Quantitative Ability for CAT 2024

Before beginning your CAT preparation on Quantitative Ability, check below the CAT exam pattern, number of questions, time duration, scoring pattern for the QA section:

Quantitative Ability or Quantitative Aptitude section in CAT exam is the test of mathematics. QA comprises questions on Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Modern Math and other topics. Around 40% questions in Quantitative Ability section are based on Arithmetic topics. Quantitative Aptitude questions in Quant 2024 will carry a weightage of 33% to total CAT score and 100% for Quantitative Ability section. With 22 questions in QA section, the individual time limit to attempt the section is limited to 40 minutes in CAT exam. The CAT exam now has also changed the order of sections and the CAT Quantitative Aptitude is now the last section instead of first section and is placed after DILR. 

The structure and content of Quantitative Ability section in CAT exam is shared below. Following details on QA section in CAT will help you to take the right path on your CAT preparation journey

Once you know about the QA question Pattern in CAT exam, your next step for preparation is to scan the CAT Syllabus for Quantitative Ability section. Please note that CAT exam QA syllabus is not pre-defined by IIMs and is based on latest topics that appeared in past CAT exams.

Many other CAT toppers with 99 and 100 percentile have shared that they found Quantitative Aptitude was their weak area but they improved a lot in it with consistent preparation. Sharing with MBAUniverse.com, these CAT toppers spoke about their preparation strategy for Quant section: 

CAT Topper Rachit Saran, MDI Gurgaon (99.04 % in CAT 2017) on how he cracked Quantitative Aptitude in CAT

In an interview with MBAUniverse.com, CAT Topper Rachit Saran explained how he cracked Quant section. He said “I was scoring really low in Quant. I realized that the problem was not with my concepts; it was with my immature stubbornness to solve every question that came my way. Also, I wanted to solve all of them using the traditional methods.  I tried to cast this behaviour out by reminding myself that my entire goal here is to get the answer in least amount of time and nothing else. So, I learnt some unconventional techniques and started being selective with the questions. Of course, the choices here would skew towards my strengths.”

“The entire strategy here circled around selecting the right questions. Once I was done with my conceptual basics, I picked up my first couple of mocks and analysed them to see whether I was wasting time on the tough nuts. I devised my strategy in a way that allowed me to go through all the questions on the test, while solving only those that I was confident about.”

CAT Topper Rohan Joshi (99.63 % in CAT 2017) on how he cracked Quantitative Aptitude section

Sharing with MBAUniverse.com, CAT Topper Rohan Joshi (99.63 % in CAT 2017) explained how he cracked Quant section, “I started with solving basic questions and slowly moved on to higher difficulty levels as my preparation advanced.”

CAT Topper Somesh Lohani, FMS Delhi (99.99 % in CAT 2016) on how he cracked Quantitative Aptitude section

Sharing with MBAUniverse.com, CAT topper Somesh Lohani, FMS MBA 2017-19 batch pass out said, “For quant, first thing to do is clearing your basics. There are multiple books available in the market such as by Arun Sharma, Nishit Sinha, etc. Also videos on youtube such as Dinesh Miglani collection on youtube are really helpful and will help in clearing the basics concepts. Once I had my basic concepts cleared, it was all about solving as many questions as possible from different books, online materials and mock tests.”

CAT Topper Gyayak Jain, IIM Ahmedabad (100% in CAT 2016) on how he cracked Quantitative Aptitude section

In an interview with MBAUniverse.com, CAT topper with 100 percentile and IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2017-19 batch pass out, Gyayak Jain said, “I used TIME study modules to get me acquainted with various formulas and tricks of solving various types of problems. The practice for it was done in mock tests. Also, I had no guilt in leaving questions which I was uncomfortable with or was unsure about. I did not waste time in re-solving a question more than once if I am not getting any of the options.”

The best books for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT preparation are:

Study Material for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT from TIME, CL, IMS could be very helpful in QA preparation. The reason is that the study material of top coaching centres is updated as per the latest and expected changes in CAT exam pattern and also consists of Tips & Tricks by CAT experts.

