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CAT Syllabus 2024: Check Section Wise Syllabus, Download Free PDF

Last Updated on November 13, 2024 by Prof. SK Agarwal

CAT 2024 exam will be held on November 24. CAT syllabus 2024 includes syllabus for three sections: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). The main topics to cover in CAT 2024 QA syllabus are Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Percentage. In VARC section, Reading Comprehension and English usage questions are asked. Read all about the CAT syllabus 2024, sectional composition, syllabus topics, total questions, weightage, CAT Exam Day Dos and Donts and more. Also download CAT 2024 syllabus PDF. 

Table of Content

  • 1. Overview of CAT Syllabus & Pattern 2024

  • 2. CAT Syllabus 2024 for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

  • 3. Type of Questions in CAT Syllabus 2024 for VARC

  • 4. CAT Syllabus 2024 for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

  • 5. Type of Questions in CAT DILR Syllabus

  • 6. CAT Syllabus 2024 for Quantitative Ability (QA)

  • 7. Type of Questions in CAT Syllabus 2024 for Quantitative Ability

  • 8. CAT 2024 Syllabus PDF Download

  • 9. Best Books to Prepare for CAT Syllabus

1. Overview of CAT Syllabus & Pattern 2024

There are total three sections in the CAT Exam which carry different weight in the CAT question paper. Although the CAT syllabus is divided in 3 sections, the effective number of sections are five as VARC and DILR sections are further sub-divided into 2 sub sections. Read details below.  

CAT Exam ComponentsNo of Questions (Divided in MCQs & Non MCQs)Sectional Time Limit (In Minutes)Scoring Pattern (Negative Marking is only for MCQs)
Section-1: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)2440+3 for Correct; -1 for Incorrect; 0 for Not Attempted
Section-2: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)2040+3 for Correct; -1 for Incorrect; 0 for Not Attempted
Section-3: Quantitative Ability (QA)2240+3 for Correct; -1 for Incorrect; 0 for Not Attempted
Total66120198
A: The exam will be conducted in a single day as a computer based test
A: Like previous years, this year also, the exam will be conducted in three slots of 2 hours duration for each slot
A: It is a computer based test and is conducted at test centres. Last year the exam was conducted in more than 160 test cities.
A: Yes, to some extent it is a difficult exam. Last year, the exam was considered most difficult during previous 5-6 years with Quant & DILR very difficult.
A: No, while the overall time limit to attempt the exam is 2 hours, its each section has individual time limit of 40 minutes.
CAT PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPER - CAT-2023 SLOT 1

2. CAT Syllabus 2024 for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

CAT Exam Syllabus for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension carries overall 36% Weightage in CAT exam. Out of total 66 questions in CAT, 24 questions are based on VARC section

The syllabus for VARC Section in Common Admission Test (CAT) is divided into 2 parts. The 1st part of CAT 2024 syllabus covers topics on Verbal Ability and the 2nd Part of CAT 2024 syllabus covers Reading Comprehension passages. There are 8 VA questions and 16 RC based questions. Below is shared the topic wise VARC CAT 2024 syllabus with number of questions in the exam and actual CAT questions that appeared recently in the exam to help you familiarise with the type of questions in CAT

Key areas in RC Syllabus

The English Reading comprehension passages in CAT entrance exam syllabus are taken from a wide area which includes, current affairs, Literature, Business Economy among others as detailed under. Diverse reading of topics in following areas will help you cover the exam syllabus in VARC

