Analysis by IMS: Slot 1
According to IMS, ‘The conduct of the exam was smooth without any technical or other glitches. There was no change in the overall pattern or in the types of questions from the last three years’ CAT.’

CAT 2019 Exam Overview & Difficulty Level

Source: IMS Learning CAT exam Analysis

CAT Percentile Predictions by IMS
Based on the feedback received from candidates, IMS Learning has estimated the CAT scores and percentiles as follows:

CAT 2019 Sectional Analysis by IMS

Section I – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
IMS Learning has observed that the overall difficulty level of VA RC Section of CAT 2019 was Medium and was more difficult than last year CAT exam. The length of the RC passages varied from 450 words to 500 words.

Overall, an attempt of 24 to 26 questions in this section with 85% accuracy should be a good bet.

Source: IMS Learning

Section II – Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning 

Difficulty level
As per IMS CAT analysis 2019, the DI-LR section had a total of 8 sets with 4 questions in each set. There were 2 sets of Data Interpretation and 5 sets of Logical Reasoning while 1 set was a combination of DI and LR. There were 3 easy to medium sets, those sets were easily doable. 2 sets were medium, 1 set was medium to difficult and 2 sets were difficult.

IMS has found some of the sets were difficult to comprehend and very time consuming, identifying and skipping those sets (Archery set, Crimes in States and Street Intersection) and attempting all the remaining sets would take the score high. So Selection of the right sets to solve was the key to a good performance in this section.

An attempt of around 5 sets (18-20 questions) in this section with 85%-90% accuracy should see percentile in the vicinity of 99 in this section.

Source: IMS Learning

Section III QUANTITATIVE ABILITY
As per IMS Learning, QA section in CAT 2019 was of medium difficulty level. There were 13 easy, 13-15 medium and 6-8 difficult questions. The section was dominated by Arithmetic with 13 questions followed by Modern Math with 8 questions, Geometry with 7 questions and Algebra with 5 questions. There was only one question of numbers.

Break up of QA Questions

There were no diagrams in any Geometry questions but the questions were of different difficulty levels, from easy to medium to difficult. All the Arithmetic questions were doable. Overall an attempt of 20 to 22 questions in this section with 85% accuracy should be a good bet.

Source: IMS Learning

CAT 2019 Slot 1 Analysis by Career Launcher: CAT 2019 slightly less difficult than last year

According to Career Launcher (CL), CAT 2019 paper was slightly less difficult, as compared to last year. An overall raw score of around 157-160 should fetch 99% ile in CAT 2019, says Career Launcher.  

CAT 2019 Slot 1 exam analysis by Career Launcher
This is what CL has to say about CAT 2019 in its “First Impressions”

CAT 2019 did not throw any surprises in paper format. In terms of level of difficulty, VARC was slightly trickier this year with 2 passages on the difficult side. Both DILR and Quant were slightly easier than last year. Overall, the paper was slightly less difficult, as compared to last year. An overall raw score of around 157-160 should fetch 99%ile in CAT 2019.

Section-wise expected score for 99%ile+

Source: Career Launcher

CAT 2019 Slot 1 Section wise Analysis by Career Launcher (CL)  Here are the highlights.

Career Launcher (CL) CAT 2019 VARC Analysis:
According to CL, “VARC had the usual paper structure which every aspirant is familiar with.”

There were 24 questions on RCs, which were broken up into 4 RCs of 5 questions each and 1 RC of 4 questions.

VARC was undoubtedly trickier than CAT 2018 VARC section, says CL. This was on account of two things:

• Trickier question types
• Close option

Expect the cut-off of VARC to drop by about 6-8 marks, which is about 2-3 questions lesser than last year, predicts CL.

Career Launcher (CL) CAT 2019 DILR Analysis
According to CL, DILR was easier as compared to last year. “About 3 sets, more specifically the ones which talked about different types of gifts in 100 boxes, the 12 different junctions and summation of two 6 digit number, were easy and should have surely been attempted,” says CL.

Another set which was a horizontal bar chart about the different types of crimes in different states was also easy and it would not have taken more than 5-10 minutes to solve, says CL.

“It was pleasant to see a new chart type, i.e. the radar graph, making its way to the CAT 2019 slot 1 paper,” notes CL.

The cutoff for DILR is expected to increase by about 7-9 marks from last year which is about 2-3 questions extra from CAT 2018, predicts CL.

Career Launcher (CL) CAT 2019 QA Analysis
According to CL, QA was also slightly easier than last year. “The paper had a good number of questions on Arithmetic from topics like Percentages, TSD, Time and Work etc. Between Algebra, Geometry and Numbers, the paper had significantly more number of questions of Algebra and Geometry than the number of questions of Numbers,” says CL.

The cutoff for QA is expected to increase by about 5-7 marks from last year which is about 1-2 questions extra from CAT 2018, predicts CL.

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