Also Read Best CAT Preparation Books 

Sample Quantitative Aptitude based questions, studying from Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Best Book, Attempting Quantitative Aptitude CAT Previous Year Questions are the best tool to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude in CAT. Improving on QA Questions and Answers is important because if you do well in the Quantitative Aptitude for CAT, you will score high in the exam. Below are shared some of the sample QA Problems followed by questions and answers based on latest CAT exam question papers. Check below the CAT Quantitative Aptitude Questions and Answers

Q 1: Are positive real numbers such that log_x (x² + 12) = 4 and 3 log_y x = 1, then x + y equals

Ans Options

1. 10

2. 10

3. 11

4. 68

Q 2: If x and y are real numbers such that x² + (x - 2y - 1)² = -4y(x + y), then the value x - 2y is

Ans Options

1. -1

2. 1

3. 0

4. 2

Q 3: Let n be the least positive integer such that 168 is a factor of 1134ⁿ. If m is the least positive integer such that 1134ⁿ is a factor of 168^m, then m + n  equals

Ans Options

1. 9

2. 24

3. 15

4. 12 

Q4: The equation x³ + (2r + 1)x² + (4r - 1) x + 2 = 0 has - 2 as one of the roots. If the other two roots are real, then the minimum possible non-negative integer value of r is

Case Sensitivity: No

Answer Type: Equal

Possible Answer: -- 

Q.5: Gita sells two objects A and B at the same price such that she makes a profit of 20%on object A and a loss of 10% on object B. If she increases the selling price such that objects A and B are still sold at an equal price and a profit of 10% is made on object B, then the profit made on object A will be nearest to

Ans Options

1. 47%

2. 49%

3. 42%

4. 45%

Q.6: The minor angle between the hours hand and minutes hand of a clock was observed at 8:48 am. The minimum duration, in minutes, after 8.48 am when this angle increases by 50% is

Ans Options

1. 36/11

2. 2

3. 24/11

4. 4

Q.7: Brishti went on an 8-hour trip in a car, before the trip the car had traveled a total of x km till then, where x is a whole number and is palindromic, At the end of his trip the car had travelled a total of 26862 km. If Bristi never drove at more than 110 km/h, then the greatest possible average speed at which she drove during the trip, in km/h, was

Ans Options

1. 80

2. 100

3. 90

4. 110

Q.8: The salaries of three friends Sita, Gita and Mita are initially in the ratio 5 : 6 : 7,respectively. In the first year, they get salary hikes of 20%, 25% and 20%, respectively. In the second year, Sita and Mita get salary hikes of 40% and 25%, respectively, and the salary of Gita becomes equal to the mean salary of the three friends. The salary hike of Gita in the second year is

Ans Options

1. 28%

2. 26%

3. 25%

4. 30%

Q.9: A quadrilateral ABCD is inscribed in a circle such that AB : CD = 2 : 1 and BC : AD = 5 :4. If AC and BD intersect at the point E, then AE : CE equals

Ans Options

1. 5:8

2. 8:5

3. 2:1

4. 1:2

Q.10: Circle x² + y² + 4x - 6y - 3 = 0 and L be locus of the point of intersection of a pair of tangents the angle between the two tangents equal to 60⁰. Then, the point at which L touches the line x = 6 is

Ans Options

1. (6, 8)

2. (6, 4)

3. (6, 6)

4. (6, 3)

Q.11: Anil invests Rs. 22000 for 6 years in a certain scheme with 4% interest per annum, compounded half-yearly. Sunil invests in the same scheme for 5 years, and then reinvests the entire amount received at the end of 5 years for one year at 10%simple interest. If the amounts received by both at the end of 6 years are same, then the initial investment made by Sunil, in rupees, is.