  • Current Affairs: Making impact on Social Life, International Affairs, Govt policies and Schemes for example New Education Policy, Triple Talaq, CAA, Covid 19 Pandemic, Clean India Mission, Migration of people from one country to other, Growing intolerance across the Globe,
  • Business & Economics: RC Passages for example Global economic changes, economic development at the cost of environment, Impact of Demonetization in India, Wasteful expenditure by Governments frequently appear in CAT exam
  • English Literature: RC passages from books, articles authored by great philosophers, thinkers, from various speeches of great personalities like passages from Charles Dickens, Aristotle, Martin Luther King, Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi, Churchill among others appear in CAT
  • Passages on Science & Culture: You will find RC passages including the journey to Modern world; Fading culture with the advancement of technology  
  • RC Passages on Abstract Topics and Fiction: These are also included in the Reading Comprehension Syllabus. These Passages make the candidates think well before leading to put themselves in the author’s shoes before answering the questions following these passages since they are opinion based.
  • RC Passages on Historical Events: Events leading to social changes for example French Revolution, War of Roses, Social changes in Indian History and thoughts shared by various activists which are very much relevant even today are also the source of RC Passages 
  • Mythology: RC Passages from Mythology in CAT try to correlate the Mythological events with the current social structure and answers to the questions on them have to be inferred 
TopicSyllabusType of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023No of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023
Verbal AbilityPara Summary; Jumbled paragraphs; Out of Context Sentence; Error Correction in Sentences; Sequence of sentences; Fill in the blanks; Completion of Last Sentence of Paragraph; Analogies; Critical Reasoning; Sentence CompletionPara Jumbles (2 Qs); Para Summary (2 Qs); Out of Context Sentence from jumbled Paragraph (2 Qs); Completion of Last Sentence of Paragraph (2 Qs)8
Reading ComprehensionRC Passages on Literature, Current Affairs, Social, Economic, Business issues followed by questions based on Inferences, Statements, Arguments, Main idea in the RC Passage; Author’s assumption; Synonyms-antonyms; Meaning of the phrase; Vocabulary usage4 RC Passages followed by 4 Questions on True False Statement, Argument, Inference, Main Idea, Interpretation of Phrase as used in RC; Author’s Thought Process; Passage Title. Passages based on Second-hand Shopping and Fast Fashion; Translated Streaming on Netflix in Europe; Why Liberalism Failed (Book Review); What is Historical Fact.16
CAT PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPER - CAT-2023 SLOT 2

3. Type of Questions in CAT Syllabus 2024 for VARC

TopicSyllabusType of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023No of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023
Verbal AbilityPara Summary; Jumbled paragraphs; Out of Context Sentence; Error Correction in Sentences; Sequence of sentences; Fill in the blanks; Completion of Last Sentence of Paragraph; Analogies; Critical Reasoning; Sentence CompletionPara Jumbles (2 Qs); Para Summary (2 Qs); Out of Context Sentence from jumbled Paragraph (2 Qs); Completion of Last Sentence of Paragraph (2 Qs)8
Reading ComprehensionRC Passages on Literature, Current Affairs, Social, Economic, Business issues followed by questions based on Inferences, Statements, Arguments, Main idea in the RC Passage; Author’s assumption; Synonyms-antonyms; Meaning of the phrase; Vocabulary usage4 RC Passages followed by 4 Questions on True False Statement, Argument, Inference, Main Idea, Interpretation of Phrase as used in RC; Author’s Thought Process; Passage Title. Passages based on Second-hand Shopping and Fast Fashion; Translated Streaming on Netflix in Europe; Why Liberalism Failed (Book Review); What is Historical Fact.16
A: IIMs have discontinued grammar based questions in CAT syllabus and there are no questions based on error correction, fill in the blanks etc in Verbal Ability
A: RC based questions in CAT exam are 16-19 out of total 24 questions in VARC section
A: Questions based on Reading Comprehension are of MCQ type
A: Usually No! Although there may not be any non-MCQ following the RC passage, there may be one or two MCQ without negative marking. In such case, Verbal part may consist of questions with negative marking
CAT PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPER - CAT-2023 SLOT 3

4. CAT Syllabus 2024 for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

CAT Syllabus for Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation carries 30% weight in CAT exam with 20 questions on DILR out of total 66 questions 
 

TopicSyllabusType of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023No of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023
Data Interpretation (DI)Bar charts - Simple, Stacked, Composite Bar charts; Pie charts; Caselets; Data Analysis; Data comparison from Table; Graphs; Line Graphs; Data Sufficiency. Comparison of Data of various years, ages, classes, Groups; Decoding and finding out the data of missing period, taking clues, interpreting the missing links; Analysis of data and coming to conclusion, making future projections3 sets of 5 questions on each problem set. Questions based on 5 firms raised funds in consecutive years; Drawing Competition; Nine Boxes puzzle of sudoku type;15
Logical Reasoning (LR)Direction sense, Team formation, Seating Arrangement, Blood Relation, Clocks, Calendars, Binary logic, Logical Sequence, Assumption, Premise, Conclusion, Linear and matrix arrangement, Input-Output, Series, Syllogism, Cubes, Rows, Set Theory, Venn Diagrams. Seating arrangement, Ranks, different type of team formation, puzzles on words, letters, statements, arguments5 Questions on one problem set based on 3 friends visited a park, took many rides.5
CAT EXAM DAY DOS AND DONTs

5. Type of Questions in CAT DILR Syllabus

Topic

Type of Questions Appeared in CAT 2023

Data Interpretation (DI)

3 DI Problem sets of 5 questions on each problem set. Questions in CAT 2023 were based on 5 firms raised funds in consecutive years; Drawing Competition; Nine Boxes puzzle of sudoku type; Two days average of Arrangement score; Company starting/closing years-Table on Missing Values; Grid Based problem set with 3x3 table (Mean, Mode, Median based questions)

Logical Reasoning (LR)

5 Questions on one problem set based on 3 friends visited a park, took many rides.

A: CAT syllabus for DILR section has set based questions which are in sets of 3-4 questions
A: The Data Interpretation part has 10-12 questions and similar number of questions are placed in Logical Reasoning part in CAT syllabus
CAT LAST MINUTE PREPARATION TIPS

6. CAT Syllabus 2024 for Quantitative Ability (QA)

CAT Quantitative Ability Syllabus carries 33 percent weightage in CAT exam with highest weightage on Arithmetic. Out of 66 questions in CAT exam, 22 questions are based on Quantitative Ability

Quantitative Ability (QA) is the Mathematics section in CAT exam. Although, the syllabus for Quant is very wide, the questions and topics in it are of class 10 & 12 standard. QA syllabus in CAT gives more emphasis on Arithmetic questions. While maximum 10-12 questions are from Arithmetic, the questions on other topics like Algebra, Geometry and others are in the range of 3-8. Below is shared the topic wise QA syllabus

TopicSyllabusType of Questions AppearedNo of Questions Appeared
ArithmeticAverages; Ratio & Proportion; Speed, Time and Distance; Time and Work; LCM and HCF; Percentages, Profit and Loss; Interest (Simple and Compound); Number System;Time Speed Distance (2 Qs), Time & Work (1Q); Ratio (1Q); Simple Interest/ Compound Interest (3); Profit & Loss (1Q); Mixture (1Q); Clock (1Q)10
AlgebraLinear & Quadratic Equations; Inequalities; Functions; Progressions; Algebraic Expressions to Polynomials; Complex numbers; Sequences and series; Permutations and combinationsLog (1Q); Equations (3 Qs); Surds (1Q); Sequence & Series (2Qs); Algebraic Expression (1Q)8
Geometry/MensurationTriangles, Lines and Angles (Supplementary, Complementary, Obtuse, Acute, and Right), Quadrilaterals, Circles; Theorems (Pythagoras, Midpoint, Apollonius, Basic Proportionality, Internal and External Angular Bisector), Co-ordinate Geometry, Quadrant System, Areas of Hexagonal Polygon, Triangle, and Rectangle. Square, Rhombus, Trapezoid, Volume, Total Surface Area, and Lateral Surface Area of Different Solids like Cubes, Cuboids, Cylinders, Pyramids, Cones, Spheres, Hemispheres, and FrustumTriangle (1 Q); Quadrilateral (1Q); Circle (1Q)3
TrigonometryTrigonometric ratios, identities, and heights and distances, Sine, CosineNo questions appeared in CAT 2023.0
Modern MathSequence and Series, Binomial Theorem, Set Theory, Probability, Permutation & CombinationPermutation & Combination (1 Q)1

7. Type of Questions in CAT Syllabus 2024 for Quantitative Ability

Topic
Type of Questions Appeared  in CAT 2023
Arithmetic
  • Time Speed Distance- (2 Qs),
  • Time & Work (1Q);
  • Ratio (1Q);
  • Simple Interest/ Compound Interest (3Qs);
  • Profit & Loss (1Q);
  • Mixture (1Q);
  • Clock (1Q)
Algebra
 
  • Log (1Q);
  • Equations (3 Qs);
  • Surds (1Q);
  • Sequence & Series (2Qs)
Geometry/Mensuration
  • Triangle (1 Q);
  • Quadrilateral (1Q);
  • Circle (1Q)
Modern Math
  • Permutation & Combination (1 Q)
A: Arithmetic is the most important part in CAT Quant Syllabus with around 40% questions based on topics like Percentage, Ratio, Interest, Time, Speed and Work and other topics
A: The Quant syllabus in CAT has questions of class 10 and 12 standard for Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and other topics.
CAT EXAM ANALYSIS

8. CAT 2024 Syllabus PDF Download

Based on past year’s papers and chapters of Arun Sharma CAT Preparation Books, CAT syllabus PDF is prepared by MBAUniverse.com exam experts. You can download CAT Quant syllabus, CAT VARC syllabus and CAT DILR syllabus by clicking on links below.  CAT 2024 Syllabus PDF will help you improve your preparation immediately. 

CAT PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPER - CAT-2023 SLOT 1

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