Case Sensitivity: No

Answer Type: Equal

Possible Answer: ---

Q.12: The amount of job that Amal, Sunil and Kamal can individually do in a day, are in harmonic progression. Kamal takes twice as much time as Amal to do the same amount of job. If Amal and Sunil work for 4 days and 9 days, respectively, Kamal needs to work for 16 days to finish the remaining job. Then the number of days Sunil will take to finish the job working alone, is

Case Sensitivity: No

Answer Type: Equal

Possible Answer: --

Answer Grid

Check below the QA preparation plan for 6 months, 3 months, 1 Month by experts:

180 days (6 Month) CAT QA Preparation Plan 2024

The Quantitative Ability CAT preparation plan 2024 for next 180 days beginning from March/April, include your judiciously divided preparation hours and everything related to QA preparation with attending expert sessions on CAT preparation, your practice sessions, doubt solving sessions and all other preparation related steps.

In next 180 days, you have close to 3600 hours available with you. According to CAT experts, you are expected to spend 15 to 20% of available hours out of 24 hours per day on CAT preparation. Accordingly, you have to spend 800 hours during next 180 days on CAT preparation and divide the same on Scanning the CAT Syllabus and divide it into sections for study; Choose Time Lines to complete the task one after another as follows:

• First 90 Days: Clear the Concepts & their Applications, Go for Tests. By the end of 85 days, you will know the topics, type of questions, that are asked in CAT Quantitative Ability, their key concepts, how to answer
• Next 60 Days: Devise Strategy and Take Mocks, Sectional tests
• Last 30 Days: Go for revision and frame final strategy

CAT QA Preparation Study Plan: April, May, June, July

During March, April, May, June, July, devote 500 hours minimum to strengthen your concepts on the topics as per CAT syllabus and get complete clarity with attempting exercise questions on each concept simultaneously. This will help you to revise and understand how strong your basics have become and where you need further study of concepts.

How to Prepare for CAT 2024: 180 Days Quantitative Aptitude Preparation Plan

Even if you are not from Mathematics back ground, you can prepare well for Quantitative Ability section in CAT in 180 hours. The plan should be

Month wise QA Topics to Prepare

Overall Quantitative Aptitude Month-wise Preparation Plan till CAT exam

QA Mocks for CAT 2024: Start Taking CAT Mocks from August
Attempting maximum number of Mocks for CAT and analysing each of them is as important as appearing in actual CAT 2024 exam. So, what should be the Mock taking strategy and how many mocks you need to attempt – all details are shared below to prepare well for CAT 2024. 

Spend Exact 2 Hours to Attempt 1 Mock Test
Each Mock is of 2 hours duration and you not only have to attempt the mock but also have to maximise your attempts with accuracy. How it can be achieved-Check below

Devote 3 hours to Analyse a Mock Test
After completing your CAT mock test in 2 hours, next 3 hours should be devoted to its analysis so that you may understand where you have gone wrong. Identifying your errors and rectifying them, will consistently improve your test taking strategy. If you take the mock at the scheduled hour, you will be ready for CAT day.

When to Start Taking Mocks? Experts explain
According to CAT experts, you should start taking Mocks and analyse each of them, beginning from August 3^rd or 4^th week

300 Hours that You Need for Different Types of Mocks:
You need to attempt 4 Types of Mocks. These four type of Mock tests that you would take in 300 hours and their time division to get ready for CAT exam day are:

75 Hours for Prime Mocks: Beginning from August, you must start taking full length prime mock tests.

• There would be 15 mock tests of 2 hours duration and each mock will be divided into 3 sections – VARC, DILR, Quant
• Each section in mock test will have sectional time limit of 40 minutes as is there in the CAT exam
• Each 2 hours Mock test should go through the 3 hours analysis to check and avoid any recurrence of similar mistake.

75 Hours for Count Down Mocks: After the first 75 hours, you need to move to full length count Down Mocks. When CAT exam gets a bit closer, you would also be increasing your CAT preparation time.

• There will be at least 15 count down mock tests of 2 hours duration
• Like Prime mock, each Count Down Mock will be divided into 3 sections – VARC, DILR, Quant.
• Each section in mock test will have sectional time limit of 40 minutes, like actual CAT exam. Each 2 hours Mock test will again go through the 3 hours analysis to avoid any future error.

Sectional Mocks in 90 Hours: Next most important thing is to attempt sectional mocks. In other words these are the sectional CAT papers.

• You need to attempt at least 15 Mock Tests on Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry separetely
• Attempt 15 Mocks on Complete Quant section
• Take complete 15 Full Length Mock Tests 
• Each sectional mock should be of 40 minute duration
• Each Sectional Mock must be followed by 80 minutes of analysis to check your preparedness in each section.

Solve Actual CAT Papers in 60 Hours: Since 2017 IIMs have started releasing the CAT exam papers for all the slots with answers.

• There are total 18 CAT question papers available so far, that you need to go through, solve and analyse
• In 2017, 2018, 2019 CAT was conducted in two slots of 3 hours duration on same day.
• In 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 CAT was conducted in 3 slots of 2 hours duration on the same day.
• There are 6 CAT question papers of 2017, 2018 and 2019 as there were 2 slots in each CAT exam,
• There are 12 CAT papers for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 as there were 3 slots in each CAT exam.
• It is very important that you solve and analyse these CAT papers.

Attempt Previous CAT question papers

CAT Quantitative Ability 3 Months Preparation Plan

In last 3 months obviously, you will have more speed, so

• Use only 1 Month to prepare on concepts if not yet done
• Further improve your strengths
• In case you need to start some thing new, complete it latest by September
• Go for more practice sessions and taking Mocks
• Spend more time on CAT QA practice tests

CAT Quantitative Ability 1 Month Preparation Plan

• In last 1 month avoid starting anything new
• Your Mock Taking Speed will increase, so use it, taking Mocks and analysing them
• Take 4 QA Sectional Mocks and 2 Full Length Mocks every week 
• Further improve your strengths
• Spend more time on Practice & Revision

Unlike other two sections which have 2 parts like Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension; Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude section in CAT consists of questions based only on Mathematics. Accordingly, it requires different preparation strategy focused only on Quantitative Aptitude questions on different topics. Following are the most important points to guide you on how to prepare Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Exam:

Arun Sharma Recommends 3 Dimension Approach..

A three dimensional approach is recommended on CAT Preparation for Quant section. Advising with the pace of Quant preparation for CAT, Arun Sharma said, “Remember that people make the mistake of trying to improve speed in the beginning itself but you should learn how to walk first before you learn to run. So, learn and practice first and then improve speed.”

The key aspects of CAT Preparation for Quant section advised by experts are:

• Strengthen your basics and formulae in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Modern Math and allied topics
• Practice on variety of questions of different difficulty level
• Finally solve previous CAT papers and Mocks for each topic. The more you do it, the more expertise in Quant section for CAT, you will get.
• Prepare as per latest trends on Quantitative Aptitude questions in CAT  

How Nancy Jain cracked CAT with 99.72% and got admission into IIM Calcutta

How Nandan Goel cracked CAT with 99.95 %ile and got admission to IIM Calcutta

How Pragya Malik cracked CAT with 99.52 %ile and got admission to IIM Calcutta 

How Sandeep Rajguru cracked CAT with 98.07%ile and got admission in IIM Ahmedabad

How Tanuj Ruia cracked CAT with 99.69%ile and got admission into IIM Bangalore

100 Days to CAT: How to Crack CAT by Hemang Panchmatia, CAT Mentor & Program Director, PG-India at IMS Learning

During the last few years, Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT has gone for substantial changes. Prior to 2015, around 70% part in the QA section constituted Quantitative Aptitude questions and rest 30% was on DI questions. Before 2014, Quantitative Aptitude Questions for CAT were 20 and on DI they were 10. In 2015 the number of Quantitative Aptitude questions for CAT had gone upto 34 and again reduced in 2020 to 26. In 2021 QA section had 24 questions and since then the QA section has 22 questions. The negative marking questions in Quantitative Aptitude section are 14 to 16 rest are to remain No-Negative marking questions. The difficulty level of CAT Quantitative aptitude section has gone up in 2023 as compared to 2022 and 2021.